College planner for mid tier schools?

Parents Forum
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Recently went to a zoom meeting from a college planner who gave his sales pitch. Sounded interesting so we met with him.

This college planner’s business model is to find a college your kid can get into and graduate fast in order to save as much $$ as you can. Give him your FAFSA info (complete income data) and kid’s education info (SAT/ACT, GPA, AP class list, etc) upfront and he can give you a list of colleges your kids can best chance getting into and which ones he/she can graduate the quickest from and help you negotiate the best scholarship package. This college planner was much more interest in financial situation and seemed to downplay the academic requirements.

My kid has a descent SAT score but mediocre GPA (not terrible but not going to get him into top tier school which is OK with him and us). His extracurriculars are pretty good (Eagle Scout, GHP in Georgia, internship in field this summer). Wants to be a Comp Sci major which will be tough but not impossible.

Anyway,

Some statements made by College Planner that I’m trying to fact check because it runs counter with a lot of what I read on internet and college forums:

  1. Outside of top tier/ivy schools, colleges don’t really read essay
  2. “” “”, GPA not as critical as SAT score (as long as it’s 3.0+) and AP makeup (not sure he’s even concerned too much on AP class list).

I’m wanting to know if college planners are worth it if your not trying to get into Ivy league or top tier schools. This college planner is not that expensive compared to others we’ve heard about through friends but I just worry he’ll steer my kid to a college which isn’t very recognized in industry of choice and job offers maybe limited.

Any comments about college planners (in non top tier scenarios) would be helpful.

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Surprised about the comment re: SAT. Many colleges, even publics, are making standardized testing optional. Also wondering if graduating college as quickly as possible matches you and your child’s goals. I, for one, would like my kid to graduate in four years – no more, no less.

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Re: essay, our GC thought it was very school dependent. For some smaller schools, it carries more weight because they are concerned about fit. For a large, less competitive state school, he felt the essay might not get as much attention.

I am also surprised by GPA comment since so many have gone test optional.

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We used a college consultant with D20. They had a big board in the waiting room tracking acceptances and enrollments and the schools on the board ran the gamut from Ivy+, elite LACs, OOS flagships, instate publics, down to local community colleges, all sizes, all rankings. They helped craft a meaningful list balancing selectivity, merit opportunities, athletics and focused on finding the right fit. The board was interesting as it was updated showing where students were going and what they got for merit money. I don’t think planners are only for the top tier schools but you will likely find some that use Ivy+ acceptances as a sales pitch.

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Does this college planner have any college admissions credentials? For example, worked as a college counselor, or a UCLA College counseling certificate (other schools offer those programs too), or professional affiliations (NACAC, IECA)?

I have found that many financial planners don’t have a thorough knowledge of the admission process, nor do they stay on top of new developments. One financial planner presented to our school this year and said that colleges can see other colleges that a student sent FAFSA to…which is not true, and hasn’t been true for 6 or so years.

There are some schools where the essay isn’t meaningful, BUT no counselor really knows which ones, because it can and does change from year to year. Most colleges that are selective, say accepting under 50% of students, and practicing holistic admissions, are going to read the essays.

GPA is far and away the most important criteria that colleges look at, so i disagree with the test score is more important statement.

Regarding negotiating for financial aid, there are no insider secrets here. First rule of thumb is don’t call it a negotiation when you are speaking with FA staff. Parents can and do ask for more money all the time, some schools grant it, while others don’t. Some schools will consider offers that PEER schools have made and match those, while others won’t. All that information is generally on the schools’ websites, including various forms that might be necessary to kickstart the process.

Unless the student has many AP, DE, or CLEP credits, I don’t know how they would be able to graduate early. Perhaps by taking summer school, but doing internships would be relatively more important IMO.

In summary, I would not hire this financial planner. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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I’d skip him. To me the student is the most important, within cost constraints of course, but he’s putting cost as most important and is treating the student and actual education as an afterthought.

I bet you could do as well asking on here, but if you want a consultant, I’d keep shopping.

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For 1, the essay is probably less important at moderately selective colleges where GPA provides more of a difference between applicants (versus at the most selective colleges where so many applicants are compressed at the top of the GPA range). That does not mean that it is not read (unless the college does not use essays at all, such as the CSUs in California). For 2, high school courses and grades were generally considered more important than test scores before COVID-19, and COVID-19 forcing colleges to go test optional or test blind probably reduced the weighting of test scores overall.

Seems like the college planner may be doing what is common here on these forums, which is to ignore the essay and overemphasize test scores when estimating chances, since test scores are conveniently comparable across applicants and high schools, while college judgement of essays is generally quite opaque, and GPA is muddied by weighting, high school and student course selection differences in rigor, etc…

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Have you determined the financial constraints that your kid needs to abide by in college choice? Will your kid need the total cost to BA/BS degree to be “as low as possible” (which seems to be what this planner is targeting), or is anything under a threshold of $X (for a non-trivial $X) comfortable?

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Cost is not too much of concern assuming my kid can graduate within 5 years. It can be covered if needed. Not to say we won’t apply for what we can get. Bigger concern is picking right school that will get my kid the right opportunities (based on their mid tier qualifications).

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have not used a planner. but i will say, it does take a lot of time to do some of this research. EG: ap, DE, clep credits – what scores are needed, how they transfer in at colleges , and if those credits are needed for your kid’s degree. this is something you can do on your own if you want . . .

essays: lots of public schools don’t require them; none in our flyover state require them. (not a high population state - not enough kids to be highly selective). Essays at our public schools are used for special, extra scholarships - not admissions.

financial aid: no secret sauce for this. Paying for college comes from savings, out of pocket, kids earnings, loans, & scholarships. The American Opportunity Tax Credit can help some if you are below certain income limits (but don’t pay a planner for that info).

room and board: it’s expensive where ever your kid goes; and really no one will pay for this. If you really want to knock a price of a school down, go local and live at home.

this site can help a ton. the posters are wise and have been around for years. Some have 50K+ posts from more than a decade here of helping others. They are an amazing, free resource.

OP: your planner does sound focused on $/and getting in and out. If you are more concerned with fit and opportunities, i would wonder if this planner is a fit. ?

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Seems like a college counselor prioritizing “as cheap as possible” may not be the best fit for your goals.

However, realize that five years at a full pay private college can cost up to $400,000.

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From your OP you said he wants to be a CS major and you live in GA. Anything else you’d like in your ideal college (size, location, urban/suburban/rural, etc)?

I’m in PA, so not as familiar with many colleges closer to you, but I know I’ve seen CS majors do well getting job multiple high paying job offers from many different types of colleges as long as they were good at what they do. Around us, many like RIT and I think his stats could fit their profile if he’s “mid-tier.”

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Besides (maybe) costs, “mid tier qualifications” (whatever that means), and CS, what other preferences are there?

Many Georgia public universities have CS, so they may be worth a look as a starting point. Same with many other states, if your home state is other than Georgia.

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I would stay away from this advisor as I do not believe all of the information he/she is giving is correct.

For example:

–I have heard well over 50 admissions officers speak from schools ranging from Ivy to way less competitive institutions. Every single admissions officer has said that the most important piece of information is the HS transcript (which includes GPA and course rigor). Some schools also place a high emphasis on standardized tests while others are test optional – but I don’t think standardized tests are typically more important than the transcript.

–Course rigor is important. But counting AP classes does not automatically give you course rigor – an increasing number of high schools do not offer APs so the number of AP classes is not the critical factor. There is also a difference in rigor between AP classes (EX. AP Calc BC is more rigorous than AP Stats). In addition some non-AP courses may be considered more rigorous that some AP classes. (As one example, at our HS Latin 4 is a much more difficult course than AP Psych).

– Unless finances make it necessary why would your child want to graduate early? FWIW many decent HS students can graduate HS in three years – but they miss out on things like taking the most challenging course, taking on leadership positions in organizations, social life etc. The same is true for college – unless it is a fiscal necessity your child can take a lot of great upper level classes, perhaps do research with a professor, take on responsibilities with ECs etc. during senior year.

–In the huge colleges I agree that many times essays are not critical. However in mid-size colleges and definitely for LACs essays can be important way to differentiate oneself from the crowd. In fact my D’s LAC referenced a part of her essay in her admission letter.

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I would NOT give my fafsa information to anyone. Frankly, I view that as a red flag.

As a parent, you can run a net price calculator on all college websites. You can look to see if schools will take AP or dual enrollment classes towards a degree (some will and some won’t).

Sorry…but this doesn’t sound right to me!

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I think the OP’s definition of “mid-tier” needs to be clarified. That would help with better recommendations.

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Just use this website. Create threads, ask questions, weigh the answers. You’ll have everything you need :slight_smile:
In addition, I encourage you to read

and to start a “Journey” thread, too :slight_smile:

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My JC (junior child if I’m getting the lingo correct) has a 1400 SAT and 3.2 core class GPA (although he does get A’s in AP computer classes that are electives). Wants to do a CS Degree but GPA is limiting him. Does have a internship at software dev company lined up this summer. Mid tier targets are schools ranked in 20-50 range for CS.

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I think 20-50 ranking is still a high tier. Not mid tier. But thank you for your explanation.

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Search College Confidential for the thread for students with 3.0-3.4 GPAs. Those students have some very nice acceptances. And the people are willing to share their knowledge of the colleges they have looked into.

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