Most of our frequently answered questions are answered in our blog and journal. However, we wanted to go over several important questions here to help our potential clients for their quick understanding.
*Following answers are updated on May 31, 2020
How does the company work?
We work as one team. Many agencies in the business outsource their work to multiple consultants and each client relies solely on one consultant. The problem we see from this structure is inconsistency in the service quality. Just like the business office, our team works under the founder’s management and we cooperate together to come up with the best strategy for each client and their goal. For example, we sometimes have a client who needs expertise from multiple consultants in order to complete the portfolio. This case the founder come up with a big strategy and consultants work according to the strategy and schedule.
Since you are a U.S. based company, how do you work with international clients? Online or offline?
Both! Most of our courses and workshops happen online through video chat (we use Zoom), WeChat call, and email. However, we host on-site meetings and workshops at multiple locations in the U.S. and China (Beijing and Shanghai) periodically depending on client needs. We have a full-time staff working in Shanghai at 398 Huoshan Road for Chinese operations. Currently, the founder is located in South Korea from the U.S. and the company is in the middle of the company registration process in South Korea as the founder is currently located in South Korea.
How long have you been in the consulting business?
We have been in the business for about 7 years. Many of our clients have already graduated from their dream schools and have been working in the field as professionals, and we still stay in touch with every single one of them. Some of them work with us as consultants.
Who do you work with?
We initially started with students in the U.S. After doing business for a few years, students from Asia such as Korea and China found us, and since then we have worked with dozens of students from Asia. Now we have clients from all over the world, including the Middle East, Europe, and Australia.
How big is your team?
We have about 14 consultants, 8 editors and 6 portfolio consultants.
When is the perfect time to work with you guys?
We highly suggest you to work with us as early as possible. We are not a just admissions consulting agency. We are an education consulting group who helps a client from finding a direction not only for an education but also for career development. There are many things to be prepared to find the best way for your education and career and it would be the best if you could start earlier. Several clients start to work with us from their freshman year.
I have not taken an English test yet. Can I start to work with you or have to wait until I get enough English scores?
We strongly encourage you to start with us as soon as you can. In order to achieve the best results for your school applications, it’s very important to come up with a robust strategy and schedule as the schools require so many different things. Especially if you are not 100% sure about your direction, we are the best people who can help you to find the direction and ideal major based on your background and interest. Many clients love us because we help them to find the direction and then help the process for the best result.
I have not made a decision whether I want to go to schools in Europe or the US. Can I wait until I know?
We get this question all the time. We want to put this question this way. You don’t know how to drive a car now but some reason you are so anxious to get to know the answer whether you should buy a Europe car or American car. What you have to know is how to drive and then once you know how to drive, you have to know which works best for your driving style and purpose. Again our strength is to help you to find that direction. Instead of trying to find the answer relying on unlivable sources from the website or friends, you should rely on a professional and more reliable company like us.
It looks like you have many students from art, design, and architecture. Any reason?
That’s because in-maginative started as an admissions consulting company for students in art, design, and architecture. However, since 2016 we have been working with other disciplines and the number has been growing rapidly.
关于我们公司业务以及服务的常见问题都在blog和journal中有相应解答。这里我们列出了几个重要问题，以帮助潜在客户们更好地了解我们。
*以下回答更新于2020年5月31日。
你们是以留学申请为核心的教育机构吗？
不是。经常有人问我们这个问题。虽然每年我们有大量的客户进入顶尖院校，但这并不是我们咨询服务的核心，而是我们咨询质量的有力证明。我们认为留学申请只是我们帮助客户建立学术基础的一个方式。帮助客户入顶尖院校并不是我们最终、唯一的目的。对我们来说，最重要的是引导客户在向目标迈进的过程中，增进对自己的了解，树立信心，并真正转化知识为能力。这样才能让客户在今后能应对更多的挑战。
公司的工作模式是什么样的?
我们以团队的模式开展工作。在这一行业内的很多机构将他们的工作外包给多个顾问，而每个客户在合作过程中仅依赖一名顾问。我们在这种工作模式下看到了服务质量不一致的弊病。正如商务运营，我们的团队是在创始人的管理下协同合作的，从而为每个客户的发展目标提出最佳策略。举例来说，有时需要多个顾问的专业知识来帮助一位客户作品集的完成。在这种情况下，创始人会制定一个总体计划，顾问们根据具体策略和时间安排来共同工作。
既然in-maginative是一家美国公司，那么如何与国际客户保持沟通? 线上还是线下?
线上线下两个方式都有! 我们大多数的课程和服务都是通过在线视频（我们使用Zoom）、微信电话和电子邮件进行的。与此同时，我们也会定期在美国和中国(北京、上海)举办线下的会议和工作坊，以满足客户的需求。我们的全职员工在上海霍山路398号光大安石中心来统筹中国地区的运营工作。目前，公司创始人（来自美国）居住于韩国，公司也正处于韩国公司的注册流程中。
你们从事咨询行业多久了?
我们从事教育咨询行业大约7年了。我们的许多客户已经从他们的梦校毕业，并作为专业人士在各个领域工作，我们依旧与每一个人保持联系。他们中的一些人也成为了我们的顾问。
你们和哪些国家的客户合作呢?
我们最初只是与美国学生合作。在做了几年咨询服务后，我们的业务拓展到了韩国和中国等亚洲国家。在那之后，我们与几十位来自亚洲的学生进行了合作。现在我们的客户来自世界各地，还包括中东、欧洲和澳大利亚等地。
你们的团队由多少人组成?
我们有大约14位顾问，8位文书编辑和6位作品集顾问。
什么是和你们进行合作的最佳时间?
我们强烈建议你尽早与我们合作。我们不仅仅是一个针对招生录取的咨询机构，我们是一家教育咨询公司，不仅可以帮助客户找到教育方向，甚至也可以帮助你找到职业发展方向。要找到教育和职业发展的最佳方向，还有很多事情要做。所以如果你能尽早开始准备，那将是最好的。有几个客户是从大一年级就开始了与我们的合作。
我还没有开始英语考试，可以等考到足够的英语分数后再开始与你们的合作吗?
我们强烈建议你尽早与我们合作。为了取得申请学校的最佳结果，制定强有力的策略和时间规划是尤为重要的，因为各个学校往往有许多不同的要求。特别是如果你不能百分之百地确定自己的方向，我们将是最好的选择，可以根据你的背景和兴趣帮助你找到方向和理想的专业。很多客户之所以喜欢我们，就是因为我们帮助他们找到了方向，从而保证整个过程以取得最佳结果。
我还没有确定申请欧洲学校还是美国学校，可以等到我决定好再开始吗?
经常有人问我们这个问题。我们想用这种方式来解释这个问题：你现在不会开车，但是出于某种原因，你急于想要知道到底是买一辆欧洲品牌还是美国品牌的车。你需要知道的是如何驾驶。一旦你知道如何驾驶，你需要知道的才是哪种方式最适合你的驾驶方式和目的。同样回归到这一问题，我们的优势在于可以帮助你找到这个方向。与其说依靠来自网站和朋友的不可靠信息来寻找答案，你应该依靠像我们这样专业和更可靠的公司，来帮助你获得这一答案。
看上去你们有许多学习艺术、设计和建筑专业的学生。是什么原因呢?
这是因为in-maginative最初是一家为艺术、设计和建筑专业的学生提供入学咨询的公司。然而，自2016年以来，我们一直在与越来越多其他专业的学生合作，这个数字一直在快速增长。