<p>@zobroward: Twas not meant to be racist. Was meant to be funny. Should’ve known better. Was not mean-spirited in the least - unlike yours. </p>
<p>From now on, I’ll be careful with using figures of speech lest I offend someone in these parts. </p>
<p>Although I do advise you to try to not take everything so seriously, or else you’ll be constantly offended everyday by perfectly decent people who mean no harm.</p>
<p>If I had money to burn, I’d have looked for a college consultant who has worked in the admissions office(s) of the college(s) my kids were interested in, or at least similar ones. I’d love to have had an unbiased eye look over what my kids produced. (Though given the results I think they did okay. 
) Amusingly, one of my cousins did work in the Harvard admissions office, but I really never have felt comfortable asking her all the questions I would have loved to ask!</p>
<p>I think there may be a bi-modal distribution of clients for a consultant like you. The first group would be your pro bono clients, whose parents do not have the experience with the American college selection and application process necessary to help their kids stay on track, meeting all their milestones on time (academic courses, standardized tests, researching colleges and scholarships, etc).</p>
<p>Your paying clients would be more likely to be the parent who knows the system and wants to make sure there’s nothing new or different in the past decades that would put his/her kid at a disadvantage. These would be parents who knew what it took 30 years ago to put together a successful application at a selective college, and expect that their kid will attend a selective college.</p>
<p>For the educated, well-informed parent, with a child whose academic record is strong, I think a consultant who has recent experience with the overall applicant pool at top schools would be very helpful in performing a reality check and developing a balanced list that includes some safeties. Some of us whose last experience with college applications was 30 years ago have no idea how high the bar has risen. Additionally, we have no sense of how that rising bar has improved schools we would never have considered 30 years ago, to the point that they seem attractive as a possibility for our children.</p>
<p>I would have been glad to have a consultant who could have told me the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>I know what the applicant pool looks like at a variety of schools, from the most selective to the less-so</li>
<li>I can help you figure out whether your kid is likely to stand out at the very best schools or is, not to put it too bluntly, a dime a dozen, and, if so,</li>
<li>I can point you to schools that weren’t on YOUR radar screen because they weren’t that selective or challenging 30 years ago, but they DO attract kids just like your kid now and would be a good fit.</li>
</ol>
<p>I was actually able to get quite a bit of that information from College Confidential, but it required a great deal of time and effort and many parents simply don’t have either the time or the inclination to ferret out the information for themselves. Some people who have a lot of discretionary income don’t have a lot of discretionary time!</p>
<p>College Counselors with deep expertise may be worth the fee. Some examples of really impressed advice:
help preparing and craft application for art school and then advise on the best for career goals,
which school would track best for med school for the average academic HS senior and how to plan college schedule for optimal gpa,
where can you get the most money on merit if you do no qualify for FA and how to negotiate with the FA office. How to craft the appeal letter.
help with private scholarship essays
if prestige is the focus, which schools within each uni are the easiest to get into and then possibly transfer. What are the back and side doors.
National awards and contests to apply to for the biggest impact
How to get your HS accomplishments recognized by the media</p>
<p>Thank you both very much for your insight! Desk; I think you may very well be right and I will try to make that combo work, since it seems to provide exactly what I am looking for. Once i get a site up i can blast out a lot of info on there, plus I can always reply to those who need advice here in CC</p>
<p>Fly; I think I could help with all of that! 
I know the Florida school system just about inside and out and other schools I have a lot of contacts around. if anyone has any questions feel free to message me and I’ll help anyway I can. thank you all for your advice, I hope I can return the favor someday!</p>
<p>Op, I agree with DeskPotato’s comments, and DeskPotato is a better writer than I, but here goes:</p>
<p>I know people who used consultants. They were usually pretty happy with them. Why? Because they usually don’t have the time to research all of the nuances that it has taken you, OP, YEARS to acquire. Usually the people who use the consultants tend to be doctors, lawyers, mid-to-upper mgmt in business etc and there is only so many hours in a day so they do not want to add research to their day. Other people who use consultants may also be the type of mom who spends times at charities or other events so doesn’t have the time or desire to learn it at all and wants someone to just take care of it.</p>
<p>The other set of people that I see use consultants are people who don’t want to deal with all of the battles of deadlines etc with their kid. The kid may follow the consultant’s plan better than the parents plan.</p>
<p>Again, your branding niche is as-you-stated, mapping out dreams and goals rather than just get accepted to reach school A, etc. This is probably an neglected area which might serve you well.</p>
<p>So you charge the above groups a “regular” (i.e. “high”) fee. Then, as desk pototo states, you can offer large, free group seminars to lower income areas, first gen college kids, and their parents. This way they can just see that college is available or that you could be available to help. Then you can do group session counseling with the kids (AND PARENT!!) so that the rate is very low to none.</p>
<p>Additional marketing technique, if you offer your FREE seminar to an Asian area, then you’ll get a HUGE turnout, and some clients may sign up! (I’m Asian, so I can say this, no comments, please) </p>
<p>Bottom line: charge the first group a “going” rate, so that you can do your pro bono work. The first group will be totally relieved that someone is taking the reins on this and will be happy to pay. And so that you don’t feel guilty, keep in mind that $25/hr is approx the going rate for piano lessons. I think that you will provide a more profound and lasting service than an hour of piano lessons. And though you might grow weary of the demanding parents of the first group, keep thinking about how it is funding all of your awesome pro-bono work for the first gen college or low income families of the second group.</p>
<p>I applaud you for considering this career change, and think you have a good background and sound really motivated and enthusiastic!</p>
<p>We did not use a counselor for our son, but they are popular in our area. One of the other key services most provide is private tutoring for exams like the SAT as well as school subject-specific (for improving grades.)</p>
<p>I think maybe you could come up with some kind of sliding pay scale so you could help students from various economic backgrounds. I get where the previous poster is coming from, but I would think a two-tiered system (individual and group) like that might not be the most rewarding for you. I also would not feel comfortable asking questions specific to my child in a group setting.</p>
<p>Thank you both so much! I am so glad I posted in CC. This has been some time coming and kinda frustrating figuring out how to proceed. Hearing from actual parents on what they want has been invaluable. As soon as I have the site and blog up I’ll post a link so everyone can access the information. Thank you again! And if I can be of assistance to anybody please do not hesitate to let me know. :)</p>