<p>Son is working with a private college counselor due to the overwhelming work load our (public) HS GC's have (900 or more students per gc). Said private counselor asked for my son's passwords so she could access all of his online application accounts with the various colleges he is applying to. She also wanted his college board account information. I do not know why our counselor would need to do anything more than edit his essays and comment on general activities prior to his applying, but was told that she needed to go over the actual applications online to be sure they were correct. I am uncomfortable handing out access to personal acounts that include family financial information and son's social security number. (Note: I know for sure she is not trying to do anything criminal) Anyone here have a private consultant that has asked for this type of access/information? Thoughts?</p>
<p>maybe she'll be satisfied with the printed preview version?</p>
<p>I wouldn't let her have access either. I think I'll let her view the online while DD is there with her. I want DD to learn the process as well.</p>
<p>I've never hired a college counselor but I wouldn't give this kind of access. I would hope that she'd be helping my child through the process, not actually doing the work herself. If she wants to read the application to ensure accuracy and give advice she can look at hard copy printouts. A printed score report gives her all the information she needs about SATs. If she recommends your son use some of the features available on College Board (college match or whatever) she can explain them to him or they can work on it together.</p>
<p>Can your son go through the apps with her (i.e. sit by her, enter his own passwords)? We didn't use a private college counselor, so I don't know if this is common..... Soozievt can help you, I bet.</p>
<p>Excuse me, but:
A. Fire the private counselor...she does not need to be able to get into his things...and I think it is a gimmick (don't hate me)
B. Walk into the school and get an appointment with GC.<br>
Guidance counselors with 800+ don't really know the students unless they are sitting there with them. So force them to get to know you
C. GC's have very little to do with the application process. I only know of 1 place that my son applied to req a GC rec. In that case a private counselor would not have been accepted.</p>
<p>What was your motivation in hiring this person to start with?</p>
<p>My first impulse would be to fire the private counselor. </p>
<p>Assuming I didn't act on my first impulse, and assuming there were good reasons to have hired this person in the first place, I would politely decline to provide this level of access. </p>
<p>It appears to me you need to back up a bit and talk with her and clarify what you have hired her to do (and not do).</p>
<p>I bet she wants the access information so that she can keep an eye on the status of the applications. That's where they list things that might be missing or not received yet, and where they eventually verify that the application is complete (including the fee, the test scores, etc). She might also want to be able to verify acceptances or rejections for herself, rather than take someone's word for it or, maybe never hear at all.</p>
<p>I'd be too cheap to hire a counselor in the first place, so I can't comment on others' suggestions to fire her.</p>
<p>If it is for access info that she is doing...fire her!<br>
It only takes 2 mins. a day to figure out your kids status, especially if they are doing common apps. Every college will send a verification via the email u submit. If they don't do that u can look it up yourself to see what is missing.</p>
<p>MOST IMPORTANTLY!!!!
Some colleges make your child hand their ss# to create their account. To access it with the password, she is now able to view everything...INCLUDING PARENTS INFO!</p>
<p>SORRY THIS NO WAY IN HADES THAT I WOULD ALLOW A STRANGER INTO PERSONAL INFO ANYTIME THEY WANT.</p>
<p>BTW...what is she giving you with this fee? Not meaning to be mean just curious</p>
<p>Don't do it. Promise the counselor that you will check the accounts and report to her.</p>
<p>Remember, just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you!</p>
<p>I'll offer some support for the "other side" of this question, together with the caveat that the private counselor was wholly remiss in not explaining WHY she wanted password access. </p>
<p>What she MIGHT have said was:
"Kids whose parents hire me are often under a lot of pressure from their parents. And sometimes kids respond to that by failing to report information that they think would upset their parents. And of course the kids themselves are young and sometimes naive with regard to the process. And sometimes they misunderstand my own inquires as to what has been submitted and whether those materials actually got into the student's application folder. Two years ago a student sent a required form to the wrong department and lost out at a chance to attend his first choice college. So, the purpose of my asking for direct access is so I can adequately supervise the process, and make sure your child is in the best possible position with regard to his/her applications. I realize this may make some parents uncomfortable. If this is true with your family, I'd be happy to sit with your child on a weekly basis, and review the submitted materials." </p>
<p>DISCLAIMER: This whole situation was very poorly handled by the private counselor IMHO.</p>
<p>Just a ? if you are in the field please educate us on why we would pay your fee...not being antagonistic, just want to know did I fail my kid/s by not looking into this?</p>
<p>Just a quick, anecdotal story.</p>
<p>I once read an essay that ended very abruptly and was followed by what seems to have been notes. The notes were all in caps, which makes me think they were added to get the applicant's attention. They addressed the writer (something like "you need to talk about your..."), so they seemed to be written by a third party. </p>
<p>I actually felt badly for the kid because the scenario I envisioned is along the lines of what's being described. The student wrote the essay, someone else logged in to read it and add some suggestions, and the student didn't revisit the essay before submitting the application.</p>
<p>^^ Oh Dear!!</p>
<p>Just be very, very careful about sharing login information.</p>
<p>I've seen a letter from a parent asking officers to overlook typos in a student's app because the parent logged in and made some changes without his/her child's knowledge. The student submitted, thinking things were in place as they were the last time they had logged in.</p>
<p>we used a private GC and she never asked for any passwords. IMO she does not need collegeboard password you can print out the scores and give them to her,after all how many times will she need to go to that site! Do not give her the passwords</p>
<p>There is certainly a risk that she's going to steal the SSNs and other personal information, but I think there's also a significant risk that she's going to totally rewrite the essay, answer all the questions, and "flesh out" the ECs. I'd be uncomfortable too.</p>
<p>Still what does this person actually do? How do you find one? Why do you hire one? I know it sounds naive, I am just not getting why you pay for someone...sorry if I jave insulted anyone</p>
<p>Counselors provide a range of services; so it depends on what it was agreed this particular counselor would do. She may be concerned that your son be successful in his college applications as success or failure would redound on her as well as on your son.</p>
<p>Some counselors do ask to review the whole application, making sure the college's name is spelled properly and there are no other typos or mistakes and lacunae. Some suggest how to list ECs, explain them (some even suggest what ECs a student should pursue). Some suggest which colleges a student should be applying to, and so forth. If, however, you have only retained a counselor to review the essay and do not wish to share other information with her, then be clear with her that this is all that is required of her.</p>
<p>Dean J has described one of the reasons I have refused to share son's passwords with anyone. Another is just that I think it is my son's responsibility to actually apply to college, proofread the online application, and hit submit. (God, if he cannot even do that, how will he proofread his papers and turn them in next year?) I do find it okay to have a consultant read the essays and short answers, go over the resume during meetings prior to applying, and even review a printed out copy of the application upon request, but the actual process should be my son's and this a good time for him to realize how important it is to protect his privacy. (Heck, I dont know who may eventually gain access to her files, which would have my son's SS# and plenty of info about the hubby and myself to boot.) She is a nice, honest, competent enough person who donates a lot of time to the community. It just turns out that it may not be the best choice for my son as he is very independent and very sincere and wouldn't even put an extra comma in his application if he didn't truly believe it needed to be there. I also suspect she would like to have her own database (like a detailed scattergram) that she can refer to for future clients, and having printed applications from schools with the acceptance/rejections noted on them would give her lots of information to use in her consulting business. I feel a tad cynical writing that, but I guess that has entered the deeper recesses of my mind. It probably isn't a common practice among consultants. I was really just curious more than worried about what to do because she was quite defensive when I refused to hand over the passwords and I wanted to get a bit of feedback on the subject. Thanks all.</p>