<p>Thanks baystateresident, I was going to bring it up after break… I’m glad it’s not uncommon coming out of boarding school. It just adds a new more complicated aspect to the college search. You want the right school AND the right athletic department and team, both have to work.</p>
<p>I’ve been stymied by the word “supplement.” I would say more that we “partnered.” As newbies to the whole college application process we counted on D’s college counselor for guidance, but we took responsibility for visits and final choices. We took an inadvertent gamble in that we really didn’t think about colleges until Junior year. It was mid-year when her college counselor reached out to us, and from there we had frequent communication - the tone of which was really more “sounding board” and mutually informing. We won’t wait that long for younger sib. It has all worked out, and D was accepted ED to her dream school, but in retrospect we were darn lucky. We let D cultivate her own interests (lord forgive anyone who gets in her way :)) and her application was strong, in part, because she had deep commitments to her ECs. But the summer between Junior and Senior year was a crazy scramble (college visits and SAT studies) and we hope to avoid that frenzy in the future. We will start college visits for current sophomore this coming summer.</p>
<p>Mailuver: Check out the athletic recruit board on CC and, in particular, varska’s recruiting guide, which can be downloaded on amazon for a nominal fee. The guide is particularly useful at your stage. The recruitment process comes on quickly, so I think it’s a great idea to do your research now.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/athletic-recruits/</a></p>
<p>Thanks Classicalmama, I have realized it comes up very fast… we didn’t realize she was so serious until her coaches talked to her and then us perhaps 3 months ago so we are trying to learn very quickly. When coaches can talk, when they can’t, which camps to do, which to not and all the rest, we thought she was going to follow her other extra curricular to college, not the athletics. I’ll take a look at the download, thanks again!</p>
<p>mauiluver: The athletic forum on CC is VERY helpful, and Varska’s guide is great. My D1 was recruited out of boarding school, and the college process for that experience is quite unique. Feel free to PM me!</p>
<p>wcmom1958: We too will start our college tours this summer with D2 who is a current sophomore…We did the same with D1, and it was a really fun and educational experience. By spreading it out over both summers, long weekends, etc., we ended up seeing far more colleges than necessary I think (around 26, I think!), but it was a really good experience, and we never felt the pressure of time running out.</p>
<p>Has anyone used an outside college admissions consultant in addition to the services provided by your child’s BS college advising office? </p>
<p>Family of DS’s friend has engaged one for their kids. I was very surprised.</p>
<p>I haven’t personally heard of anyone doing that. Having gone through the process, I can’t see what additional value a consultant would provide that the school’s college counseling office wouldn’t provide, unless they’re actually helping to write essays, etc., which I wouldn’t consider a value. In fact, it seems like a consultant would be a hindrance. The school’s college process is time-consuming enough; having to deal with a consultant also would take up even more valuable time.</p>
<p>We haven’t. I haven’t heard of anyone doing so, either.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t assume the parents “needed” to hire a consultant. There are apparently consultants who play on parents’ fears to drum up business–see Crazy U. The book begins at a presentation given by a very, very expensive consultant.</p>
<p>Thx for the title-- I’ll have to read this book! </p>
<p>Until I heard that S’s friend (a domestic student) had a separate consultant, I was only aware of the Gerald Chow lawsuit.</p>
<p>[Amazon.com:</a> The Neurotic Parent’s Guide to College Admissions: Strategies for Helicoptering, Hot-housing & Micromanaging (9780983459415): J.D. Rothman: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Neurotic-Parents-Guide-College-Admissions/dp/098345941X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359224694&sr=1-1&keywords=neurotic+parents+guide+to+college]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Neurotic-Parents-Guide-College-Admissions/dp/098345941X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1359224694&sr=1-1&keywords=neurotic+parents+guide+to+college)</p>
<p>^^^^^
I would highly recommend this book - absolutely hysterical. It adds some levity to an otherwise stressful process.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Oh no! $200K isn’t enough to ensure DS becomes President? Perhaps we should move this discussion to the worry thread. Perhaps we didn’t spend enough…</p>
<p>So now Ive just learned a term used in a recent edition of the Choate News I hadnt heard before, the Choate 26:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This may be a little off-topic, but I didnt think it deserved a new thread as it implies that Choate has its own list of schools for early applicants (which is 82% of the 220 sixth formers in the Class of 2013). The article does not shed any light on why this list exists, how it was formed, or how it is used. It seems to imply that either Choate has a special relationship with a group of schools or that there is a group of schools that are very popular with Choate students. I really dont know what to think about this. Im leaving for College Info Weekend tomorrow where I hope to solve the mystery and will report back next week.</p>
<p>Maybe a more experienced Choate parent has some insight and could comment? Anyone else heard of such a thing at their kids BS?</p>
<p>ChoatieMom- you will get your Naviance login info this weekend, and then you will be able to spend many happy hours perusing all thse lovely green, yellow and red dots! It’s more addictive than CC lol!</p>
<p>ChoatieMom, I would guess the “Choate 26” would be something like:</p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Dartmouth
Columbia
Penn
Brown
Cornell
U Chicago
Stanford
MIT
Williams
Amherst
Wesleyan
Bowdoin
Barnard
Duke
Emory
Vanderbilt
Middlebury
Georgetown
Northwestern
NYU
Carnegie Mellon
Boston College
University of St. Andrews
Washington University in St. Louis</p>
<p>I assume the students use the early round for their reach schools, and the “Choate 26” are colleges which are perennially popular with Choate students (and many other high school seniors.)</p>
<p>BSR: Not until next year when DS is a fourth-former. From what I read here, it might be best to just not look. I don’t need another addiction.</p>
<p>Periwinkle: I’ll find out this weekend. Only two of DS choices are on your list; one we pray he doesn’t get into, but will probably be useless to forbid him to apply. We’re of the “let’s just see what happens and deal with it then” camp.</p>
<p>^^meant to say “fifth former”; Naviance access is not given until junior year. DS is a sophomore.</p>
<p>:)
</p>
<p>Darn! I just looked at my finances after tuition payments to more than one school and there is no extra to hire a consultant to get DD to the Presidency. I keep telling myself - in 4 years both of mine are off the “payroll”. I could have bought a small island in a balmy climate for what we’ve spent so far. </p>
<p>In all seriousness - as long as she gets into one of the colleges on her list (they’re all strong in her field) I’ll be able to exhale.</p>
<p>ChoatieMom. My D is a senior and the list of 26 is something that I believe comes from the kids themselves–peer pressure maximus!! No matter what we or the CC messaged to our D about this school or that school, the list pretty much came down to top schools b/c of peer pressure. Obviously, at the end of the year, the matriculation list for class is broader, but for ED, unless student is realistic and knows they are at bottom of the class, they all want to shoot for the top names. That was our experience anyway, despite the “PC” noise that it it all about finding fit, blah blah blah.</p>
<p>Thanks for that @erlanger (and welcome back to the BS board).</p>