<p>The college counselors at my school are known as the worst in the state--totally uninvolved, indifferent to your success, not knowledgeable, and with no connections to top universities. My family and I decided we need to invest in our own college counselor for me (outside of school)...does anyone know of any good ones???</p>
<p>I'm not quite sure why you'd really need one. There are tons of resources online, and even this forum is enough to help you (Just an FYI, I barely talked to my counselor this year- I had her write some recommendations for me, but that's about it. It is obvious that her main goal is to get students into the in-state universities and local community college; however, I did just fine by myself without the aid of a counselor.) If you do want a real counselor, you might want to consider the ones that CC offers though. They seem pretty legit. </p>
<p>College</a> Counseling</p>
<p>We paid big bucks to an outside consultant starting after DS's year 9 because our overloaded and undereducated public school GC had the reputation for only dealing w/ problem children. Got some good advice on curriculum, testing strategies/timing and some tips on score reporting (or not). We live in a prominently SAT area, and finding a place to take the PLAN and then ACT (34 cold!) made it worth the money. It's also nice to have a 3rd party help develop a plan for preparing for college so it's not just mom nagging. But now that I've educated myself as to the ins and outs of admissions, (much to the credit of CC) I think we could have done it ourselves. Then again, I'd have to be the nag....</p>
<p>Heading into senior year, we will continue with the consultant because she offers workshops in essay writing and applications -- which will help it get done this summer. That wouldn't happen if it was a "goal" to finish during break.</p>
<p>I am not sure how much you need a paid councelor can substitute the one at your school, especially during your senior year. Frankly, there only two main things you get from your GC during your senior year: 1) school profile and a letter (and you can hire 10 consultants, but the letter will anyway come from your school GC); 2) transcripts (once again, those will come from your school no matter what). In terms of "connections". They are limited to very-very few schools. My daughter's school is pretty strong with maybe a 70-80 kids going to Ivies every year. And we cannot complain about GCs. But their GCs just do their job (letters and trascripts plus ome advice and occasional nagging), but do not use any magical "connections" to push individual kids. In any event, the "connections" should be in your school anyway. So you HAVE TO find way to make your GC work for you.
A paid college consultant could help, but with very different things. Help you with essays and other elements of application process, with wchich GCs usually do not deal.</p>
<p>
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and with no connections to top universities. My family and I decided we need to invest in our own college counselor for me (outside of school)...does anyone know of any good ones???
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</p>
<p>Meanwhile low-income students who had to wander into the process blind are totally shafted. Quite loving this! </p>
<p>I did all my applications myself. I filled out the FAFSA and financial aid forms myself. I had to contact my schools myself (through my high school's phone, because we couldn't afford long-distance) when dealing with my I-90 status and the fact that my non-custodial parent would be unwilling to sign the non-custodial form. My mother would have assisted, but she was too busy supporting us. At least <em>your</em> parents (probably both of them!) are available. </p>
<p>There's this thing called "research" and "google". CC works pretty well. The GC helps you send transcripts and recommendations -- that's what they're supposed to do -- along with dealing with fee-waivers and special circumstances.</p>
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GC had the reputation for only dealing w/ problem children
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<p><em>rolleyes</em> </p>
<p>I really don't get you spoiled rich parents ...</p>
<p>I'm totally with ya, galoisien. </p>
<p>This thread makes me sick. The "do anything to get into a top college" mentality of the upper class makes me want to puke. If you go out and pay big bucks for a private counselor, is your kid really going through the process on his/her own merit? For any parent who's thinking about writing a check for an expensive private counselor, think about the straight A student living in poverty who's also trying to get into an Ivy League. Does your little prince/princess deserve such an unfair advantage? </p>
<p>And as galoisien said, a google search or a quick browse through CC really does go a long way.</p>
<p>galoisien and tulsadem, i agree 100% with you guys.</p>
<p>i had to do EVERYTHING by myself. my parents never said anything about it except "here are the tax returns, make sure to fill out the FAFSA". the family accountant, some guy my dad knows who does our taxes, was no help whatsoever, so I did it and hoped that I didn't make a mistake.</p>
<p>but there's a happy ending--I got a bunch of need based aid from grinnell and I'm really happy about that. wonder where i would be going if i were lucky enough to have my parents throw money at my application process.</p>
<p>Closing this thread because CC doesn't allow posts about competing services.</p>