<p>Did anybody use an advisor to help pick the schools they applied to instead of Peterson or the web?</p>
<p>How did you find it? Was it helpful? Would you do it again?</p>
<p>I used an educational consultant, and so did my brother who's two years older than me, and I definitely think it helped. She was able to match me to schools that fit my personality, and not just my academic abilities. She was comfortable in saying "You would fly by this school's academics" and also "You would spend too much time studying at this school, and it just wouldn't be a fit" if I inquired about a school. I was also able to look at schools I wouldn't have thought of if I was working by myself, and she also gets a lot of information from schools themselves about their admission rates, and is able to really form fit the experience to you. I would definitely recommend using a consultant, but it is a financial commitment</p>
<p>alot of that really depends on how much time and effort you (the parent) are willing to spend on research, how open you are to different possibilities (willing to think past the top 10 schools) and how unique your student is.</p>
<p>If you have the money and it isn't a big issue -- I would say go ahead an get an educational consultant.</p>
<p>I would also suggest it if your student has unique talents, unique interests and/or is an international student.</p>
<p>We did not use a consultant and we were very pleased with the results. You would be amazed at the amount of helpful information on this board. </p>
<p>I think, though, that one of the most helpful aspects of an educational consultant is the reality check -- we all saw kids applying to schools that were reaches (and some very, very big reaches). An good educational consultant would have made sure that the student applied to a range of schools where they were not only a good fit -- but also where they had good chances for admittance.</p>
<p>Thanks alot</p>
<p>An educational consultant could be really helpful, but you may wish to interview more than one before choosing the one who would work best with you. We have a friend who worked with one with somewhat disappointing results (in hindsight, the consultant was not as much of a reality check as my friend would have wished - with some surprisingly disappointing results on March 10). </p>
<p>We did not use an educational consultant, but have found ourselves doing a lot of research (by internet, word-of-mouth, campus visits, etc.) to try to decipher the meaningful differences among the schools to find the best matches.</p>