Hi all, I am a current student at UVA who is very knowledgable about the application process as well as how to go about building a formidable application/resume. I have experience applying recently myself as well as on the other side of the admissions process working with UVA’s office of undergraduate admissions. I’m not going to list my whole resume but trust that I am beyond qualified to be giving advice to high school students in the application process…
I would love to use this knowledge to make some money as an independent college counselor ( I would not charge even close to what people who do this as a career do… I would be a cheaper but still very helpful option.)
My question is how do I go about doing this?..
How do I get my name out there? Should I pay for advertising? If so, where should I advertise? How could I get my name out there for cheap/free?
How should I charge? (e.g. per session/ one time fee)
How much should I charge?
Any other advice you think may be helpful is welcomed.
I think the UVa admission office would fire you if they discovered that you are working for them and holding yourself out as an independent college counselor to paying clients.
In addition, being a student yourself, would parents take you seriously? You may not have enough experience to be able to charge the big bucks. Do you have insight in what it takes to get into other colleges? Which would be best for those who need merit money?
Google “College Vine” - they hire students to work with applicants but I have no idea if UVa is a school from which they hire.
ETA - from their site:
From your other posts, you transferred to UVa in the fall of 2017, didn’t you? - how could you have a year of experience in their admission office already?
Actually…he says he has a year experience in the admissions outreach office but doesn’t do it anymore.
How can that be unless it’s at his FIRST college? So…what college was THAT.
I hate to say it…but if you are so wonderful at college search and selection…why did you end up transferring?
I’m not trying to be critical…but really…if I was looking for a college counselor for my kid! I’d want someone who had experience finding colleges for students…who actually then graduated from those colleges.
It doesn’t matter if you charge less than folks with more experience…you will still be held to the same high standard.
Forget this scheme. You do not have enough experience to be helpful with college admissions. You can give free advice only because you only know what it took for you to get into one college. You have no knowledge of the many factors a student and parents should consider- especially those naive enough to feel the need for outside help.
I think a better idea for you is to help students with their application essays, crafting resumes, that sort of thing. As a private college admissions consultant myself, I am usually hired because I have a lot of experience identifying colleges that are a good fit for a student (academically, socially, financially)…and that knowledge comes from over 18 years of working as a school counselor in a few different high schools. Oh, and a couple of master’s degrees, too.
This is one field where you really need experience in order to be credible! And you get the experience working with lots of students and colleges over many, many years. Good luck!