<p>Haha actually my cousin in New York got into Yale, but in the past she was told by her counselor that she had no chance. The counselor made her cry twice back then.</p>
<p>I think a good counselor would be honest rather than saying you can get in anywhere, or at least tell you you aren’t quite there and you need to work harder.</p>
<p>Personally, I think my counselor (which was a hefty sum) helped a lot in terms of just organizing things and laying them out for me, explaining em, etc. I wouldn’t have done half the stuff I’ve done or known a fraction as much about college admissions as I do now, but I guess it depends on where you go.</p>
<p>I’ve been telling myself that! I’m not sure if that counts, though :p</p>
<p>After wiorking with teenagers for 25 years I can tell you that what is said and what is heard can often be two very different things…many times a “you’d better apply to some safeties in addition to Cornell because your chances of getting into Cornell are less than 50%” is heard as “you can’t get into Cornell so don’t even apply”…</p>
<p>wow you guys all hire private counselors?</p>
<p>I thought it was pretty uncommon… maybe I’m wrong</p>
<p>If you need a private counselor just to apply to colleges, you probably have no business going to college. That’s just absolutely ridiculous.</p>
<p>I agree… I mean someone to edit essays and stuff is a different story, but hiring someone for thousands of dollars is crazy. If it was less than 1,000, then maybe , but not over 1,000</p>
<p>and councelers cant be honest, because they arent admissions, they don’t know if you will be accepted or rejected</p>
<p>
They’re the same people on this forum seeking direction about life’s excruciating minutiae that normal people seem to figure out on their own. How many pairs of socks do I bring to college? Do I have to attend every orientation event? Which backpack should I buy?</p>
<p>I can’t even understand what it’s like to be that spoiled and clueless. Hire a college counselor? I don’t think my dad even knew I applied to Cornell until I got my acceptance letter.</p>
<p>We have not used any counselors but i have no problem with those that choose to.</p>
<p>Some people value additional insights from people who have been through the process before and have broader familiarity with colleges and the process than they have. And they have the money to pay for it, and may be short on time. In some communities it is very common.</p>
<p>In the end some of these people find they were helped, others find they wasted their money.</p>
<p>But it’s their money, IMO one shouldn’t criticize just because you would choose to spend yours differently.</p>
<p>We decided to economize here by allegedly cleaning the house ourselves. In reality we don’t do it very well and the house is a mess. Will you criticize me for wasting my money if we spring for the cleaning service ??</p>
<p>Would you have been more comfortable with me criticizing the generally unscrupulous business of [private</a> college admissions consulting](<a href=“Before College, Costly Advice Just on Getting In - The New York Times”>Before College, Costly Advice Just on Getting In - The New York Times), which thrives on taking advantage of upper middle class overly anxious helicopter parents? Or would you have found some other fault with my post to criticize either way? You honestly can’t sit there and say that applying to colleges and cleaning your house are analogous. The college admissions process is designed for the student (not their parent, not their private “counselor”) to find a college that fits their interests and show that college who they are. If you can’t handle that responsibility on your own, as someone who is nearing full-fledged adulthood, there is a strong possibility that you can’t handle the responsibilities you’ll have to take on in college.</p>
<p>
Well, I don’t really see a problem with people using this resource (although I’ll admit there are a lot of dumb questions). It’s free and it’s designed to help students navigate the admissions and transition processes on their own.
QFT</p>
<p>Monydad</p>
<p>Any borderline-literate 17 year-old can figure out how to apply to Cornell and how to register for the SAT. So what’s left? You need to pay someone thousands of dollars to tell you whether you have a chance at getting into a school? </p>
<p>I criticize people who use college conselors in the same way I criticize people who purchase gold-plated toilets or commission life-sized equestrian statues of themselves. It’s a humorously unnecessary luxury.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Of course they can’t know for sure, but they do have a database of students who have applied to X school, who got in (and who got rejected) with what stats, their application essays, and what activities they did, so it makes for good comparison (students all tend to be in the similar schools in the area too, so school competitiveness is less of a factor).</p>
<p>Your HS Guidance Department should have that information as well.</p>
<p>That’s actually the reason I hired an outside counselor, my HS’s Guidance Department is notoriously unhelpful. From schedule changes to simple meetings, they seem reluctant to support the students. For a quick example, roughly 50 people had to get their schedules changed and they said they would have them today. They did 2 and said come back Monday.</p>
<p>"Any borderline-literate 17 year-old can figure out how to apply to Cornell and how to register for the SAT. "</p>
<p>True, but that’s hadly the point. In some of the more competitive neighborhoods near me, they are worrying more about: what do they need to have, in terms of choice of courses/APs, grades, extracurriculars, to be competitive at certain colleges coming from their ultra- competitive school district, what is the personality of each college and where do I fit, which colleges have these certain programs that interest me, is this the kind of essay that will put me in the best light, should I get the rec letter from this teacher or that teacher. They could take the time to research this themselves, on Cc or wherever, . Then again, I can take the time to clean my house. Frankly a cleaning service would probably clean my house better. Some of these people feel that an experienced counselor is a better bet to offer college guidance than whatever they might come up with themselves, given their limited time and expertise.</p>
<p>Some parents who are looking at a $200,000 price tag are not willing to delegate this decision completely to the hands of a teenager with still-developing brain and maturity, without some additional guidance and support.</p>
<p>Whether I agree or not, that’s how it is. Lots of well-off people in areas near me are using counselors.</p>
<p>There are huge (contentious) threads about this on the Parent’s forum.</p>
<p>Like I said, it’s facetious to say that house cleaning and college selection are analogous.</p>
<p>“Like I said, it’s facetious to say that house cleaning and college selection are analogous.”</p>
<p>…you don’t get it…I could clean my house and do an adequate job but a professional house cleaning service couild do a significantly better job because they have more experience, better tools at their disposal, time, etc. This is probably true for 90% of all homeowners. The same can be said of college selection and admission. Many can do an adequate job but a professional with experience of dealing with the top schools could do a better job. Based on what I’ve learned from CC & my first daughters college search I feel my second D has a much better chance of getting into a top level school. Most people don’t have the time, interest, or educational background so it is easier for them to hire someone.</p>
<p>No, you “don’t get it”. It doesn’t matter who cleans your house, so long as it’s clean. But the college search process is about the student. If you get into Harvard, but had to pay $40,000 to a private counselor to do so, you didn’t really get in.
The only thing I had was interest and I think I turned out okay. That said, if your kid isn’t “interested” in looking at colleges…they probably shouldn’t be going off to college.</p>
<p>unfortunately, kids mature at different rates. However they all are expected to get out of our houses at essentially the same point in time regardless. And we have a vested interest in making sure this happens, because we are more than ready for it whether or not they are.</p>