<p>How are they able to guarantee the top 3 choices?</p>
<p>1 – (mentioned above) careful selection of the 3 choices
2 – (mentioned above) careful selection of the client
3 – charge 10x what you should for the service; even if you refund half your fees, you’re still way ahead of the game</p>
<p>Thank you Calmom, that’s exactly what I meant. These high-priced college advisors are planning the kid’s activities from the earliest possible date to make them stand out at Ivies or similar schools (or in some specialized schools like music theater). There is no need for them at all for most lower Tier One or lower tier schools. If the kid has the grades, coursework, test scores and ECs to demonstrate passion for their interests, then even an Ivy candidate does not necessarily need these advisors (although on a limited basis it may be a good idea). I don’t believe that admissions to the Ivy League (or the other extremely selective admissions colleges) are the crapshoot that most on this Board seem to think. And if that is where your kid <em>may</em> want to go four years from now, you had better start planning soon.</p>
<p>For the rest of the kids who are not thinking about the top-top-tier schools, I think that almost any of them can use some general college advising. The amount is probably dependent upon who (if anyone) in the family is helping. A school GC may be adequate, but from postings on CC many parents have observed that their kid’s GCs are not up to the task. That’s fine if the parents can step in and help. There are a lot of pitfalls out there if you don’t carefully review the requirements for each college (or for the scholarships available for each college). But this is work to be done once the die has already been cast and not much is going to happen to improve the role of the die. At this point all that can be done is to help shepherd the applications through the process. If the GC or the parents can’t do it, then it is probably worth a few hundred dollars to have someone else help.</p>
<p>I think where a private counselor would be of help to me and mine is taking some of the parental pressure off the whole thing and making it more neutral. For example, my S is (irrationally, with no basis) prejudiced against New England. I have no clue why; he’s never been there. If I were to suggest looking into XYZ school in New England, he’d know just how to yank my chain. If an outsider suggested it, he’d have a lot harder time explaining away a “why I’m not interested.”</p>
<p>I think outsiders could also explain better “what you need to get to school X” without having it come across as “you have disappointed me” (as it might be perceived from a parent).</p>
<p>No need for fancy counselors. Just learning what you need to know from reading CC will get you results like this:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062811104-post413.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/1062811104-post413.html</a></p>
<p>Well, I sure hope so, coureur! LOL.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl–yes, I know exactly what you mean. When the parent suggests an idea its received very differently than when an “expert” weighs in. Kinda like when I suggest something to DH who must sit with it a bit, and resuggest it to me later as his own! As long as we still get there…</p>
<p>Coureur, I agree that many parents or kids can learn all they need to from CC. The trick is to get them to use it. As opposed to some parents who believe that kids should not be introduced to CC, I believe that it can be very helpful if their BSfilter is OSHA-approved. (Especially if the parents are not actively helping in the college search.)</p>
<p>Pizzagirl - My son would not initially consider any schools where it was warm, nothing South of Baltimore or West of the Mississippi (except for Big State U for a safety). Briefly considered Stanford (#1 choice for most top kids in his HS) until he saw the palm trees in one of their pictures. He panicked a bit in October and was willing to add USC and Rice as schools that I was fairly certain that he could get into. Maybe your son doesn’t want to go to school with all those damn yankees (no idea where you are from) or where it is cold. Once my son <em>really</em> started looking at what he wanted he was able to narrow things down a bit, eliminate and add to get what he wanted.</p>
<p>I did most of the research for him, principally on CC. I gave him a list of schools that he might consider for the fields that interested him. I did suggest that he would probably not be happy at an LAC because of his interests and the limitation of choosing potentially radically different majors once he was in college. He definitely wanted to be at a college where the professors and other students would challenge him intellectually. Once he started visiting colleges (not until March of junior year) he was able to focus on the personalities of various colleges and how their location impacted college life and what he wanted to be able to do.</p>
<p>Fortunately, I was able to organize most of the information I had gathered because I became very ill in November of his senior year and did not come home until almost Christmas. I helped him (slightly) with his one SCEA application, but he was able to take my notes and files and complete the applications on his own (including a number of specialized applications that were due December 10). The balance were finally finished on New Years Eve as we were watching the clock tick down to midnight. Funny story on one app that I’ll save for another time.</p>
<p>We did consult with a college counselor one time for about an hour. I did not find that she knew any more about college admissions than I did. It was probably about a $100 lesson.</p>
<p>^ “many parents or kids can learn all they need to from CC. The trick is to get them to use it”</p>
<p>I wasn’t the one who found CC – the reverse – my D found it when she was a hs junior. I think it helped her : ) and I know it has helped me ; )</p>