Hello, looking for some advice. Did parents who used the services of a college admissions advisor feel that it made a difference? Advice I’m looking for is in terms of how best to spend student’s time given that there’s so much going on. I understand one can read all the forums / blogs etc but we didnt study in the US so have very little knowledge of how to navigate. Thank you !
I have not used the services, but know someone that has. They were parents that had next to no idea on how the college admissions process worked, so I guess it ended up working out.
Based on what I heard, people who are regulars on this forum would’ve been more than capable in guiding the admissions process.
I hired outside college counselors for both my children, one currently a senior, the other a junior. Best money I spent. With the senior, the college counselor helped him organize and stay on track with all his college essays. The counselor edited them as well, and kept the essays in my son’s voice (I wasn’t entirely impressed with the essays, but I can definitely tell it was my son who wrote them, not the counselor). My husband and I weren’t at all involved, which avoided fights with our son. Most of his essays were written over the summer and done by Sept. 1, reducing the workload as he entered his senior year. So, while most of the parents on CC have the knowledge to navigate their child through the application process, an outside counselor helps keep the child on task and eliminates the friction at home.
TL;DR: Money well spent to get essays done and minimize fights with parents.
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Depends on a number of factors and your expectations.
We hired a counselor for our first kid. My wife and I had applied for and attended college prior to the “Common App” era, so we were concerned about the process steps, deadlines and requirements. She was also a recruited athlete so that added another layer of complication. We could have researched this ourselves, but a local private counselor was recommended and she was not overly expensive. She did help suggest colleges, but mostly she kept our first kid on track in terms of getting things done. She also helped brainstorm with our kid on college essays. I think for first timers unfamiliar with the US system, especially if the kid is at public HS where the GC’s are more concerned with getting their kids to graduate HS, this could be money well spent to alleviate concerns that your kid may miss a deadline or requirement.
For kid 2, who was also a recruited athlete, we did not use a counselor. We knew what the steps were and had plenty of knowledge gleaned from kid 1.
If you are looking for more personalized services, creating, sorting and narrowing lists of schools (what are safeties, matches and reaches that fit your kid), more hands on essay help and opinions on EC’s/enhancing EC’s, and generally creating a marketing package for your kid, I’d say “buyer beware”. I do think an outside informed opinion on safeties, matches and reaches is helpful and within the competency of many/most established counselors. Expecting a counselor to provide the ticket to a T20 is unrealistic. IMO, at best they can take a kid with T20 qualifications and enhance their chances. You really need to do a deep dive due diligence on the counselor you are assigned (not just the company) in terms of background and track record, as well as their fit with your kid.
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I think another concern would be counsellors that care only about their success rates. For example, advising clients to apply to match schools as reach schools. At the end of the day, it is a business, so they want to make their success rates as high as possible.
After several decades, I am still bewildered by those who spend months working on college essays.
With respect to private college advisors, it depends upon one’s needs & expectations as to whether or not hiring one is worthwhile.
Everyone on here will have a different opinion so YMMV. Does the school not have a guidance counselor? Also, what is the end game here? If your kid is the standard strong (future) 4.3/1500/8AP variety and the goal is to get into Harvard, then working with a top rated counselor might help. There are some wonderful ones out there but the key is to start very early, like as a freshman. Those are the kids that do well.
For most such kids starting late (junior or later), there is little to no benefit because the opportunity window is quite small. The dirty secret is that where your standard strong kid will end up has to do a lot with how much you can pay. Exclude elite schools and public ivies from this list.