<p>How do they set fees? And what services do they provide for those fees? Are there specific credentials that they have or should have? If you have any experience with counselors, or are one yourself, please post.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you are looking for, but I was looking for someone who could review my son’s list and add some suggestions. On this board, i was referred to College Karma and have been very, very happy with them.</p>
<p>For $150 dollars, they will do a stats eval* and to date it’s the best $150 we’ve ever spent. The woman assigned to my son did a great job of “getting” my kid based on the information he sent in. She clarified reaches/matches and safties on his list and made suggestions for other colleges to look at. When my son emailed her back a question on financial aid, again, she wrote a comprehensive letter that specifically addressed his concerns.</p>
<p>College Karma also offers other services, [College</a> Counseling Services](<a href=“http://www.collegekarma.com/college_counseling/college_counseling.htm]College”>http://www.collegekarma.com/college_counseling/college_counseling.htm)</p>
<p>Best of luck.</p>
<p>*[Stats</a> Eval from College Karma](<a href=“http://www.collegekarma.com/college_counseling/stats_eval.htm]Stats”>http://www.collegekarma.com/college_counseling/stats_eval.htm)</p>
<p>I can’t believe people will pay this for an online service. If you are going to use a paid counselor, then at least use one who actually meets your kid in person. On paper stats and EC’s don’t tell anyone enough about your child for optimal advice. There should be a lot of conversation and interaction involved in college counseling, and college admissions are more holistic than just reviewing stats, as well. </p>
<p>Applying to schools really isn’t that big a deal. Pick a range of schools, do the application, with essays, maybe interviews, and wait- the hardest part. There is no perfect school for anyone. </p>
<p>If a kid is confused, or having problems with parents, then a session with a mental health counselor covered by insurance might accomplish the same things, for under $20.</p>
<p>Momphd, their fees and services vary very, very widely–from the $150 mentioned above up to well over $10,000 for rich parents who want to flaunt their wealth, not do any work themselves or require their child to do it on their own and think a counselor has inside connections at some schools. A recent NY Times article showed many lie about their connections and alleged past roles at Ivy League admissions offices. Others are sincere and helpful–check references very carefully and compare prices and services.</p>
<p>Services range from names of schools to help with tests, interviews, essays, scholarship requests, etc.
Fees seem to depend not just on the services involved but also on what the market will bear.</p>
<p>CC can save you paying for good college suggestions.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>Can you post a link to that NYT article?</p>
<p>I think this is it: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/education/19counselor.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/19/education/19counselor.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2</a></p>
<p>I’ve head tell of 30-40K in big cities. This involves several years of grooming EC’s etc. I believe. I was told by a knowledgeable mom that this was quite de rigeur at the fancy private school her daughter was attending in Minneapolis.</p>
<p>That’s hilarious - $40,000 just to get a kid into a college? How will they manage to find a job on their own when they graduate?</p>
<p>^^mamabear: I think this applies to much of what we do with our children these days…</p>
<p>We have a very experienced college counselor in a mid sized west coast city for $50/hour. So far we have used her for 3 hours, over 3 years. If nothing else she has provided D with a guidline of what she must accomplish each year if she wants to be accepted at the college of her choice- which takes the burden for nagging off of me. She will be helping to edit the admission essay this year.</p>
<p>The irony here is that the top colleges are looking to recruit kids who do not have these advantages, and we have heard kids who attend exclusive private schools, and have expensive counselors, complain that they are no longer the likeliest to get in to, say, Harvard or Yale. They complain about the rigors of their education, and their years of hard work, in a time when kids who go to poor quality schools, and work less, may be favored.</p>
<p>One admissions person said the idea is that the kids with the great preparation, and the advantages in general, will do well anyway, while the kids without that background need the superior opportunities.</p>
<p>I have also read that colleges are well aware of the coaching that occurs with essays, and that the importance of essays in the admissions process has gone down, as a result.</p>
<p>I am still amazed that people hire someone to edit an essay. I thought that was cheating, honestly. I don’t mean to be insulting, but with the different ethical standards in so many very different communities, and so many very different families, with so many very different individual students, the job of admissions people is just plain dizzying.</p>
<p>Those private schools are still getting over 30% into those top 20 schools. Parents are complaining because after sspending 30000 per year for 13 years their kid couldn’t guaranteed a spot at Princeton, but needs to settle for Colgate. It is an unrealistic expectation. What private school could do very well is to get you off waitlist and guarantee a placement if need to. We have one college counselor per 30 kids. I felt D1 was very well taken care of. With D2 I may have someone help her with her Essay, even though she is an excellent writer. If my kids were going to a public school with one GC per hundred kids, I probably would hire a good private counselor. When you are investing 200000 it’s not unreasonable to get some good advise.</p>
<p>I hesitate to get into this argument which comes up so often…</p>
<p>Is it cheating to hire an accountant to do your taxes? A mechanic to fix your car? If you can afford it, why would you not hire a professional to help with a college application?</p>
<p>We did not hire a professional for my oldest two but did for the youngest after we saw success friends had. He had better success than my oldest two with similar stats. As someone pointed out above, top colleges are no longer looking for high stats prep school kids who’ve had every advantage. If your kid is one, you may choose to get some help in making him present less like one.</p>
<p>Or if you’re from an overrepresented state you may need help in standing out in the crowd…or of you’re an ORM that reads like so many others…or if you’re slightly sub par stats wise but have a great talent you want to bring to light…</p>
<p>There are so many reasons a professional could benefit many kids. What I did learn along the way is you don’t need to spend Hernandez/Ivy Wise/Stetson money for quality help.</p>
<p>We hired someone to meet with my daughter prior to her first interview. It was 135.00 an she spent 2 hours with her. She just worked with her on her interviewing skills (my daughter had never been in an interviewing situation before). </p>
<p>We didn’t need help with picking schools, but she looked over them anyway and agreed with us that we didn’t need help picking schools, lol. </p>
<p>She’s also going to glance over my daughter’s essays, but doesn’t anticipate her needing all that much help with them. </p>
<p>I thought it was a reasonable sum of money for the service she offered us.</p>
<p>We hired one at $30 per session. The funny thing is I have been educating HER through this very website. But really, it’s a mixture of learning and practice of, well, everything college. I will say however that she did us a great service by helping me write D’s essay. H and I look forward to hiring her for the next 2 kids – only next time HE has to write the essays.</p>
<p>Aww… I want a private college counselor. My parents don’t know jack about college and only care when I ask for them to pay lol. they really write your essays for you??</p>
<p>I’ve never done it, but I don’t see anything wrong with it. It can’t hurt, and it might help. Both with decision making and getting in. Sometimes a kid will listen to a third party more than parents. A qualified third party might be able to evaluate more objectively. Or simply just motivate the kid to do more. And a highly qualified advisor may have true inside perspective that parents simply don’t have.</p>
<p>D1s counselor at her private school gave her some good advice for picking colleges, but I can see some situations where one might want advice independent of the school. And she didn’t get into some places she seemed highly qualified for, so in retrospect I wonder. D2s public school counselor was good considering, but more about pushing her towards less selective schools, for some reason. Neither was telling kids what to do to optimize chances, way beforehand, other than get better grades. </p>
<p>Considering the cost of college, the investment in this is just a small increment. For those with the means. And with a kid who is disposed to listen and act accordingly.</p>
<p>Leah321, did you really say “writing” the essay? You must be kidding! That should be your child’s work, not yours.</p>
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<p>Not the ones we worked with.</p>
<p>I work part-time as a private counselor (I am a high school teacher). The services I provide range from SAT tutoring to essay help. A full package would start in November of the junior year. I prep the students for any and all standardized tests (I average a 250 point increase from PSATs), help the begin to select schools to research, interview practice, financial aid and scholarship help, essay writing, and filling out their applications. </p>
<p>For this service, I charge $35/hour.</p>