Did Private College Counseling workout for your DC in the early rounds (2022-2023 applicants)?

[Anonymous]

Did you hire one? What were your DC's target and what were the results?

[Anonymous]

Hired one and NO.

[Anonymous]

such a waste of money...do your own research.....

signed
parent of '26 Ivy grad

[Anonymous]

Private counselor helped my niece to Duke and nephew to UChicago (different sides of the family and on opposite coasts but used same counselor) this year in the early round. I'll be hiring the same person for my DC next year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Private counselor helped my niece to Duke and nephew to UChicago (different sides of the family and on opposite coasts but used same counselor) this year in the early round. I'll be hiring the same person for my DC next year.

Do you mind sharing which counsellor ?

[Anonymous]

This largely depends on why you hire. We hired someone who used to be an admin asst to an executive and leverages her organization skills to coach students through the process. So it's less counseling than very serious discipline. She was an older lady so she got grandmotherly respect and none of the pushback that we got as parents on keeping up with deadlines, and honing the storyline. Both of our kids who used her got into all their top choices. That had everything to do with organization, not "counseling". She only takes 10 students a year and is booked for several years, but just staying all that to tell you what you should look for. You can do all your own research. You just need somebody to keep your kid on point with no arguments.

[Anonymous]

We found the person we hired to be invaluable. Her insight into what schools to look at and what those schools want in an applicant was far beyond what our private high school counselor could offer. And, her help with the essays really produced incredible narratives. Results: My son only applied to six schools because he got in ED1 to his top choice. He immediately withdrew the other five. He actually heard from a second school -- he received a huge merit scholarship.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private counselor helped my niece to Duke and nephew to UChicago (different sides of the family and on opposite coasts but used same counselor) this year in the early round. I'll be hiring the same person for my DC next year.

Do you mind sharing which counsellor ?

Do you have or can set up a throwaway email address you can post here? If so, I’ll send her contact info to you privately. Like the other PP’s counselor, this one only takes 10 students per year.

[Anonymous]

What year is your child currently? If you are grabbing one in their junior year, I would say absolutely not, waste of money. Is your son or daughter in 8th or 9th? It may be worth navigating the next 4 years with a college coach/counselor.

[Anonymous]

When I do college counseling, I limit my services to school selection and essay guidance and general counseling regarding careers & grad schools. I am not an administrative assistant. So, OP, be sure to specify which services you need from any college consultant so that your expectations are understood by all parties.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What year is your child currently? If you are grabbing one in their junior year, I would say absolutely not, waste of money. Is your son or daughter in 8th or 9th? It may be worth navigating the next 4 years with a college coach/counselor.

This is not accurate unless you are seeking a surrogate parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private counselor helped my niece to Duke and nephew to UChicago (different sides of the family and on opposite coasts but used same counselor) this year in the early round. I'll be hiring the same person for my DC next year.

Do you mind sharing which counsellor ?

Do you have or can set up a throwaway email address you can post here? If so, I’ll send her contact info to you privately. Like the other PP’s counselor, this one only takes 10 students per year.

I'm a different PP but would love this contact. [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Poor experience with College Bound. Told DS his resume, essay were great but in realty had errors that the counselor missed. Knew nothing about colleges. Seem to fly by the seat of their pants and full of BS. Applications DS submitted were completely different than what counselor approved. You are better off flushing your $ down the toilet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Did you hire one? What were your DC's target and what were the results?

Hired one. The consultant made things harder. They were only concerned about getting DC into the highest-ranked schools so the consultant could look good even if they didn't offer the programs DC wanted. When they realized that our high stats DC wasn't going to apply to Ivies, they quit contacting us even though we had paid for services through the entire application process.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the responses. I understand why some are hesitant to post the names of those they worked with, but is it possible to post how much the service cost?