One thing that a good counselor will do is help you organize and describe your EC’s, awards and activities on the Common App. Someone could have strong EC’s but do a poor job of listing and describing them. A good GC of course could do the same thing, but my D’s GC was (1) brand new to the job, and (2) had a huge caseload of students. Also, as I mentioned before, the private counselor we used was a retired local public HS GC. She had been through this drill a million times. She knew the faculty at our HS so she helped D brainstorm about what teachers to ask for LOR’s (and what teachers were rumored to write crappy LOR’s). She also was familiar with a lot of the local college reps (at least by reputation). She advised D about what schools on her list cared about demonstrated interest and how to show it. Lots of her tips were little ones but that added up. For example, she had us keeping an eye on the USC website for when local interview slots would open up (they fill up really really fast).
@Corinthian A GC is supposed to do that? I never knew. My GC never even talked about that.
I get the part about packaging themselves though as that seems to be a major fault in many people’s applications.
The best college counselors
Are accredited, have visited many many colleges ,and often know the local college admissions officers. They can give both parents and children a realistic perspective of a child’s chances at many colleges.
They will be able to tell your child what she needs to do, and when she needs to do it and then pester her to make sure she gets it done.
A good guidance counselor can be a safe unbiased sounding board for your child -someone who can help her find realistic reaches matches and safeties , help her polish her essays - and can also be the one who becomes the “nag” , instead of parents feeling they have to ask the status of a child’s applications –which can greatly reduce the tension at home during the first semester of senior year.
@rdeng2614 I said a good GC could do it, not that they would do it. Especially at a public HS where there is lots of staff turnover and a heavy caseload, the GC probably lacks both the experience and time to do much other than make sure their end of the CA gets done (secondary school report, midyear report etc). Our D’s public school GC was very nice but, for example, she signed off on the ED agreement without ever discussing what was involved in an ED commitment or asking us if we could afford the ED school. We knew what we were getting into, but for all she knew we might not have.
This is a timely topic for me as I’m wrestling with basically the same question. I think my kid is “high stats” (he tests very well), but is otherwise very much an average, normal, happy kid (no spectacular ECs, etc). We live relatively close by what I believe is one of the best public schools available (UNC Chapel Hill) – where I think he’s likely to be accepted, and which I think would be a good fit. So I’m wondering if there’s value in hiring a consultant to explore other opportunities, assist with essays, etc. Any advice is appreciated.
If you can’t or don’t want to hire charlatans (like those who don’t have solid verifiable references from accreditation organizations), then I’d try asking your primary physician, your pastor or rabbi, or a close friend if she or he can recommend a good short-term therapist that you and your child could see to help work through some of these issues. Even an educational social worker can help you and your child find options, make a college application work board to keep things organized, and help work through difficult issues between you and your child. It’s often helpful to have a level-headed third party to help with planning, applying, and deciding. You do not have to pay $10k and upwards for what is essentially a (human) closet organizer.
Spent 750 for a FA advisor which was a total waste. Based on my own knowledge, DD got a generous scholarship at her college and another smaller one from an independent source. FA advisor said don’t even bother filling out the papers…
As for the essay, pick out the most judgmental co-worker you know and offer to buy them lunch if they read over your kid’s essay and write a few comments on the general feel of it. The purpose of the essay is for the admissions to get to know your kid, so having people who DO NOT KNOW your kid will tell you if the essay is doing the job or not.
Also show it to people who are in a range of ages: your college reader could be a graduate student, a middle-aged AO or even an elderly alum who volunteers at Admissions. Make sure it is understood by all. And, of course, have the pickiest English teacher at the HS look it over for grammar errors.
Start the essay in the summer! Best of luck.
Not everyone is a “charlatan” or charges $10k. Many people do not know what they do not know.