<p>I understand it is critical to speak with your school's guidance counselor about college admissions, high school classes, financing, etc. Is there an advantage to hiring a private college counselor, without bias towards state schools for instance, as well? What are the pros and cons of each in the college planning process?</p>
<p>Well, you’ll be shelling out a lot for a private counselor. I’m guessing your school counselor is steering everyone towards the local state U?</p>
<p>I’ve found that while my GC is extremely helpful, a lot of the work in the process is between you and your parents. If your GC is trying to deter you from applying to certain schools or taking certain classes that you think are beneficial, it’s fine to ignore that advice.</p>
<p>And don’t forget that your school GC is crucial, so it’s wise to woo him/her over - after all, at our school our GC’s write recommendations for us, host a college fair and other workshops, and handle the madness that is sending official transcripts to schools and whatnot. </p>
<p>I think a private counselor may be helpful, but my father’s partner (not in the romantic sense, the work sense) is paying something ridiculous (like $10k) for a private counselor for his daughter (who’s my age), yet she attends a private school. I just don’t see the purpose behind hiring the private counselor; it’s not as if you have to listen to everything your GC tells you if you don’t agree with it.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice!</p>
<p>What’s a college counselor?</p>
<p>Someone who advises students in college planning…</p>
<p>Why waste your money on that? There’s plenty of help on this forum alone that could help you with your college planning, and it’s free.</p>
<p>I suggest you find a really good consular.</p>
<p>EDIT: Don’t spend money on a counselor if all the knowledge you need is online or in books. If you want dubious tips and tricks, then by all means, get a consular.</p>
<p>The college counselor at my school doesn’t sound helpful. She’s seen my tramscript once and said “UChicago is your dream? You’re in.”</p>
<p>NO I’M NOT MY SCHOOL HAS MAJOR GRADE INFLATION.</p>
<p>I have never had experience with a private college counselor, but may I ask what benefits would a private counselor bring that aren’t offered on this forum?</p>
<p>I suppose that having a counselor would be simpler than scrolling through the forum. He or she could also provide me advice and information specific to me and my stats. I know many people “chance” here at CC and that many posters have experience, but I believe a college counselor would have more of a professional background. Also, I don’t know if I want to post my stats here, for no other reason than I’d rather not.</p>
<p>Chance threads are a waste of time IMO. I pretend that part of the forum doesn’t exist, and instead focus on the aid/application forums, because they have a wealth of information, and it’s FREE!</p>
<p>My school has college counselors in place of “guidance counselors.” They’re there solely for the purpose of college planning, and I think this system works a lot better. My school has so many options for courses, and so it’s really good to have someone there to guide you in the right direction. Like, I thought I would need to be in AP Physics to be a competitive applicant, but my counselor provided me with enough information to convince me otherwise. Saved me from a really painful junior year.</p>
<p>As a private college counselor, I can tell you that I know no one who charges that kind of money. Most college counselors visit colleges regularly and have the time and expertise to help you through the college admissions process. Many high school counselors simply have too many other responsibilities to assist much with college planning. The average amount of time that public high school counselors spend with a student on the college search and application process is 38 minutes. There is a lot of useful information available online and in books, but it can not compare to working one-on-one with a private college counselor to make sure you have covered all your bases.</p>