<p>Hello, I have decided that I'm in a place in my life where I really would like to go to graduate school and have begun looking earnestly into my options.</p>
<p>Has anyone here used Lee Stetson (former admissions dean at Penn) for private advising? I feel like I definitely need an advisor to help me with strategy, but I would prefer someone who is a) very good and b) local/in person (which I presume he is still local to me). Cost is not an issue so much as being able to get expert help. Other than spending lots of time on Google, I don't have anyone to turn to for advice.</p>
<p>So, has anyone used Stetson College Advisory? And if so, would you recommend him? Any advice would be very much appreciated--thanks!</p>
<p>What kind of graduate school are you going into? Because in my opinion, you really, really don’t need to pay a private advisor for this kind of thing. There’s not much that they can do for you that you can’t do for yourself, either through the Internet or by practice.</p>
<p>First of all, it looks like Stetson’s experience is with undergraduate admissions at Penn, so he wouldn’t necessarily be of much help to you for graduate admissions - especially if you want a PhD program.</p>
<p>Second of all, what’s he going to help you with? Grades are already set; your CV is already set; your GREs you’ll have to study for and AFAIK private admissions counselors don’t do GRE tutoring. Your letters of recommendation will come from professors who know you and think you can succeed. The only part of the application that’s really under your control is the personal statement, and you don’t need to pay a personal advisor exorbitant amounts of money to do that. There are plenty of samples on the Internet; you can purchase Donald Asher’s *Graduate Admissions Essays[/i[ book for about $30, and there are more samples in there plus instructions how to write. Then you ask trusted professors to take a look and give you feedback - and other friends that you know are good writers. If you were really super nervous, you could probably pay a professional editor far less money than you would pay an admissions counselor, or you could find a freelancer English PhD student or something to edit it for you. FWIW most people don’t do that.</p>
<p>I will admit that I find the entire process of private admissions advisors to be kind of silly - particularly with the advent of the Internet, with so much information to be had for free. Even with college, it’s not like it’s rocket science. Even with competitive colleges - the vast majority of students get admitted without the assistance of private counselors, and they haven’t provided any evidence that they have higher acceptance rates than comparable students who don’t get private counselors - especially since the types of families who can afford them typically also send their kids to expensive private schools with lots of support already.</p>
<p>But with graduate school, it’s even more pointless. So much of the admissions process relies on factors that you can’t control (like who you are competing with this year and who’s taking students) and the rest is just kind of simple to figure out yourself.</p>
<p>What kind of graduate degree do you want? What is your area of interest? Do you have an undergraduate degree in that field? If so, I suggest that you start by talking to your advisor or other professors with whom you’ve studied. Tell them about your graduate school aspirations and ask for advice. This is especially true if you’re in liberal arts or sciences. Ask them to evaluate you–what are your strengths/weaknesses? Your GPA and GRE test scores will be important. Have you taken the GRE yet?</p>
<p>I’d agree with the poster above–seeking the advice of a college counselor for graduate school isn’t necessary and probably a waste of money.</p>