Hi. Brand new here. Repost from big forum. Suggested by some others I place here instead. Here it goes… Anyone have thoughts on hiring a College Consultant/ Coach? Is it worth it? I have a daughter interested in majoring in dance and has good academics. Just started junior year in high school. Any advice or experiences welcome. Also interested in why you decided to go that route and if you’ve already have, what sealed the deal on that choice. Are you happy you did? AND would you pay for it all over again? Thank you!
I think it really depends on how much research you/your dancer is willing to do, what kind of support she has at school, etc. You can learn so much by being willing to spend some time digging through sites like this one. If your daughter is focused on ballet, Ballet Talk for Dancers has a whole college section that is very helpful. What would you hope to gain by hiring a consultant?
Saving me some time is always nice. I’ve never even heard of these types of services until someone else I know mentioned one and I saw YouTube thing pop-up when I searched “FAFSA”
I will do pretty much whatever it takes to make a comfortable decision. However, I feel at the most comfortable when I’m in control.
For dance, I think that it would be worthwhile if you can find someone with significant experience in that specialty since it is not a mainstream course of study & therefore less material is available on the internet.
Because there’s a more limited set of BFA options, I think in some ways the research for that is easier (there are a bunch of rankings, and the colleges are listed on BTD etc, also you can find out where previous students from your studio or summer intensive went). And it’s easier to get a sense of whether you’d fit in at audition-based programs because lots of people are auditioning together and you often visit for the audition and spend a day in the dance department. On the other hand, I suspect putting together a list of non-audition BA-only colleges, where dance experience might act as an admissions differentiator if packaged correctly, is something where a private counselor might be able to help more.
The other side of admissions consulting is help with the essays, deciding on testing (SAT vs ACT), and advice on test prep, careers, majors, etc. and what is realistic in terms of expectations. Sometimes it is easier to take that out of parents’ hands (e.g. your kid hates it when you are nagging them to get things done, or needs to hear an independent view and isn’t going to get that from their overloaded HS guidance counselor), but that’s an individual decision.