<p>Do you use one and why? What are you willing to pay to get the assurances? How common is it your area? </p>
<p>An Indian immigrant friend told me that many of her Indian friends hire counselors because they do not want to leave anything up to chance.</p>
<p>We hired a college counselor mainly because I was afraid that my procrastinating daughter would leave everything until the last minute and then apply to the same schools as her friends, whether or not they were a good fit. In retrospect, she grew up a lot the fall of senior year, so that probably wouldn't have happened. However, I liked how the college counselor got us out of our comfort zone and coaxed us into visiting some colleges that we would have never thought of or bothered with, and she gave us some tips that made the visits much more worthwhile. Also she helped my d come up with an application strategy that removed a lot of stress from the process, and she sent little reminders about getting essays, etc. done so that everything was finished well before the due dates. All in all, having the college counselor made the application process a mostly pleasant experience. My kids go to a public school with 6 counselors for 1500 kids, so if you don't hire a college counselor you are pretty much on your own. However, lots of my d's friends did it on their own with very good results, so it's not a necessity. I don't think that having a counselor gets rid of the chance factor in college apps at all. It's a luxury that you can manage without if finances are tight.</p>
<p>My daughter goes to a public school with 3 counselors for nearly 1500 kids unless one of them happens to be out on maternity leave. I think my D spoke to her counselor one time last year and it wasn't for lack of trying.</p>
<p>Even so, I'm too cheap to spring for an admissions counselor. That's why I don't have a real job!</p>
<p>Thank you. It makes sense to have counselors help you stayed organized and to open your horizens as to possibilities.</p>
<p>I am curious why folks take the step and have them write the essays ... which feels like cheating to me.</p>
<p>If the counselors write the essays, it is cheating.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, your child attends a well-regarded boarding school. My child goes to a boarding school as well. A few months ago I considered hiring a consultant and made a few calls. When I called a well-known consultant, I asked his office administrator how many clients he handled. It was around 200 at varying levels. Consider that versus the number handled by the counseling office at your child's school. Also keep in mind that the counselors at your child's school are probably in the best position to make good matches. For now, I am not planning to hire anyone. </p>
<p>By the way, writing essays is not ethical. I think most will work with the student to generate essays ideas and to critique the results.</p>
<p>Thanks. I get it now.</p>
<p>If you go to a private school, there is really no need for it. My daughter's school has 1 GC/35 kids, there are 4 GCs. We thought about it and even consulted her GC. I think you get better info on CC than from those private counselors. I used to give the GC info from CC and she was amazed how tuned in people were on this board.</p>
<p>We didn't use one for our kids but I have had friends who did. In addition to the help with organization, one thing that happened with some of the kids is that the counselor got them to think about different schools, some they had never even heard of. The counselor did a great job of matching the kids to various institutions where they ended up being very happy. </p>
<p>Professional counselors can have a wealth of information that parents, and even school GCs, don't have. That's why I would consider using them.</p>
<p>One of my relatives whose son was at a top boarding school did hire a private counselor, although I wasn't sure why. (Well, part of the reason was that they weren't too happy with what the school was telling them.) The results were disappointing, although the kid is very happy at a college that took him off its waitlist in June. I don't know whom to thank for the waitlist success -- the counselor, the school, or dumb luck. The bottom line for me was that this was a great, smart kid with a really unique background, and it hardly should have taken an expensive counselor for him to get accepted at his (quite conventional) safety school and nowhere else (until June).</p>
<p>I couldn't disagree more with post #8. In fact, it was a controversial issue at school that we parents paid so much for tuition & got so little from the counselor there. She's not bright, & cannot understand the brighter students, nor direct them properly. Further, the politics at the school (& I understand this can be common at private schools) resulted in very little imagination in the suggested colleges. The Dean had her fave list, which she pushed onto the counselor to feed the students into -- a list that was inappropriate & lame for about half of each senior class. "Relationships with colleges" is supposedly the buzz-phrase (& supposed asset) of a private high school. Depends on which colleges we're talking about!</p>
<p>Re Post 10:
I've seen this also. With greater scrutiny, I've discovered that often it's the student himself or herself that is the root of it, because ethical admissions counselors will not write (or heavily edit) essays. They merely suggest, urge, & give examples. The 2 biggest problems I've seen in students is (1) lack of clarity on statement of purpose for the college, at the time of application; and (2) a poorly chosen topic for essay or poor execution of that essay.</p>
<p>I don't disagree with that at all, epiphany. But I don't think anyone wants to hire an expensive private counselor only to be told, later, "Your kid screwed up." If he's going to screw up, he can screw up for free. If I'm going to hire someone, part of what I would hope to be hiring is experience anticipating the sort of screw-ups 17 year-olds are prone to, and experience avoiding them.</p>
<p>I've wondered about this, too. In our school, the previous counselor suggested schools which were considerably easier to get into than my son would have considered. Is that so that their success rate is higher? The school son #1 chose wasn't even on the list, ever for our school. It turned out to be a good fit. Son #2 didn't use the counselor, applied to one school only, and was accepted (whew). I would use an independent counselor if I were unhappy with the focus of the student or the school counselors. I don't think there is an across-the-board answer. Depends on the student and the counselors.</p>
<p>JHS, the problem only comes when the student resists suggestions & insists on submitting what they are discouraged from submitting.</p>
<p>Secondly, there is the additional problem -- verified on CC on the student forums especially -- that first semester seniors sometimes are not focused on their immediate (let alone, long-range) goals, may have several in mind, & don't articulate that without confusion on their apps. Often their statement of purpose is vague, & that's a reflection of their development. They often solidify & refine those goals & purposes unfortunately in the second half of senior year, or even between graduation & fall enrollment. Just a fact of admissions life which does affect results.</p>
<p>Gap year time!</p>
<p>My sentiments exactly. Gap year was almost the choice of a young man I know. At the last minute, he decided to accept a safety enrollment with a guarantee of a transfer to a reach. Those initial apps had been due early, though they were not "Early" rounds. </p>
<p>Oh, for the "good ole days" when you could apply, LOL, in summer after graduation for many/most colleges. Very, very ancient history.</p>
<p>epiphany, I don't think any private counselor should be guaranteeing success. But I am perfectly good at getting my kids to resist suggestions and to insist on doing things I don't think are good ideas. My skills at that are excellent! And I don't charge me anything to do it, either.</p>
<p>If I want my kids to ACCEPT suggestions, and NOT to do stupid things, I might well be willing to pay someone who was better than I at making that happen. I would think that anyone who makes a living educating teens -- and that includes independent college counselors -- ought to have those skills in their toolboxes. It won't work every time, of course, but it better work a lot of the time or they won't be making a living that way for long.</p>
<p>I don't disagree with you, JHS. The problem is getting the student to articulate what he or she does not know yet. An awareness problem or a decision conundrum is very different than expressing a goal optimally. (The student I mentioned, admitted after decisions were in, "Now I know what I really want to do.")</p>
<p>Friend of son hired a college counselor for like $4000, and is getting advice on where to go to school...and i don't think it is a well thought out plan....Is the counselor getting a kick back from the school??? No of course not, but it reallly doesn't seem like a good fit for him (son's best friend, I've known him his whole life). The kid is buying it 100%.</p>