<p>I'm sure this has been discussed before, but wasn't sure what to search on. Anyway, i have never really given much thought to paying someone to prepare my app for me. Was at a party the other night and someone mentioned how they thought their kid would have gotten into MIT if they had a paid service do it for them. I disagreed and said even though his SAT was a perfect score, and had everything else going for them, so did every other applicant to MIT.</p>
<p>So, has/is anyone considering paying someone? I can't imagine how this would really help me? Wondering if it would matter based on the types of schools you're looking at?</p>
<p>Some people do choose to pay for private college counselors. There are a number of threads on that topic in the Parents Forum.</p>
<p>Legitimate college counselors, whether volunteers, privately paid, or your own HS guidance counselor can (among others):
help students create a good list of colleges/universities to apply to
help students write better and more thoughtful college application essays
help students keep track of all of the miscellaneous paperwork involved (application, letters of recommendation, financial aid application, etc.) so that everything gets out on time
run interference between parent and child so that the family relationship stays healthy
help determine which classes to take in high school, and which exams to take (ACT, SAT, SAT II, AP, etc.) and when it is best to take those exams.</p>
<p>What no legitimate counselor can do, is get a student into a college/university he/she is not qualified for. Whether or not they can make the difference in getting a qualified student into a school like HYPSM where many many qualified students are rejected every year is something that can’t be proven because there is no way to submit two applications for the very same student. Where private counseling seems to me to be most beneficial, is when the student is not a top candidate for anyone, and needs help coming up with a list of decent options beyond the second-level public universities in his/her home state.</p>
<p>^^ yeah, kind of what I was talking about - paid services to “prepare” your overall picture to a college. I also don’t really see the need. I mean, filling out the app is pretty simple, and i’ll be writing the essay so not really sure what you would need them for.</p>
<p>Like I said, got into a discussion over the weekend with someone who swears they should have paid someone to do this for them. just curious what others thought. </p>
<p>Kind of like paying these athletic “recruiting” services for athletes.</p>
<p>Much of the app is a matter of writing down facts, like addresses and scores, that can’t be gamed in any way. The rest is essays and an activities list, on which outside aid can be helpful. But it doesn’t sound like essay editing so much as typing in your information…</p>