Do College Consultants/counselors provide valuable advice and assistance in navigating through the college selection and admission process? How do we choose them without breaking the bank? Is it better to find someone within the region where we intend to apply?
Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Advice on CC is free.
Main advantage of a private college counselor, in my opinion, is that you can exchange information in a confidential manner with a knowledgeable person.
If cost is a concern, then it may be wise to address that upfront when sharing what you expect to receive in return for your money.
P.S. There are good & bad practitioners in all professions so consider using CC as a way to generate comments on advice received.
Agree with @Publisher.
One strategy to get a good private counselor and not break the bank is to look at some of the larger groups that do it, with 20+ counselors. They can sometimes be value priced, and if you can figure out the right person to get through interviews and recomendations - you got a bargain!
The best way to find a college counselor is word of mouth from other families in your area who have had success.
And as noted…ask questions here. There are folks who can give you good opinions, and then you can research from there.
Some families I know wanted a college consultant to handle all of this to reduce “conflict” between the parents and student.
What is your goal for the counselor? Someone to help an 11th grader put their application together or someone to work with an early HS student to help pick classes and activities that will meet their goals? Or someone who has “connections” that help students get into top colleges? What will the counselor do that you, your student and your HS GC can’t do?
Agree that word of mouth is likely the best approach, but if your student is aiming for a super elite schools, most kids, even with a counselor will be rejected. The best counselors are likely the most costly.
Thank you all.
@mom2and - I believe we already picked up the classes.
Activities - she has started a non-profit (501c) and been very active; also in other clubs like hosa, deca
We are not looking for a super-elite college; we are looking to see where she will be happy and has the flexibility to learn and be a well-rounded individual. Getting to know about scholarship strategies and funding aspects will be great as well…
Maybe try CC first. Along with your GC. And the various college guides (Fiske, Princeton Review, etc.) and Colleges that Change Lives website for a start.
I think one of the only reasons to use a consultant is if that helps the relationship between parent and child, as @thumper1 suggested. Or maybe for a student with ADHD who needs a coach to get things done.
We hired a college counselor for our s21. He is a first gen college student (neither my husband and or I graduated from college). The counselor we used is well known in our community. We went with her “application package” which started end of junior year and helped s21 pull his resume together, decide on which schools to apply to (he already had an idea) helped to craft essay ideas and then did editing, consulted through the application submission process. It was like a total of 10-11 sessions. S21 was more open to taking direction from an outside source than mom and dad lol.
He’s been accepted into all the schools we knew he would be and is waiting to hear from one reach and one match.
It was worth it in that our counselor kept him focused and on track. That being said, we will not be repeating the experience with our S23 twins. They don’t require “nudging” like their elder brother lol and can be relied upon to get it all done themselves.
CC has taught me so much that I feel confident navigating the process for tbt twins myself.
Yes, ADHD.
@Russ2050 I understand! One of mine has severe ADHD and we did make it through without a college counselor/consultant/coach with good results. That was way back when I first used CC and I was grateful enough to stick around.
@Russ2050 I am not a big proponent of colleges counselors, but there are cases where I would advise using one, and in your case, I would advise you to use one, but only if you have a consultant who is experienced with working with applicants who have ADHD. If the counselor doesn’t understand how ADHD works and how in affects people who deal with it, they may be far worse than useless - they can cause harm.
Good luck - ADHD kids have their own specific set of challenges and achievements.