We have two Seniors and need help with college application and essays. They are two very different individuals/students. Financially, we can make it work, but just not sure if they are worth it. It’s been difficult to find reviews that are not coming from within. Have read some posts here that have been somewhat helpful, but really want more in-depth reviews, good, bad and indifferent. Thanks.
What colleges do you want to know about?
Stanford, Ivy League, UC Berkeley, MIT, UCLA, but mostly everything about the college application process. Since we have two applying at once, it is pretty overwhelming.
That is s very top heavy list of excellent and costly colleges. Are you CA residents?
What are your twins’ GPAs and either SAT or ACT scores as these are highly competitive colleges with acceptance rates in the single digits. They are not a slam dunk for admissions for anyone.
I hope you are also looking at a wider range of colleges with a wider range os selectivity.
Perhaps you can explain why you are focused on these highly competitive colleges?
We used a local consultant for our older child because it was our first time through the process. She was helpful in getting our child organized and setting and maintaining a timeline of things to get done. She brainstormed essays and suggested some schools that might be matches. Our large public HS GC office was not set up to do any of this. They were focused on just getting kids to graduation.
We skipped her services for our younger child because we had it figured out by his time. In hindsight, we could have probably figured things out by ourselves for our older child through various publications, internet sources and school admissions webpages. But, having an “expert” take us through the process gave us assurances that we were not going to miss anything.
If you are considering another level of service, where the private counselor is extremely involved in the application process, I have no opinion.
Agree with @thumper1 - your list is very top-heavy. Reach schools for everyone. I had twins applying in 2014 and it is overwhelming. You need to be very organized. Have both kids made lists of Safety-Match-Reach schools? Are they finished with their testing, i.e. ACT/SAT scores they are happy with? What are they hoping to study? Are you looking for FA or Merit $$$? Where do you live? Answer a few more questions and folks here can steer you in the right direction, either towards specific schools or towards a consultant.
We had the same experience as @BKSquared. We used a consultant for our oldest child, but not the younger two. I will say that Susquehanna, the college the consultant really liked, ended up being the school our youngest attended. So I’m glad we used him!
yes, we live in CA. One of our boys is a very high achiever and has set this goal for himself. They have put together a list of all categories of schools, but he really wants to get into one of the top 10. Our other boy really is all about the feel and the fit and wants to stay closer to home. We need help with essays, personal statements and knowing what individual schools are looking for. We have never done this before, so we need help. Thanks
They have done tons of test prep and tests and brought their scores up and are now very satisfied with their results. They do have their lists of schools in all 3 categories. One will apply for merit scholarships but we do not qualify for financial aid, grants. And we are not willing to give up our parental rights to someone else to have them be able to qualify. They are going to get into a school because they have earned it and have worked really hard. But, as their parents, we want to use whatever resources we can find to help guide them, and us, through this maze, and send them in the right direction. We live in Northern CA. One boy wants to go into an Engineering program, which we know is highly competitive and very difficult to do and also wants to minor in Mandarin. The other boy does not know what he wants to study, but really liked Cal Poly SLO and UC Berkeley. Thank you.
Makes sense to go with a paid service based on the above. Good luck.
I’m glad you are casting a broader net than just the top 10 schools. Working hard, and getting good grades does not earn you college admissions at colleges that accept 10% or students. Let’s just say…90% get denied admission…and the vast majority are high achieving students who worked hard.
You are fortunate to live in CA where there are TONS of excellent public universities…and that is aside from Cal and UCLA. Both of your twins should be able to find schools that are suitable either in CA or part of the WUE exchange.
If they are high achievers, looking for merit is smart too.
Remember that the super selective private schools give admission to many who have unearned boosts or “hooks” (e.g. relation to donors, alumni, or prominent politicians), leaving less space for those who purely earn their way in.
Note: UCs do not consider relation to alumni, donor, or politician, or race/ethnicity, in admission.
With two in at once, you might be surprised that you receive some FA. If you haven’t already, run the NPCs at a few schools showing 2 attending simultaneously and see what comes back. It made a big difference for us.