Why we founded Lucent Education...

Starting a company is never a straight forward endeavor. The one thing that was extremely clear cut among the 3 founders was the mission of the company. The three of us have an immigrant background and came to the United States in pursuit of a system that valued meritocracy. While the United States definitely upholds meritocracy, we have come to acknowledge the sheer luck and privilege it requires to get in to top schools. We decided that we wanted it to be our mission to level the college admissions playing field.

The benefits that privilege bring start way beyond the time the application process starts. From personal tutors, to being a legacy applicant, the setbacks to those not in the 1% are numerous. The disparity between the have and have-nots are even more pronounced when it comes to the application process. Kids who can afford it fly around the country to visit schools. They send out multiple applications without any regard to application fees. Parents send their kids to private schools that have multiple counselors swarming all over their applications or pay tens of thousands of dollars for celebrity college admissions consultants.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with utilizing all the resources you have to put yourself in the best position possible. That said, it does put others at a disadvantage which is what we hope to remedy at Lucent.

We worry about two things. First, that people who do not have those resources give up on attending top schools before applying. Second, that people who have limited resources will turn out worse applications because they lack the funds or network to get coaching, feedback, and support.

The first issue of giving up without trying, we try to remedy by telling stories of unlikely candidates who made it to top schools. We also give out scholarships to prospective students from disadvantaged backgrounds. Very often, we do free consultation sessions with people.

The second issue of resources limiting access to help, we solve by splitting up our services in to multiple segments of the admissions process.  Within the admissions process, most people are great at some things and not so great at others. There is absolutely no reason for you to pay someone to do something you are already great at! Therefore, by breaking up the process in to pieces, you only purchase help for parts where you are not confident. Instead of paying $20,000 for services you didn’t need, you end up paying $2,000 to focus on where you really needed help.

It sounds cliché, but we really care about getting you in to the best school you possibly can. 

We hope that this article gives you a glimpse in to the minds of the people at Lucent Education and we look forward to helping you get in to your dream school.