College Consultants - What's with this?

Parents Forum
1

<p>I live in a somewhat upscale, high-acheiving town, and I constantly hear people talking about the fact that they hired a college consultant for their child. One teacher told me that she paid her college consultant $30,000 to help her son find and get into the college that was right for him.</p>

<p>Since it is likely that we can't afford one of these, I'm posting to find out how important they really are. Can they really make a difference between someone getting in and not getting in to a particular college? If we live in a town where everyone is using them, does that put my own child at a disadvantage vs. living in a town where no one is using them?</p>

<p>Thanks for any insight! We have a couple of years but I am trying to educate myself now.</p>

2

<p>We live in a similar area, a mixture of very well off and not-so-well off. Some kids in my D's class are using consultants, many more cannot afford them. From what I've heard, we've been able to achieve most of what a consultant could do for my D (i.e. research, gathering materials, etc.) One of the things a consultant has that I don't have is a preexisting relationship with Admissions Departments at some very prestigious U's.</p>

<p>I'm very curious as to how a teacher can afford a $30,000 consulting fee?</p>

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<p>Thanks SpringfieldMom. </p>

<p>I imagine that the teacher is probably married to someone in a much higher earnings bracket.</p>

<p>Sharon</p>

4

<p>College consultants help find schools, aid</p>

<p>Anne Ryman
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 7, 2006 12:00 AM </p>

<p>Finding a college is easier than ever, if you're willing to pay the price.</p>

<p>A growing number of parents are hiring private consultants to market their children to colleges and get the most financial aid possible. </p>

<p>The personal service costs $2,600 on average in Arizona, according to one survey. It includes services as varied as advice on polishing essays to prepping for a college interview. Some consultants even pester high school teachers who drag their heels on writing recommendation letters.</p>

<p>An estimated 5 percent of high school students nationwide used private consultants last year, up from 1 percent five years ago, a survey by the Independent Educational Consultants Association indicated. </p>

<p>The growth is due to three main reasons: record numbers of students headed for college through 2014 and vying for top schools; overworked high school counselors; and two-income households where parents find it hard to carve out time for college searches.</p>

<p>The service can get ultrapricey. In Los Angeles and Manhattan, the cost for a private consultant can exceed $6,000. A few East Coast consultants charge as much as $30,000, which has led to criticism from other consultants.</p>

<p>Critics, who include some college admission officials, say paying someone for advice may be a waste of money because many local high schools offer those services for free.</p>

<p>Private consultants and some parents beg to differ. </p>

<p>Overwhelmed</p>

<p>Hank Chaikin of Clarkdale was overwhelmed when he started to help his daughter, Harmony, search for colleges. He knew the well-known colleges but was unfamiliar with the thousands of smaller schools.</p>

<p>He worried that he would influence his daughter's choice and she would end up miserable at a school that didn't suit her.</p>

<p>So he turned to a private consultant for help. The consultant interviewed his daughter about her priorities and came up with a list of 20 possible schools. </p>

<p>Chaikin credits the consultant with finding Beloit College, a small liberal arts school in southern Wisconsin. Nearly four years later, his 22-year-old daughter loves her choice. The average class size is 15 students, so she gets to know her teachers. She will graduate in May with a bachelor's degree in Spanish. </p>

<p>"It's a tremendous amount of work with or without a consultant," Chaikin said of the search. "At least with a consultant, it's productive."</p>

<p>Consultant services</p>

<p>Chaikin has no regrets about the $2,000 he paid to consultant Walter "Judge" Mason of Sedona. Mason, a Yale and Harvard graduate, was a college counselor at private schools. </p>

<p>A little over half of Mason's business comes from Arizona, and the rest comes from places as far away as Boston, Miami and Chicago. When he visits students in other states, the parents pick up the tab for his first-class plane ride, meals and hotels.</p>

<p>Like most private consultants, his business comes through word of mouth and his Web site, <a href="http://www.judgemason.org%5B/url%5D"&gt;www.judgemason.org&lt;/a>. </p>

<p>Mason helps about 20 students a year, charging an average of $4,500 for students who start seeing him the second semester of their junior year. </p>

<p>His services run the gamut from suggesting little-known colleges to helping students add personal flair to their essays. He even tags along with students on their college visits when asked.</p>

<p>One early challenge is to get parents beyond the name-brand schools that are increasingly hard to get into, such as Harvard, Yale and Princeton. Parents often have their hearts set on an exclusive school even when their teen has a "B" average, he says.</p>

<p>Mason doesn't discourage students from applying to a particular school, but he also suggests schools that may be a better fit or have a less competitive environment. These students are the most satisfying to help, he said, because they often end up at colleges that are great for them.</p>

<p>Pros and cons</p>

<p>College admission officers tend to view private consultants with skepticism.</p>

<p>Richard Shaw, dean of admission and financial aid at Stanford University, said consultants are helpful only if students don't have access to college guidance counselors in their high schools. </p>

<p>"I think a lot of people run to these folks because they think it will make a significant difference, and I don't think so," he said.</p>

<p>Shaw said parents and students can do their own homework on colleges through guidebooks and Web sites. If parents decide they want a private counselor, they should examine the counselor's background and find someone who has done high school counseling, he said. </p>

<p>For their part, consultants say their services are valuable. The average high school counselor deals with 450 students, making it difficult to give all students the attention they need. </p>

<p>For parents new to the college search, the amount of information can be overwhelming, and it's important to choose the best fit for the student.</p>

<p>Big decisions</p>

<p>Twins Jordan and Aliza Kravitz, 17, know the stress of the college search all too well.</p>

<p>On a recent day, they sat around the kitchen table at the Scottsdale home of one of two consultants they'd hired: Ann Evans and Shannon Barth. Jordan got pointers on her essay. Aliza cut words from her resume to make it easier to read. </p>

<p>The twins meet with Evans and Barth once a week as they get ready to enter the crucial application period. Barth, a former English teacher, helps them on essays. Evans, a former high school guidance counselor, works on the general search.</p>

<p>The Kravitz kids are "A" students at Chaparral High School, but even so, they worry because it's getting harder to crack the top schools. They will apply to as many as 15 colleges, which was unheard of a decade ago. </p>

<p>Jordan wants to be an architect and is looking at colleges with top programs. Aliza, who is undecided, wants a college with a good academic reputation but that is not overly competitive. </p>

<p>The twins credit the consultants with keeping them organized by setting deadlines for each phase of the search: essays, resume, applications and letters of recommendation.</p>

<p>"I'm still fairly stressed, but it's a good stress," Aliza said.</p>

<p>Like most kids and parents who turn to consultants, the motives boil down to two factors: Time is short, and a lot is at stake.</p>

5

<p>Wednesday, April 30, 2003</p>

<p>More parents are hiring pros to coach kids for admission</p>

<p>By Fredreka Schouten
USA Today</p>

<p>An American rite of passage is turning into a growth industry.</p>

<p>Growing numbers of harried parents are seeking professional help to sculpt their kids' r</p>

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<p>It's all a scam. If they put in the time and do their research, students will be able to obtain identical information for free. It's an industry that preys on the insecurities of families about how their children are inadequate when in reality there are multiple schools at which their children will be happy and equally as successful. </p>

<p>Don't buy in for the return on the investment will be minimal.</p>

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<p>But some people like to brag that they CAN pay a consultant. It's a sign of their affluence in a community. Just like when parents pay big $$$ to send their children to summer programs or SAT prep classes.</p>

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<p>Not meaning to hijack this thread, but how much $$$ would you pay to get into the college of your choice? If parents on CC could buy their child's way into Stanford, Berkeley or the Ivies, how far would they be willing to go?</p>

<p>Some people on CC seem so much into the status, prestige and selectivity thing, that I truly believe they WOULD pay a premium to get what they want academically for their child!</p>

9

<p>I don't think that it is a scam. I think that hiring a consultant is very useful for families where the applicant, and/or the parents are not willing to put in the time to investigate schools, fill out apps without handholding (for the student to do, but some apparently require handholding), and don't want to sweat the fafsa alone. I know several upper middle class families who used these consultants. I think the entire process, when done well, is extremely time consuming. I think it is even tougher for those in various income brackets looking for financial aid/merit aid. I think consultants are very useful for the procrastinating family, who is beginning a search at the very end of junior year, or even early senior year, b/c one simply will run out of time.</p>

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<p>There is a big difference to plunking $$ for a guarantee that you will get something, and gambling. There is no guarantee that ANY college counselor or ANY huge contribution to a college will get your kid admitted. People like to talk down their noses about development admits, but I can tell you that a number of them contribute to schools where their children are rejected. It's not a contract.<br>
I am afraid college consultants are going to become the SAT prep courses of the future. It used to be that people in the colleges and guidance offices would scoff at the idea of taking prep courses, and kids snuck off for them. Now it is a rare counselor that will not advise you look into them. At the college meeting that I attended last week, it was an addendum that kids could self study with the caveat that it has to be a disciplined person to do this, and a rarity. And this is at a school with highly motivated kids taking rigorous courses. Now you sneak around with college counselors because neither high school gcs nor adcoms are particularly impressed if you are using one. It can impact your admissions negatively at highly selective schools if they get a whiff of paid consultants. The counselors will tell you that you should not let it out that you are using them.
If you can get a good college counselor, of course it will help you. The thing the counselor has that you and your family does not, is objectivity. He will also have a broader knowledge of more colleges. Even doing intensive research, it is difficult to get a handle on colleges that are not in your geographic region. Some of these counselors have been in the business at admissions offices of colleges and as highschool counselors, so they know many schools from an insiders view.<br>
It's a shame that it is going down this path.</p>

11

<p>A few of my friends from the east coast and the west coast have availed of these sevices and have talked to me about it. It works for them.</p>

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<p>From the Arizona Republic article posted above:</p>

<p>
[quote]
Some consultants even pester high school teachers who drag their heels on writing recommendation letters.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>As someone who writes quite a few letters of recommendation each year, I have to say that this sounds highly counterproductive.</p>

<p>I encourage students to email me with a friendly reminder about a week before my letters are due, and I'm always happy to get such reminders.</p>

<p>To say the least, I would not be impressed with a reminder coming from a hired consultant.</p>

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<p>....................</p>

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<p>I think it's sort of analogous to using a money manager. You can do the research yourself and learn all about investing. You can find out which are the best stocks, bonds and mutual funds for your situation, for example. You can read magazines, websites, blogs, and newspapers -- even take courses -- to teach you what you need to know to manage your money.</p>

<p>On the other hand, you can pay someone to manage your portfolio if you don't have the time or the expertise. Nothing wrong with doing that, as long as you can afford it, I guess. But if you have the time and the inclination, you can do it yourself.</p>

<p>Similarly, you can research the college admissions process, find out which are the best colleges for your child's interests and your pocketbook, how to best present your child on an application, how to prepare for the SAT. There are numerous Internet resouces that you can learn from, as well as books, articles, college websites, etc. It's time consuming (ask any CC addict :)) but it's also productive. But it you can afford it and you prefer to leave things to a pro, I see nothing wrong with it. </p>

<p>I prefer to learn about both investing AND college admissions on my own, by researching and reading everything I can get my hands on. But that's just me. It's not for everyone. Bottom line, though, is that a college consultant is no more necessary that a financial planner.</p>

15

<p>
[Quote]
Since it is likely that we can't afford one of these, I'm posting to find out how important they really are. Can they really make a difference between someone getting in and not getting in to a particular college? If we live in a town where everyone is using them, does that put my own child at a disadvantage vs. living in a town where no one is using them?

[/Quote]
</p>

<p>I'm sure college consultants can help, but they're certainly not necessary. You can probably find out all that you need to know here on these forums, supplemented by a few inexpensive, readily available books. You just need to be able to put in the time to educate yourself. I had a great time learning about current college admission strategies and made a great group of like-minded "virtual friends" here.</p>

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<p>onesharon</p>

<p>If you have the time and inclination, I'd suggest helping your child with the process yourself. I've found it to be a fun and satisfying "part-time job". We got a few guide books (Fiske and Insiders, as well as Colleges That Change Lives), then I got guidelines from my son about what he was looking for, read through the guides and flagged about 30 schools that met his criteria, making sure they were at all different levels of selectivity. He read through descriptions of those and picked 20 to visit. After visits, he has 10 he'll apply to. We made the visits into fun family vacation trips. I've also done practice interviews with him And read books about admissions and essay writing so I could give him some pointers.</p>

<p>That said, not everyone has the time or inclination for this. I'm a stay-at-home Mom who loves to do research. We also have excellent college counselors at our public hs. And we had the time and resources to visit all those colleges and only the one child so, it wasn't disrupting the vacations of other children. Every family is different. It's been a joy for me, but it might be miserable for someone else.</p>

<p>So I think that paid consultants can be valuable resources for some families. I cringe when I hear a $30,000 price tag, but most families spend a much smaller amount, say $2,000 and feel they get great value for their money.</p>

<p>My point is, don't assume you need a consultant; you can do this yourself. But also don't feel bad about using a consultant if that feels better for your family.</p>

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<p>Parents should be well informed and involved in the process even if you have a top drawer counselor. You know things about your student, and your family situations that are not easily conveyed to others and then there is the old instinct factor that can trump all considerations. The counselor is just another info source. They may be college gurus but not gods.</p>

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<p>I would be sceptical about any consultant who claimed to have an inside track for elite college admissions. Adcoms are employees who are hired to recruit and select the best students for their colleges. They are not likely to risk their jobs due to some relationship with a paid consultant.</p>

<p>I do think consultants can be helpful in the college selection process. It can be difficult to page through the college guides looking for the best choices. A good consultant should be able to help with this process, but I doubt they are needed for any family willing to invest some time. The selections are best made by the student after campus visits. I doubt that there are many consultants who are really familiar with more than a few colleges. Certainly none of them would be visiting hundreds of colleges on a regular basis. </p>

<p>I have some doubts about how useful a consultant would be in packaging a student and improving the applications. There is no magic formula. The hints posted by GSP cover all the basics. I suspect a consultant could be very helpful in tracking all the deadlines, paperwork and followup for missing information. None of that is difficult, but it is time consuming. I can understand why someone with money would prefer to pay someone to do this.</p>

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<p>Another reason I've heard for using a paid consultant is that some teenagers listen to a non-parent better than they would a parent. Wasn't true in our case, but may be true for some.</p>

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<p>A good consultant is another info resource. You can do without any number of resources. But having good resources at hand can make the job easier.</p>