<p>I'm wondering if it's worth the $$$ to hire someone to help with figuring out what schools my child should apply to through skill testing, etc as well as the financial aspects and essays, etc. I have a local contact who is very highly thought of and credentialed in the field but I'm reticent to spend the $5k which I'll definitely need for college costs! I'm very good at research myself but not an expert by any means. Any input would be helpful.</p>
<p>Sounds like a racket to me. :(</p>
<p>$5000 could pay for a lot of classes (depending on the school).</p>
<p>I think your S or D would benefit more from taking additional elective classes than having someone create a list of colleges to consider.</p>
<p>$5K is a ton of cash. I think you and your child and your school’s counselors can do all the work for a whole lot less cash. Start now and make it a bit of a summer project.</p>
<p>I had a counselor as a senior in high school, and though my counselor was recommended, I thought it was a complete waste of time. She didn’t really take the lead on anything, so instead my parents and I ended up editing and revising my essays, my application lists, etc. If you need help for any specific reason and you know the counselor you are considering can help you, it may be worth it. Otherwise, its better (and cheaper) to do things yourself, but you have to be willing to put in the time and effort. That way you will have a lot more control over it and can be meticulous. Its your child’s future, but for the counselor, its only a job. But be prepared, you have to be VERY disciplined to get it all done in a timely manner.</p>
<p>It isn’t really a racket. You need to know what is it you are trying to achieve. The best time to hire a counselor is sophomore or junior year. By senior year, your kid is who he is. If you are totally clueless then $5k maybe money well spent, but if you are good at doing research and is willing to spend time on CC, then you probably could get most of your questions answered, especially related to FA. It maybe worth your while to hire someone to help your kid with the essays if he is not a good writer. I think often it’s the tipping point for many top tier schools.</p>
<p>I have hired a private college counselor for D2. We just had our first session few days ago. He asked some very good questions to both D2 and I. We will get our assessment in few weeks as to which schools D2 may want to consider, based on her current ECs which one she may want to focus more. He asked if she could only keep one EC, which one it would be. He will suggest what tests to take and when to take them. He asked us to rank various factors from 1-4 in choosing a school.</p>
<p>D2 is going to be a junior, so there are things we could still twig, and we are also doing it because we are no longer in the US. This is all done via Skype, which works fine for us. This counselor also came highly recommended, didn’t get him off the internet. D2 liked him a lot during their first session. For me, it is also a case where it would be easier for someone to work (“nag”) with D2. She is more defensive and high strung than D1.</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a waste of money, you just need to know what you want to get out of the service. If you are looking for best FA, I don’t think that’s what those private counselors do.</p>
<p>Someone who recommended this counselor to us used someone else before. The previous one “wasn’t there to tell them what to do.” This one definitely has an opinion on what to do and which schools to apply, and that may not work for everyone.</p>
<p>$5,000 if you need the money for college is problematic. I’d just research like crazy on CC and learn all you can. If $5,000 is no big deal to you, a college counselor can be a good buffer between you and your kid during that hairy application season. If your kid is not invested in the process himself or herself, I’d save the money.</p>
<p>Bottom line, no. I’ve got three kids. All of them got into a good college and we never used a college counselor. I just think the money could be better spent. You’ve got one more year with your child. If you’ve got that kind of disposable income, why not use it to create some memories???</p>
<p>Now that I feel like an “old timer” in this process and tried every method, here’s somethings to think about:</p>
<p>I have found the consultant is most helpful in a few main areas.<br>
- Suggesting colleges
- reading the essay
- financial aide insights and help with forms
- meeting deadlines.</p>
<p>If you’re good about doing research on your own and asking tons of questions from all sorts of people, including here, you won’t need #1.</p>
<p>If you’ve got a good relationship with an English teacher who can read the essay and guide your daughter, you won’t need #2.</p>
<p>If your HS provides you help with the financial stuff, or you don’t need to file, then disregard #3.</p>
<p>And if you’re very organized and can adhere to a spreadsheet that keeps the process organized and moving, skip #4.</p>
<p>And if you need the money or just rather not spend it, save the $5K for college and use your GC and CC.</p>
<p>I am good at researching colleges and my child is a very good writer too so I’m not that concerned about the essays. My main thought is to gauge aptitude in a particular field through testing and directing focus to a college which at this point is an unknown. Excellent grades and test scores so lots of opportunities but other than being inundated with mail from colleges it’s hard to figure out which is a “fit”! We can afford the $ but would prefer to put towards tuition! Should qualify for ELC in California so a UC is pretty much guaranteed. Also I agree a “buffer” would be good since often my words just float around and don’t land on the intended target…</p>
<p>If you feel you would benefit from some extra advice, you can find it for much less than $5000. Typical hourly rates vary from $100-$500 depending on the region and the reputation/fame of the counselor. But you don’t need to buy a whole package if all you need, for example, is search advice.</p>
<p>I would only spend that much if money isn’t an object, or if after doing research on your own, you are certain that you will need more than 15 hours of help.</p>
<p>it’s a lot of money. What kind of resources do you have at the school? DD’s school provided enough guidance to get started, it took time to do the research but we needed. And CC was a lot of help with some of the small questions that came up.</p>
<p>There are plenty of reputable college counselors who don’t charge that kind of money. What do you need, specifically? Depending upon the caseload of your high school guidance counselor, they may not be able to provide you with the time you require. </p>
<p>You can get referrals at HECA or IECA online, and most of them don’t charge $5000.</p>
<p>I would go the route of working with your high school counselor, unless your school is seriously understaffed, they should be able to give you the help you need if you are persistent and ask for it.</p>
<p>I think you would totally be wasting your money with a kid who has good grades, tests scores, and is ELC in California. She can probably go pretty much wherever she wants. Buy some books with profiles of colleges, let her look through them at her leisure.</p>
<p>Instead of spending $500 or $5000 on anything… take some time to learn about financial aid and figure out whether your d. will qualify for need based aid. Finances are the most important thing that will drive the college selection process - there’s no point in getting your kid’s heart set on the perfect college for her needs, if you can’t afford to send her there. </p>
<p>Start by figuring out if you will be able to afford the UC’s - if so, then you’ve also got a “financial safety”. (A “safety” is a college that your daughter is sure to get into; a “financial safety” is one that she is sure to get into, and you are sure that you can afford)</p>
<p>If you will qualify for need based aid, then you will want to keep a close eye on each college’s financial aid policies as your daughter looks. If you find that you won’t qualify for much need-based aid, then you will want to pay more attention to looking for colleges that are likely to award merit aid to your daughter. </p>
<p>Skill or aptitude testing is irrelevant to the college search process – your d. is a smart kid, she probably will do well in any area of interest. If she isn’t quite sure where her interests lie, then she can enter college as an undeclared major and explore.</p>
<p>She should be thinking more in terms of her personality and learning style to find a place that is a good fit for her socially and in terms of the overall environment. (Urban? suburban? rural? Large university? Small liberal arts college?)</p>
<p>Both of my kids liked the Princeton Review book (Best 371 Colleges) – but there are many others to choose from.</p>
<p>I think college counselors are more useful for kids who have some sort of problem or unusual profile that makes the college selection process confusing. “Excellent grades and test scores” means you don’t fit that category – you will be able to figure out what colleges are likely to seriously consider your daughter just from published data. It’s harder when a kid has uneven test scores – or a mismatch between grades and scores.</p>
<p>Of course… you’ve already found one of the best free resources around – this board.</p>
<p>The going rate for around NJ is a lot higher than 5k for private counseling. As people have stated that it may not be necessary, but if you decide to go that route then it is not a lot of money.</p>
<p>Our good friends here just went through the process with their first child, per above they spent a lot more than 5k. Knowing these people this was undoubtedly an “upper tier” counselor.</p>
<p>The counselor made suggestions that may have influenced some of his extracurricular choices over the last few years, and summers, of high school. This kid always seemed to have meaningful and worthwhile things going on, while My S was just loafing around playing video games.</p>
<p>Of course the advisor helped with college selection, choice, timing and selection of prep courses for standardized testing, reading essays, getting stuff in on time.</p>
<p>In the end: the kid was rejected from his ED choice and a second choice, and was accepted at schools that were obvious matches for him based on his stats.</p>
<p>If he were my kid he likely would have wound up at the exact same school he will soon be attending, without the expenditure. But who knows; they live in a village where the competition is high. Colleges seem to set the bar commensurately higher for these kids, not everyone from there gets in to the schools you’d think they would get into.</p>
<p>Besides, they did not wish to do all the legwork themselves, preferred the security of the additional third-party expertise, and they could afford it. Maybe the kid listened more to a third party than he would have listened to them.</p>
<p>If you are honestly looking for others’ opinion, here is mine: it is waste of time and money. Do your own research, so much is available on-line. I found the program for my D. that she has applied and got accepted. Nobody knew about it, including her counselor at school and parents of kids who live in the area. Amaizing! Program had only 10 spots for incoming freshmen and has been cancelled since then. My D. feel so lucky, what a jewel we found for her. Nobody knows or will ever care about your child and your $$ as much as you. Nobody could be as effective finding the best match for your child.</p>
<p>I don’t see why it’s necessary- plenty of people get into great schools on their own by doing their own research. As far as figuring out skills and such, there are great books out there available for free at the library that can help. There are also regular high school counsellors (if your school has a decent one) that might be able to help. $5000 can pay for tuition at a public school or could pay for almost all of room and board at many schools. In my opinion, that’s a waste of money. Use it on something more worthwhile, like college tuition, down payment on a car, or just save it for paying off student loans. You’ll need that money later.</p>
<p>Parent research is a lot easier when kids have a clear focus. The “I dunno” kids would benefit most from a college counselor, starting early junior years. Maybe not worth $5K… but when you are considering an investment of over $200K, I guess it is small change. It would be more worthwhile when chasing scholarships since FA is by formula (though often not precisely predictable by anybody). </p>
<p>We ended up spending a few hundred on somebody that did minimal coaching and mostly was just geared to guidance/review on the many essays because that was the area my son needed help to get some traction.</p>