My son is a junior this year. He goes to a decent public school with counselors that do the minimum to help with individualized college searches. My few interactions with the guidance department have left me frustrated and concerned. Is a college adviser a good option? Is it worth the money in the long run? I would love any recommendations for college advisers that people have had good experiences with. Again, we live in Fairfield County CT Also, does anyone know a general range of fees charged?
I don’t think it’s worth it. Plus, they can’t help much with picking schools because the ultimate list is made after visiting schools.
I can give you a dozen schools we thought were great on paper but were a total let down once visted, and vice versa.
University of Scranton sounds terrible, right, but I haven’t seen such nice facilities, housing and food in the majority of schools in its bracket. We saw Ursinus on the same day, and expected it to be great, but it was a huge let down. I could go on and on.
Just roll up your sleeves and find schools were your child is an average applicant and then add schools above and below.
Your guidance counselor will be more helpful once you have compiled a list.
Make sure you understand what the average means to your child. If your child is average where the acceptance rate is 50% that is a good risk. If your child is average where the acceptance rate is below 20%, then it becomes a long shot.
It is best at the beginning to think of your child as average and then work around that.
Luckily you have a boy, because many of the schools you will focus on are looking for boys.
Also, don’t forget the Catholic schools. If you visit you will see why.
Basically, there are 4 main areas where a private college counselor can help:
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Picking out an initial school list
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Advising on testing options and recommending SAT/ACT tutoring services
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Helping with essays
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Giving my son a kick when he fell behind in his progress on essays and SAT studying.
As my wife and I are pretty knowledgable on US schools, we did not need much help on 1, but the help on the last 3, particularly number 4, was invaluable. For us, it was worth it, as the UK schools here do not have the experience to advise kids on US options.
^^ I’d agree that it’s not worth it.
We live in FC too. I have seen people spend thousands of dollars, some starting when their child is in 9th grade, and then the kid ends up at a perfectly fine, but not mega-elite institution, because the kid’s and parents realize that the hype doesn’t always mean the best opportunities. The child would have had the same result on their own, without the family having paid some so-called expert (not to mention focusing so much on college admissions from the moment junior graduated 8th grade, instead of just doing what made sense based on interests and abilities with regard to academics and ECs). It takes a little bit of homework, but it isn’t the impossible task that some of these “advisors” would have you believe.
There are so many resources available to come up with a list of schools that are of interest (including reading here on CC). I like the gov site College Navigator, where you can search by region, size, SAT score ranges, religious affiliation (or not), and see admissions info, majors available, etc.
http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/
Most schools provide online access to their Common Data Set (CDS) which has all of the above info, plus how many students live on campus, how many in Greek, how many get financial aid & merit, etc etc. (and there are other, commercial sites, e.g. Niche, that summarize some of this info as well.
Start with the big questions: Major? Location? Size? Greek? Big Athletics? Financial need? Looking for Merit Aid? etc. Definitely visit some schools (so many available for quick days trips from FC) to help with the size/campus feel question if your child isn’t sure.
Be sure to sign up for the SAT and/or ACT. I think it’s a good idea to try both winter/spring Junior year, so you can determine if one is a better fit than the other, and have plenty of time to take at least one again if desired (e.g. Sep/Oct of senior year). If your child might be looking at elite schools, some will require SAT subject tests (or ACT w/writing). End of junior year is a good time for SAT subject tests while material is fresh.