<p>I am applying to CSUs, already sent in my applications, now it is a matter of financial aid and how to pay for college. Are college counselors worth hiring? Are they a scam? Can I do everything they can do? Are there any really good sites that plot out the whole process of paying for college? Please let me know everything you know about the financial aspect of college.</p>
<p>Thanks...</p>
<p>I am looking specifically at this: .:</a> College Planning Network - Home :.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t go with a college counselor. Do a lot of your own research, keep in close contact with your admissions and financial aid advisors at the schools you’re applying to. You can certainly do everything they can do if you’re willing to do the research. </p>
<p>I’ve never personally heard of anyone going with a college counselor for finances. I’ve heard of for-profit organizations that will help students in 9th/10th/11th grade build up their applications by reviewing where they can improve, but I don’t even particularly feel that these are necessary or worth the money.</p>
<p>my family and i were trying to figure out if it would be worthwhile to get a private counselor for finances as well. we found one that specialized in getting into ivies and contacted her. however, most don’t specialize in financial information. all of the information she gave me was everything that i had already known based on my research. she listed numerous school recommendations (all of which i had already looked into) and mentioned looking internationally for cheaper tuition. she was very nice about it and did all of this for free, however, i think that because she specialized in ivies, she came across as a bit…pretentious…especially because i’ve gone to a public high school and my parents don’t make millions of dollars.</p>
<p>so i would recommend that you just do thorough research online and don’t waste the money.</p>
<p>I agree that it’s possible to do the research on your own, especially since at this point it’s just financial aid you are looking at. Finaid.org has been recommended to me for general information. Since you are applying to CSUs and California is a special situation, you might look at some CA-based sites and counselors. You might try getcollegefunding.org that has a lot of free resources on its site as well as collegewise.com. Some counselors have hourly rates, so an hour or two may be all you would need. But be very specific about the information and advice you are looking for and interview a few to make sure there is a good fit.</p>
<p>“Are college counselors worth hiring?”</p>
<p>I think it depends on the fee. For what we thought was a modest charge (less than $200), we hired a well-known phone/email counselor (student and parents fill out an extensive questionnaire, long phone interview with student). Our daughter was admitted to her first choice. We’ll never know if there was a connection, and we naturally we think she could have done it without help, but we felt the possible added benefit was worth the price.</p>
<p>We hired one who was unnecessarily expensive and were horribly disappointed. They eased a few processes (FAFSA, CSS) but attempted to find colleges based on vague questionnaires and false pretenses. Questions like “What size school would you be most comfortable at” and “Is Greek life important to you” are meaningless when you don’t really know the answers.</p>
<p>My counselor did a great job of finding some solid safety schools, though I didn’t want to actually go to any of them. The colleges I WANTED to go to, I was discouraged from applying to, as they would be too expensive. I applied anyway and was awarded with big scholarships, both merit and need-based. Throughout the process, the counselor claimed to have connections and know backdoors to help with admissions/scholarships. He didn’t. They provided a ton of basic college and application information that was utterly useless for anyone with half a brain and the internet. </p>
<p>So that was my experience. The worst part is, they have all of my acceptance letters and scholarship offers to show off to future potential customers, exactly like they did to me when they first tried to get us to buy in.</p>