Hired a College Consultant....your experience?

How did you find a college counselor?

I found our college counselor through word of mouth. I hired him end of D2’s sophomore year. The consultant helped D2 with class selections, ECs, summer activities, as well as test preps, college list, essays and applications. It was a comprehensive package for us. Like others, it was a very positive experience for us. We were living abroad at that time and I was very busy with my new job, to have someone who could keep D2 focused and on schedule was very helpful. We did all consulting remotely. The consultant had very good broad view of top tier school applications because he had many of those ex AOs to give feedback. They re-read/re-evaluate D2’s credentials periodically, whenever she had new test scores and grades, to see if she was on target for her top choices and if her college list had to be adjusted.

I hired an hourly one the summer before senior year, mostly to help with the editing of the essay and to keep both my kids on track. This way I was not the bad guy. It was the best decision I made.

It depends a lot on your family’s goals and child’s interest. What can you afford? Is it to find a good mix of schools? Navigate the process? Get merit? What is your own level of familiarity? Help with a certain aspect (essays, SAT’s, etc.)

Counselors are particularly useful for parents who have no familiarity with the admissions process because they were raised in a different country or didn’t go to college themselves.

I have a friend who counsels wealthy families in Asia whose goal is to be admitted to HYPSM , Cal or UCLA, and the process is very extensive - create a certain kind of volunteer program around a cause du jour, take the right class schedule with close to perfect grades, extensive essay revisions around particular subjects. But that is an extreme case.

Finally, it may be unnecessary for certain kids. Do they want to study, say, engineering? Then your selection list becomes a lot easier and smaller, your essays don’t matter as much and are evaluated differently, and math scores and grades become a lot more important (and under your child’s control) .And the child may want to go only to a certain school for a variety of reasons.

So best is to first find out where you are deficient in knowledge and the select the appropriate counselor, if needed.

We met with a consultant but ultimately decided the fees weren’t worth it, especially with so much good, free information out there (or here). I do see value for some in getting help to navigate the financial side, but that’s really more for the parents and needs to occur early. Without the consultant’s patience in explaining it all during our initial visit, I wouldn’t have understood the importance of positioning one’s assets thoughtfully to maximize need-based aid. In our case, it ended up not mattering, since we chose schools for fit (including good merit) instead of prestige. But I wouldn’t underestimate the value of a good financial understanding in navigating the process.

Not sure the top school requirement is that valid anymore. Ivy ND Gtown Top flagships And UC admits (as examples) 30 years ago have little in common with today’s process and chances.

Perhaps proven recent success or even better admissions experience recently on the school side.

Also many schools back then that were at one level have really moved up the selectivity and excellence scale.

I agree with the personalization and referrals from families you know where satisfied are important. Understanding the application and ec story process as well as financial matters is important. Broad understanding of the vast pool of schools and their traits and strong programs is key.

Honesty and expectation realism is also important.

A sense of essay qualities or workshops for writing and topic brainstorming is excellent t too.

Would you be able to pm me the name of the consultant that you used. I would appreciate it.

Hi Oldfort,

Thank you so much for sharing your personal experience with counselors. I am looking for a counselor for my sophomore. If it’s ok with you could you please share the counselor’s details with me through pm? I am new to CC so would really appreciate the guidance from the senior parents like you. Thank you so much.

@collegeworld997, we hired someone to help with my son a number of years ago. He is a complicated kid. Extraordinarily smart to brilliant in some areas (not just a proud dad, lots of external evidence here). However, he is severely dyslexic and beyond tone-deaf. Can’t do foreign languages, did not take one in HS, and could not take one in college. We simultaneously had to find schools where the students (and the professors) were smart enough for him and where the distribution requirements/philosophy would not force him into courses with 400 pages of reading per week.

He had a 23 yo (at most) guidance counselor at his public HS, who didn’t have any experience with elite schools. So I hired a person used by a friend for her kids. On balance, we did not find that she added much at all. I am a) a researcher; b) attended three of HYPSM and taught at one; and c) a strategist. She did not help us really in identifying schools for him (other than a few safeties). She did not really help me figure out how to explain to schools who he was and his unique transcript. (The Deputy Superintendent of Schools created partial home-schooling for him – they had never done that before – and wrote one of his recs saying she was confident he would make a significant impact on society.). I was hoping for some guidance in how to position/package him. She couldn’t really give us a lot of insight as to which schools were likely to accept him and those that would rule him out because of the learning disabilities and the unusual curriculum. She didn’t help with how to help schools interpret hm. If I were not as knowledgeable about elite schools or were not strategic, she might have been worth hiring. But as it was, I was somewhat disappointed.

One other thought. She might have been helpful if writing the apps was a source of conflict of with his parents. In his case, this was not a problem, he is even more driven than he is bright. But I can see that a counselor could be really helpful in reducing conflict with a kid.

The good news. It all worked out well despite the lack of help from the counselor.

This thread was inactive from November 2019 until a couple of days ago.
Closing.

Thank you Lindagaf for letting me know. I appreciate your help.