To me - @Calliene’s point about a kid actually being able to hear a coach over the folks that have been giving him/her advice all along was one of the biggest values of having a coach. I didn’t know anything (still don’t to some degree - according to her… in terms of artistic matters) so an outsider with fresh eyes on the situation - even if they said the same thing I or her hometown teachers had said a thousand times - carried much more weight with my D. My D had a very successful audition season - would she have been just as successful sans coach? Perhaps. Were we both less stressed because we had a coach to turn to? YES! Did the coach say things that needed to be said - that if I had said them would have caused friction? Most definitely. These were large factors in our decision to invest in a coach.
I’m happy to hear I am not the only parent who knows nothing (artistically) 
We will be using the services of a coach with our third student for that very reason!
Glad to hear that I’m not the only parent that knows nothing. Neither my wife nor myself have a background in music or theater, and when I read bios of people in MT it seems like a large majority of them have a parent and/or grandparent that was previously in MT, Theater or Music. My background is finance and accounting and my wife is procurement and international business.
Wait till they get into college if you think you know nothing now. Love my boy but one more sarcastic “I KNOW mom” over Christmas and I would’ve blown.
^Yep, yep and yep! 
^ Oh and then they graduate! In all fairness he is an adult now but it is hard to get used to “knowing nothing”
The truth is though that after living this life with them often since they were young children, we don’t know "nothing " any more. And in many cases we steered our kids into music/dance/theater because it was an area of interest of ours, or we participated in it at one time or other. And they have NO idea how much time we have spent reading CC 
. So what I’m trying to say is that we learn a lot going through this process seeing a million shows with them, and researching this field, and in many cases we DO know a lot. But they can’t be objective about us any more than we can be objective about them. I’m a nurse. I remember when I first became a nurse I would try to talk to my mother about her lifestyle and medications and she would not listen. But if her doctor said the exact same thing, he was the smartest guy in the world. It drove me crazy. It’s the same way with our relationship with our kids. Now if you can get THEM to pour over the pages of CC, that can help. But most of our kids don’t have time. And kudos to those who do it. But hearing all of it from a “pro” can create a resolve that is well worth the cost of a few coaching sessions. And yeah, the coaches do know stuff we don’t, more than the objectivity accounts for. Can you do it without? Yes, and some kids more so than others. But weigh the pros and cons and how much you can afford. A few sessions (or more, if you can afford it) may well be worth it.
I had posted this a few months ago, but since then, I was able to find a fantastic local coach! She graduated from NYU with a degree in musical theatre, and has had students get accepted to prestigious schools before. It’s a perfect situation, because I’m able to actually meet in person, and her rates are much cheaper than with a national coach! She’s been a huge help and has given valuable criticism, and I would not feel nearly as confident and prepared as I do now without her.
For anyone who is in the same situation I am where you would like the critique from a person who really knows what they’re doing, but you can’t afford to/are skeptical about paying so much for a national coach, I really recommend looking for credible coaches in your area with experience in college musical theatre. It’s cheaper, and you get to see them in person, and plus, you might get some extra time for free with your coach if their next appointment after you cancels, which has happened to me several times.
I’m sure national coaches are also fantastic, and have some different benefits, but I highly recommend this as an alternative if you need one!