<p>Is it worth it to hire a private college counselor to help you craft an application? </p>
<p>My background is basically incredibly high stats and GPA, but fairly standard EC's, and the Asian anti-hook. My activities aren't really cookie-cutter, but they aren't REMARKABLY excellent. I was just wondering if a private college counselor would assist in making me stand out more in my application. I know what to write for my common app essay (written), but I am just seeking for anything that can make me a more appealing candidate. </p>
<p>In terms of financial situation, I would contribute some earnings from my internships (appx. 3k) , and my parents are ok with paying the rest if it really has some benefit. </p>
<p>For reference, the colleges I am interested in are:</p>
<p>Favorites:
Princeton
Penn
Stanford
Cornell
Williams</p>
<p>2nd Tier of Favorites:
Brown (Aunt is a Prof. and really wants me to apply)
Caltech (Just not enthused about the social stuff)
MIT (too close to home, but topnotch institution)
Northwestern
UC Berkeley (A little to liberal for me)</p>
<p>3rd Tier of Favorites:
UMich (haven't visited)
CMU (not a huge fan of Pittsburgh)</p>
<p>Safeties (Not that I don't like them):
Northeastern
UMass Amherst</p>
<p>Anyone else have experience with this situation/college counselors?</p>
<p>I don’t think you need one. From talking to people at my high school who did use them, it wasn’t very helpful. Take advantage of your high school counselor and English teachers as much as you can when writing your essays, though.</p>
<p>Are your parents actually willing to pay $50,000+ a year for some of these out-of-state schools? </p>
<p>I also think you could use some match schools somewhere between CMU/UMich and your safeties.</p>
<p>There are only two OOS state schools (UMich and UCB), and UMich Tuition is still less than many privates (I will not get much financial aid). Financially, though we aren’t outlandishly wealthy, my parents are really generous in terms of educational spending and very conservative in “luxury” spending (small house, older cars) , so I will definitely be funded. I am trying to find some match/safety schools between those two categories. I approached my family about finding schools where I will likely get merit aid but they really want me to go to any school I want to without worrying about finances since that was something they never could do (Mom got into Stanford, but she couldn’t pay for the first semester (after 1st sem. she would be getting scholarship)).</p>
<p>Throw in Minnesota because it is a good all-around school with a significantly lower list price in case your parents are promising more than they can deliver. Also throw in Virginia Tech, NCSU, and Cal Poly SLO for the same cost reasons if you are doing engineering or CS.</p>
<p>If those super selective schools like MIT are realistic chances for you, apply to schools with big competitive merit scholarships like Georgia Tech (President’s), NCSU (Park), Berkeley (Drake if you are a mechanical engineering major) – you may have to apply separately for the scholarships. But you may also want a very-low-cost-after-guaranteed-merit safety like Alabama just in case your parents’ ability to contribute is much less than they are leading you to believe.</p>
<p>Williams seems to be the oddball of your list. What is your intended major? Also, Williams and Northeastern seem to be opposites in terms of liberal arts for its own sake versus pre-professional orientation.</p>
<p>Williams is the oddball, but their great grad. school placement rate and the feel around campus is really good. Also, its 3:2 program with Columbia (3 yrs. B.A. Williams, 2 yrs. BSE Columbia) seems like a great way to combine a liberal arts education with a strong pre-professional degree.</p>
<p>Northeastern is the polar opposite, but if I cannot get into one of the “top tier” science schools, then the co-op program and internship opportunities would hopefully make me more attractive to employers.</p>
<p>MIT is still a high reach for me (as it is for most) because though my stats are at 75+ percentile, my EC’s are more targeted at internships and personal development more than competition math and science, plus the competition is very strong, especially for Asian students. I am intending to be a Physics major, though I am taking intro to Engineering next year, which could sway me.</p>
<p>My parents still are adamant that they want to pay fully, but I would feel wrong placing such a huge burden on them financially (we could afford it, but I still feel badly about it). I was considering Ga. Tech on my previous lists, but at this point I don’t know what I can sacrifice that is already on my list. Perhaps Brown, Northwestern, or UMich?</p>
<p>Be careful with 3+2 programs, since you need to check on the following:</p>
<ul>
<li>Admission to the “2” school – guaranteed for meeting a certain GPA at the “3” school, or would you have to apply to competitive admission?</li>
<li>Cost, financial aid, and scholarships at the “2” school. Remember that it is 5 years total, and both Williams and Columbia are expensive at list price.</li>
<li>How restricted is choice of major at the “3” school? You have to take math and physics courses to prepare for engineering, but does the “3” school require you to major in one of those subjects there, or could you take the math and physics courses alongside an unrelated major?</li>
<li>Would you be willing to transfer away from the “3” school and your friends there?</li>
</ul>
<p>Another school good for physics and CS and not too expensive is Stony Brook. Massachusetts - Amherst is a good choice if you are in-state.</p>
<p>As far as your application list goes, the majority are reachy schools with high list prices and probably not much (or nothing) in the way of merit scholarships. Given that you do not expect much need-based aid, and you do not want to burden your parents too much, you may want to include some less expensive schools in your list.</p>
<p>In some schools, admission selectivity varies between the engineering and the arts and sciences division. In such schools, it may require apply to change into engineering later.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help ucbalumnus and for responding so promptly. I agree that my list is very reachy and I will try to edit it somewhat before application time. Thanks again!</p>