Terms & Conditions for Sum Total Consulting Scheduling
By booking, purchasing, or attending any session with Sum Total, LLC, doing business as Sum Total Consulting, the Client agrees to the following Terms & Conditions.
1. Parties and Applicability
These Terms & Conditions apply to all higher education consulting services provided by Sum Total Consulting and its affiliated consultants to the Client, the student, the student’s family, the parent/caregiver, and, where applicable, any additional sibling client included in the selected service package.
For purposes of these Terms, “Client” means the person purchasing or scheduling services and any participating family member. “Student” means the prospective college-going individual receiving services.
2. Scope of Services
Sum Total Consulting provides higher education consulting services, which may include, depending on the package or session selected:
Proprietary curriculum used to assess student interest and initiate family engagement; financial aid and scholarship guidance; career and graduate school counseling; college choice advising and program selection; college and university admissions strategy; application preparation, review, and editing; essay support through guidance and feedback; summer program planning; and interview preparation.
Services are limited to the package, appointment type, or session selected at the time of booking or purchase.
3. Services Not Included
Unless separately agreed in writing, services do not include guaranteed placement on college lists, waitlists, or admissions outcomes; direct communication with admissions offices, faculty, or enrollment staff on the Client’s behalf; writing, drafting, or completing essays, applications, forms, or submission materials for the student; tutoring, test preparation, or academic instruction; legal, tax, or licensed financial planning advice; or services for individuals not included in the purchased package or scheduled appointment.
Additional or modified services may be provided only by mutual written agreement.
Unless otherwise stated, sessions are 60 minutes in length. Sessions may occur by Zoom or in person, depending on the service selected and mutual availability.
Sessions may be designated as student sessions, family sessions, or parent/caregiver sessions. Student sessions are for the individual prospective college-going student. Family sessions may include the student and up to three additional participants representing the student’s family constellation. Parent/caregiver sessions are for custodial adults directly involved in the student’s emotional and financial support.
The parent/caregiver or Client booking services is responsible for ensuring the student’s attendance, preparation, and participation in all scheduled sessions.
5. Session Expiration
All purchased sessions must be booked within 12 months of purchase or execution of the applicable agreement, whichever is earlier. Sessions not booked within that period expire and are not refundable.
6. Client Cancellation, Rescheduling, and No-Shows
The Client may cancel or reschedule a session by providing at least 24 hours’ advance notice.
If the Client cancels with less than 24 hours’ notice or fails to attend a scheduled session, the session is forfeited and no refund or credit will be issued for that session.
A one-time rescheduling exception may be granted at Sum Total Consulting’s sole discretion. Two or more late cancellations or no-shows during the service period may result in forfeiture of remaining sessions and termination of services. 7. Consultant Cancellation or Rescheduling
Sum Total Consulting may cancel or reschedule a session by providing at least 24 hours’ advance notice when reasonably possible. Sum Total Consulting will make reasonable efforts to reschedule the session within a two-week period, subject to mutual availability.
8. Fees and Payment
Fees are as stated at the time of booking, purchase, or invoice. Full payment is due before the first session unless otherwise agreed in writing.
Payment must be made through the payment methods made available by Sum Total Consulting or through sumtotalconsulting.com. Failure to submit required payment may result in cancellation of the first session and require rescheduling.
9. Refund Policy
Fees are fully refundable only if the Client cancels at least 24 hours before the first scheduled session.
Once the first session has occurred, or if the Client cancels with less than 24 hours’ notice before the first scheduled session, no refund will be issued.
Completed sessions, forfeited sessions, expired sessions, and late-canceled sessions are not refundable.
10. Consultant Responsibilities
Sum Total Consulting agrees to provide guidance using accurate and timely information appropriate to the student’s process and stage of preparation.
Sum Total Consulting will commit to scheduled meetings and deadlines and provide support related to college preparation and application materials, which may include review of academic records, personal statements, supplemental essays, curricula vitae, brag sheets, resumes, and interview preparation.
Sum Total Consulting and affiliated consultants seek to adhere to applicable ethical standards of national and regional college admission counseling associations, including NACAC and SACAC.
11. Client Responsibilities
The Client and participating family members agree to book sessions through the approved scheduling system; complete assigned tasks before each session; communicate regularly and appropriately through approved channels; provide complete and accurate information needed for services; and participate in the admissions process ethically and conscientiously.
The Client acknowledges that Sum Total Consulting’s ability to provide effective guidance depends on the quality, completeness, accuracy, and timeliness of information provided by the Client and student.
12. Student Authorship and Academic Integrity
All application materials, including essays, short answers, forms, resumes, and other submissions, must be completed by the student.
Sum Total Consulting provides strategy, guidance, feedback, and editorial support. Sum Total Consulting does not write essays, complete applications, fill out forms, or create submission materials on behalf of the student. The student remains the sole author of all submitted materials.
The Client and student agree not to engage in dishonesty, misrepresentation, academic dishonesty, or unethical conduct in connection with the admissions process.
13. No Guarantee of Outcomes
Sum Total Consulting does not guarantee admission outcomes, financial aid awards, scholarship offers, waitlist movement, test scores, college list placement, program acceptance, or any other specific result.
Outcomes depend on many factors outside Sum Total Consulting’s control, including student effort, institutional decisions, application competitiveness, timing, admissions policies, financial-aid policies, and market conditions.
14. Confidentiality
Sum Total Consulting will keep proprietary and sensitive Client information confidential and will not disclose such information to third parties without prior written consent, except as required by law.
Minor students may maintain a zone of confidentiality with the Consultant. Exceptions may include safety concerns, suspected abuse or neglect, court orders, or clear danger or imminent harm to the student or others.
Sum Total Consulting may use anonymized and de-identified client outcomes, such as aggregate acceptance rates or program statistics, for marketing, reporting, or professional development purposes. Personally identifying information will not be disclosed without prior written consent.
15. Proprietary Materials and Intellectual Property
All materials, curricula, tools, templates, resources, processes, and work product created or used by Sum Total Consulting remain the property of Sum Total Consulting unless otherwise agreed in writing.
The Client receives a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to use such materials for personal, non-commercial purposes only. The Client may not copy, share, reproduce, publish, distribute, sell, or otherwise exploit Sum Total Consulting materials without prior written permission. 16. Communication Boundaries
Approved communication channels are email and the scheduling or messaging tools available through sumtotalconsulting.com, unless otherwise agreed in writing.
Sum Total Consulting will respond to Client communications within two business days. Communications sent outside business hours, Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM EST, will be addressed on the next business day.
The primary participating family member is the point of contact for scheduling, billing, and administrative communications. The student is the primary point of contact for session-related content and preparation.
Between-session communications should be limited to scheduling, session preparation, and brief clarifying questions. Substantive advising, strategy discussions, and document review occur during scheduled sessions. Communications requiring more than a brief response may be redirected to a scheduled session.
17. Termination
Either party may terminate services by providing written notice to the other party. Termination takes effect upon receipt of written notice, and all remaining scheduled sessions may be canceled.
Sum Total Consulting may terminate services immediately, without prior notice, if the Client, student, or any participating family member engages in abusive, threatening, or disrespectful behavior; fails to pay required fees; provides dishonest or misleading information; compromises the integrity of the engagement; engages in academic dishonesty or ethical violations; repeatedly fails to attend sessions; or repeatedly fails to prepare for scheduled sessions.
Upon termination, the Client remains responsible for payment for services already rendered. No refund will be issued for completed, expired, forfeited, or late-canceled sessions. Refunds, if any, are governed by the refund policy above.
Upon termination, Sum Total Consulting has no further obligation to provide remaining services, referrals, or transfer work product except as required by applicable law.
18. Independent Contractor
Sum Total Consulting provides services as an independent contractor. Nothing in these Terms creates an employment, agency, partnership, fiduciary, or joint venture relationship between Sum Total Consulting and the Client.
19. Limitation of Liability
To the fullest extent permitted by law, Sum Total Consulting’s total liability for any and all claims arising from or related to services shall not exceed the total fees paid by the Client for the applicable services.
Sum Total Consulting will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including lost opportunities, admissions outcomes, scholarship outcomes, financial-aid outcomes, or other institutional decisions.
20. Dispute Resolution and Governing Law
The parties agree to attempt to resolve any dispute through good-faith negotiation before pursuing any other remedy.
If a dispute cannot be resolved through negotiation within 30 days, either party may pursue mediation administered by a mutually agreed-upon mediator. Mediation costs will be shared equally unless otherwise agreed.
These Terms are governed by the laws of the state in which Sum Total Consulting’s principal place of business is located.
21. Entire Agreement and Changes
These Terms, together with the selected service, appointment type, package description, invoice, or written agreement, constitute the agreement between the parties regarding the scheduled or purchased services.
Any changes must be made in writing and approved by both parties. If any provision is found invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect.
22. Acceptance
By checking the acceptance box, booking an appointment, purchasing a package, submitting payment, or attending a session, the Client acknowledges that the Client has read, understood, and agreed to these Terms & Conditions on behalf of the Client, the student, and any participating family members.
