Families ask us this on nearly every first call, usually a little apologetically. It is the right question. Admissions counselling in the Gulf ranges from a few hundred dollars to well over a hundred thousand, and the price tells you surprisingly little about what you get. Here is the market as we see it, including where we sit in it.
The four price levels
Under $1,000: one-off reviews and guides
A single essay review, an activities-list review, or a self-guided application guide. Useful for families who are doing the work themselves and want a professional eye on the final product. It does not include strategy, school lists or any planning. Our own review service and application guide sit here.
$2,000 to $8,000: application-year support
Typically Grade 12 only: school list, essay coaching across all drafts, interview practice and deadline management for one application cycle. This is what most independent counsellors in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dubai offer, and the quality varies more than the price does. The best question to ask is who actually reads the essays and where that person went to university.
$8,000 to $30,000: multi-year programmes
Starting in Grade 10 or 11 and running to submission. This adds the things that only time allows: subject planning, two summers of programme and research applications, building one activity into something with depth, test preparation sequenced around the rest, and essays written by a student the counsellor has known for two years. Himmah Prep’s three plans fall in this range, and we go through them on the free consultation once we know what the student needs.
$30,000 to $150,000 and above: the large international firms
Crimson Education and similar firms sell multi-year packages with large teams, former admissions officers on call and, at the top end, bespoke extracurricular projects. The work can be excellent. The price reflects the brand, the sales operation and the overhead as much as the counselling hours. Ask exactly how many hours with the lead counsellor are included, because that number is often smaller than the package implies.
What should be included at any price above $2,000
- A named counsellor who stays with the student, not a rotating pool.
- Essay feedback on every draft, not a set number of “rounds”.
- A written school list with reasoning, across both the US and UK if both are in play.
- A calendar of every deadline, test date and programme application.
- Honest early assessment. If the counsellor says every target is reachable, be cautious.
How to judge whether it is worth it
Two ways to think about it. The first is outcome: a counsellor who moves a student from a plausible mid-ranked admit to a top-twenty admit changes the next forty years, and almost any fee is small against that. The second is honest: nobody can promise that outcome, and anyone who does is selling. What a good counsellor can promise is that the student will apply with a coherent story, to the right list, with every deadline met and essays that sound like them. That is worth paying for. A guarantee is not.
Our own track record is on the results page: every student who has completed the programme since 2020 has been admitted to a university on their list, including every Ivy League school. We publish it because it is checkable, and because it is the right standard to hold anyone you hire to.
Before paying anyone
Take the free call. Ours is thirty minutes with a senior counsellor and ends with a candid read on the profile and a realistic first list, whether or not you work with us. If another firm will not do the same before asking for a deposit, that tells you something too.
Common questions
Do college counselors in Saudi Arabia offer payment plans?
Most multi-year programmes, including ours, split fees across the programme rather than asking for everything upfront. Ask before assuming the headline price is due at once.
Is a counselor worth it if the school already has one?
School counsellors handle hundreds of students on one deadline calendar and do essential work. A private counsellor adds the layer most families do not realise is missing: long-term strategy for one student. The two are complementary, not competing.
What is the difference between Himmah Prep and Crimson Education on price?
Crimson’s multi-year packages typically start well above where ours end. Both offer multi-year strategy with Ivy League-educated counsellors. Ours is a smaller team with the same named counsellor throughout and a published track record; theirs is a larger operation with a bigger brand. Which is the better fit depends on the student, and the free consultation is the honest way to find out.
Can we start small and upgrade?
Yes. Many families begin with a review or the application guide, take the free consultation, and move to a plan once they see the gap. Nothing about starting small locks you out of the programme later.