Question for Parents of Students Admitted to Top 25 Colleges

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people take a leave of absence to help their kids with college apps? I can barely juggle work and home as it is. I don’t have time to do research, listen to podcasts, and edit essays. DH has absolutely no interest. Where do people find the time to become their kid’s unpaid college consultant?

Stay at home mom and/or retired

Lawyer turned stay at home mom here. I spend a lot of my time on this (reading, researching, podcasts, etc.) and feel like I know more than most. I have visited ~20 schools between my 3 kids. I do think college counselors serve a purpose for busy families. I just happen to have the time and a skill set that easily transfers to acting as my DC’s counselor. I am used to editing, researching, meeting deadlines, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm amused that no one on this thread has used a counselor and all their unhooked kids are at Ivies. OK. Well I'll go ahead and be the first to admit we used one. Independent, former Ivy AO. Having her set timelines was great, she seemed super knowledgeable about institutional prios at various schools, and she was very helpful with supplemental essays and common app activities. I did not love her feedback on the main essay, some of which we ignored. Anyway, DC got into a T15 ED so we didn't really get full results, and have no way of knowing whether he undershot - I didn't think DC had a real chance at any Ivy besides Cornell but admittedly, we'll never know. All in all would I say it was worth the cost ($8k)? Not quite but it was worth something,

Great price! Would you be willing to share name?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people take a leave of absence to help their kids with college apps? I can barely juggle work and home as it is. I don’t have time to do research, listen to podcasts, and edit essays. DH has absolutely no interest. Where do people find the time to become their kid’s unpaid college consultant?

Stay at home mom and/or retired

Lawyer turned stay at home mom here. I spend a lot of my time on this (reading, researching, podcasts, etc.) and feel like I know more than most. I have visited ~20 schools between my 3 kids. I do think college counselors serve a purpose for busy families. I just happen to have the time and a skill set that easily transfers to acting as my DC’s counselor. I am used to editing, researching, meeting deadlines, etc.

Retired biglaw here.
I did the same as you. It was like you said an easily transferable skill set. Kids are both in at T10.
1 more to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people take a leave of absence to help their kids with college apps? I can barely juggle work and home as it is. I don’t have time to do research, listen to podcasts, and edit essays. DH has absolutely no interest. Where do people find the time to become their kid’s unpaid college consultant?

Stay at home mom and/or retired

Lawyer turned stay at home mom here. I spend a lot of my time on this (reading, researching, podcasts, etc.) and feel like I know more than most. I have visited ~20 schools between my 3 kids. I do think college counselors serve a purpose for busy families. I just happen to have the time and a skill set that easily transfers to acting as my DC’s counselor. I am used to editing, researching, meeting deadlines, etc.

PP. Same here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this question has probably been asked many times before, but I wanted to reach out specifically to parents whose kids were admitted to a top 25 schools, either in the most recent admissions cycle or in the past few years.

Which college consultant (if any) did you use, and how was your experience?

Please, no snark , just hoping for genuine, firsthand recommendations or feedback from those who have real information to share.

Thanks in advance!

None.

My kid did all the work on their own, including researching the schools, charting deadlines, scheduling visits, prioritizing the list, writing their essays, getting recommendation letters, completing tge applications, emailing schools with any questions, etc.

I proofread the essays for errors like punctuation or spelling, but the work was all their own.

Accepted to every top 25 school they applied to except 1 (waitlisted Notre Dame) and 2/3 of the top 10 schools they applied to (rejected from Princeton)

The kid is doing well in a very rigorous engineering program, above a 3.5 gpa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know this question has probably been asked many times before, but I wanted to reach out specifically to parents whose kids were admitted to a top 25 schools, either in the most recent admissions cycle or in the past few years.

Which college consultant (if any) did you use, and how was your experience?

Please, no snark , just hoping for genuine, firsthand recommendations or feedback from those who have real information to share.

Thanks in advance!

None.

My kid did all the work on their own, including researching the schools, charting deadlines, scheduling visits, prioritizing the list, writing their essays, getting recommendation letters, completing tge applications, emailing schools with any questions, etc.

I proofread the essays for errors like punctuation or spelling, but the work was all their own.

Accepted to every top 25 school they applied to except 1 (waitlisted Notre Dame) and 2/3 of the top 10 schools they applied to (rejected from Princeton)

The kid is doing well in a very rigorous engineering program, above a 3.5 gpa.

Oh, and I paid. And paid. 15 school applications.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You font need a consultant for schools ranked 11-25. At this range different schools like different things.
U Chicago, Dartmouth, Emory, Vanderbilt love private students

UC, Uva, Umich be instate

Notre dame be catholic

Rice, CMU, WashU all about the test score

Etc.

Every practicing Catholic wants to go to Notre Dame. It is a,VERY competitive place to get accepted to as an active Catholic.

[Anonymous]

In general our society would be much better off if moms don't stay at home or take sabbatical for larlo's college admissions. Better off if they are career driven (some maga really have problem with this). Pay for a consultant if you need one, or don't hire one if you don't need one. Do whatever you want, but get your priorities right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In general our society would be much better off if moms don't stay at home or take sabbatical for larlo's college admissions. Better off if they are career driven (some maga really have problem with this). Pay for a consultant if you need one, or don't hire one if you don't need one. Do whatever you want, but get your priorities right.

if you don’t need the money, why does it matter?

I’m one of those people. This is a blip in the life of my family. I wanted to make sure it got done right.

And it definitely did!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm amused that no one on this thread has used a counselor and all their unhooked kids are at Ivies. OK. Well I'll go ahead and be the first to admit we used one. Independent, former Ivy AO. Having her set timelines was great, she seemed super knowledgeable about institutional prios at various schools, and she was very helpful with supplemental essays and common app activities. I did not love her feedback on the main essay, some of which we ignored. Anyway, DC got into a T15 ED so we didn't really get full results, and have no way of knowing whether he undershot - I didn't think DC had a real chance at any Ivy besides Cornell but admittedly, we'll never know. All in all would I say it was worth the cost ($8k)? Not quite but it was worth something,

Please share the name of the counselor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do people take a leave of absence to help their kids with college apps? I can barely juggle work and home as it is. I don’t have time to do research, listen to podcasts, and edit essays. DH has absolutely no interest. Where do people find the time to become their kid’s unpaid college consultant?

Stay at home mom and/or retired

Lawyer turned stay at home mom here. I spend a lot of my time on this (reading, researching, podcasts, etc.) and feel like I know more than most. I have visited ~20 schools between my 3 kids. I do think college counselors serve a purpose for busy families. I just happen to have the time and a skill set that easily transfers to acting as my DC’s counselor. I am used to editing, researching, meeting deadlines, etc.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm amused that no one on this thread has used a counselor and all their unhooked kids are at Ivies. OK. Well I'll go ahead and be the first to admit we used one. Independent, former Ivy AO. Having her set timelines was great, she seemed super knowledgeable about institutional prios at various schools, and she was very helpful with supplemental essays and common app activities. I did not love her feedback on the main essay, some of which we ignored. Anyway, DC got into a T15 ED so we didn't really get full results, and have no way of knowing whether he undershot - I didn't think DC had a real chance at any Ivy besides Cornell but admittedly, we'll never know. All in all would I say it was worth the cost ($8k)? Not quite but it was worth something,

Great price! Would you be willing to share name?

+ 1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm amused that no one on this thread has used a counselor and all their unhooked kids are at Ivies. OK. Well I'll go ahead and be the first to admit we used one. Independent, former Ivy AO. Having her set timelines was great, she seemed super knowledgeable about institutional prios at various schools, and she was very helpful with supplemental essays and common app activities. I did not love her feedback on the main essay, some of which we ignored. Anyway, DC got into a T15 ED so we didn't really get full results, and have no way of knowing whether he undershot - I didn't think DC had a real chance at any Ivy besides Cornell but admittedly, we'll never know. All in all would I say it was worth the cost ($8k)? Not quite but it was worth something,

Great price! Would you be willing to share name?

Yes please share the contact info here.

[Anonymous]

Harvard. Hooked with ROTC. I used an ROTC consultant which was worth EVERY penny (3K), since the process was confusing and completely separate from the college admissions cycle. The ROI was, obviously, extraordinary. Didn't use a college consultant. DCPS school.

[Anonymous]

I noticed that my DD (Ivy admit) and her classmates who were admitted to top schools did not need, or use, private counselors/coaches. Obviously, these kids don't need the help, but it also makes me wonder if the schools sense who is using private counselors and holding it against those applicants.