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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I encourage readers to be careful. This may be an ad rather than the posting of an actual user. If the person was that good, the post would have named the college advisor--but that would have opened the recommendation to public comment.

I have been involved in college counseling for several decades--mostly without charge to students & families who could not afford to pay. I assure you that even those charging in the $25,000 to $100,000+ range are not as good as this unidentified counselor.

Rick Singer charged that much and he got terrific results…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I encourage readers to be careful. This may be an ad rather than the posting of an actual user. If the person was that good, the post would have named the college advisor--but that would have opened the recommendation to public comment.

I have been involved in college counseling for several decades--mostly without charge to students & families who could not afford to pay. I assure you that even those charging in the $25,000 to $100,000+ range are not as good as this unidentified counselor.

The counselor also could be good at setting client expectations so success is likely. If you convince a kid with 1600 sat and 4.0 unweighted to ED1 at a tier 2 colleges that most consultants would consider a safety and don’t apply to any reach schools, the consultant will have terrific results. Since the clients have been conditioned to believe getting into that ED1 school is success, they will be happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sara Harberson's methodology is right on, and not expensive. Highly recommend vs private counselors.
We have fantastic results

This is what we did but with mixed results so far. Some of her advice contradicts what HS counselors say. For example, Sara says to never report at 4 to a reach school (i.e. Ivy). School counselor said that was ridiculous.

Same here. Our CC insisted reporting all 4s when our student said she would not based on SH.

That’s not how I understood SH’s advice. She’s cautionary on submitting 4s to highly rejective schools based on seeing people rejected for doing so at Penn. I think if you had a 4 on BC Calc, she’d likely advise not to submit if you’re a hard stem applicant to an Ivy but to go ahead if you’re applying as an English major and you’re otherwise submitting 5s for eg Lang and History.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

This is the reality. NOT ONE totally unhooked smart kid got in ED. Some were deferred and may get in regular decision. But if you think what I am saying is untrue you are kidding yourself.

I don't disagree, but I wasn't just focused on Ivy League schools. The three Ivy admits I know this year are all white girls, 2 athletes, and one legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We hired an independent consultant 3 years back and he made our life (parents) much easier and most importantly brought new perspectives to the table.
DD was struggling with SAT and reached plateau at one point. He suggested to try ACT. So DD changed her course and focused on ACT. DD got a 36 on ACT!! We were so relieved.
His wife was a journalist, and reviews/comments on all essays and writings.
DD had a less stressful cycle and now a Junior at a T20 school. The consultant charged $3,500 per cycle. Unlimited essay review. calls, email, text. Meet in person monthly (if I remember correctly). He was quite responsive too.

I think he is now retired due to health issue. Finding the right consultant does help the process.

The right consultant is valuable. And $3500-4000 for them over 2-4 years all in is worth every penny. If you are going to pay $40K+/year for college you might as well invest a little bit to get help getting in and finding the right school for your kid. The right one guides you, and does NOT do it for your kid. They keep you on track and help you curate the best list for applications for your kid, so you have 2-3 true safeties that your kid loves and will actually get into. So even if the rest doesn't go well, you end up happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I ask the name of the safety on "the other coast"?

It's actually on your coast as I'm no longer in the DCUM area.

WPI---excellent engineering school---truly a hidden gem. Previous president (left last summer to head up JPL) worked hard to work towards 50/50 makeup of students. They are at about 55/45 (M/F) last I checked. My kid is not a "nerd" or "geeky" so somewhere like RPI wasn't going to work (for many other reasons as well) but kid also did not want anything larger than 8K or so (so VaTech/GATech/Purdue/etc were not appealing) and wanted a place where they could change majors as they desire without having to fight to gain admission to the major at a later date. At WPI majority of kids seemed "normal" not like a traditional only engineering school.

Happy to hear these great things about WPI. It's on my kid's list, but we haven't visited yet. I liked it for my kid because it seems like less pressure than other tech/enginneering programs (i.e. not trying to weed out half the class in the first year).

yes, definately less pressure because you can major in whatever you want, just meet with advisor and take the courses you want/need. Only think to know about WPI is to understand the 4 quarter system during the "normal school year". It's 4, 7 week quarters. You take 3 courses (not normal 4 or 5 in a semester school). It has it's plusses and minuses. But make sure your kid can manage the minuses---as in, if you are a procrastinator it might not be the best place for your kids---hard to "catch up" in a 7 week session if you fall behind the first 2 weeks. On the plus side, you only have 3 courses to focus on---so it could be easier to manage from that perspective.
I like to call it a "hidden gem"----way better school than "rankings" would indicate, and that's why I don't normally care much about rankings. Perfect place for anyone who knows they want a STEM major of some type.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone that thinks getting rid of SAT/ACT moves the equity needle should read this thread.

Pretty much. The system is so rigged in favor of the rich.

~1330 and ended up with a 1520. Took practice SAT, had 4 sessions with the private tutor that focused on the areas needed for improvement. Next practice test my kid scored a 1510. Then did 1 hour of tutoring after each practice test (targeted on specific tricks, topics my kid needed to work on, my kid did 2-3 hours of their own work then took another practice test). We did 4 practice tests after the intake. But my kid's score hovered around 1510/1520 each time. So they took an actual SAT, got 1520 and we were done. So 8 -10 hours of tutoring, 5 Practices SATs, 15-16 hours my kid worked outside on their own, and we were done. IN reality, we could have been done after 4 hours of tutoring and 4-5 hours of outside studying.
My kid is independent, focused but I'm smart enough to know that their scores would not have gone up as much with just "independent studying". So with only $500-600 we could have arrived at our results. But many cannot afford that (in $$$ or time commitment if kid has to work or take care of family/siblings).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sara Harberson's methodology is right on, and not expensive. Highly recommend vs private counselors.
We have fantastic results

This is what we did but with mixed results so far. Some of her advice contradicts what HS counselors say. For example, Sara says to never report at 4 to a reach school (i.e. Ivy). School counselor said that was ridiculous.

What do you think of her advice regarding BC Calc as a must for business candidates? My kids is trying to decide between AB and BC for 12th and honestly I think they should take the easier one. Is there really an appreciable difference in the eyes of, say, Villanova?

Not sure. My kid took BC Calc before senior year, so that wasn't an issue. She will always tell kids to take the hardest classes. There were some parts of her advice we could not follow like taking a foreign language all 4 years. This was another thing the school counselor disagreed with and said that was not necessary. We will never know who was right.

From what I could tell, Villanova was a tough one this year on EA. There was at least one girl deferred with 35 ACT and 4.0 in an IB diploma program.

I literally haven't heard of ANYONE (save one legacy) getting in so far. We know a kid who got into UPenn ED this year (not Wharton) who was deferred at Villanova.

I've heard of several kids who got in - did not take BC, SAT low to mid 1400's but Catholic high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hired an independent consultant 3 years back and he made our life (parents) much easier and most importantly brought new perspectives to the table.
DD was struggling with SAT and reached plateau at one point. He suggested to try ACT. So DD changed her course and focused on ACT. DD got a 36 on ACT!! We were so relieved.
His wife was a journalist, and reviews/comments on all essays and writings.
DD had a less stressful cycle and now a Junior at a T20 school. The consultant charged $3,500 per cycle. Unlimited essay review. calls, email, text. Meet in person monthly (if I remember correctly). He was quite responsive too.

I think he is now retired due to health issue. Finding the right consultant does help the process.

The right consultant is valuable. And $3500-4000 for them over 2-4 years all in is worth every penny. If you are going to pay $40K+/year for college you might as well invest a little bit to get help getting in and finding the right school for your kid. The right one guides you, and does NOT do it for your kid. They keep you on track and help you curate the best list for applications for your kid, so you have 2-3 true safeties that your kid loves and will actually get into. So even if the rest doesn't go well, you end up happy.

Where do people live when you are quoting $3500 - $4000 over two years? You must be outside the DMV as I don't realistically know of any local counselors that charge that little for a comprehensive service, or you would hit that level with only like 10-15 hours of help if you pay hourly.

I guess there is no reason you necessarily have to hire someone local if you are comfortable conducting all your meetings on Zoom...maybe it is better to hire top counselor in Des Moines?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Private Counselor had some completely idiotic schools on the list.

We already had done tons of research, visits and trust our kid’s opinion to what he liked more.

I get it for parents that are first Gen, or out of the loop, but most highly educated parents and a Princeton Review college guide will be enough. The only benefit from a college counselor would be the trends they say in a 3-year period, but you can see that on Naviance. Our school has a really good college counselor, so that helps too.

It sounds like your kids go to a private school. Public school counselors are too busy to work with every student at the school.

My spouse and I have eight degrees between us, so I'd consider us "highly educated." For such a big decision, we wanted an expert to provide advice, just like we would for any other major financial investment.

This describes our decision process (except we only have 6 degrees). Hired expensive private counselor since this was our first applying to college and DC's public school counselor was too busy dealing with mental health issues. Counselor's knowledge of college applications was limited to a different set of schools than those to which DC was applying and counselor told DC colleges wouldn't even look at her recommendations.
Whether or not a private college counselor can help move the needle to a measurable extent is highly fact specific. In our case, DC had state and national level awards and leadership roles but we felt DC was at a disadvantage applying from an average public and determined it was worth the investment. Investment paid off very well (DC is in at her dream school, an Ivy) but I'm not sure we would do the same with our other kids now that we've been through the process and understand it better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

I encourage readers to be careful. This may be an ad rather than the posting of an actual user. If the person was that good, the post would have named the college advisor--but that would have opened the recommendation to public comment.

I have been involved in college counseling for several decades--mostly without charge to students & families who could not afford to pay. I assure you that even those charging in the $25,000 to $100,000+ range are not as good as this unidentified counselor.

The counselor also could be good at setting client expectations so success is likely. If you convince a kid with 1600 sat and 4.0 unweighted to ED1 at a tier 2 colleges that most consultants would consider a safety and don’t apply to any reach schools, the consultant will have terrific results. Since the clients have been conditioned to believe getting into that ED1 school is success, they will be happy.


Also, some kids just do have pretty good results in the process. Was it because of the counselor? Rather hard to say.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hired an independent consultant 3 years back and he made our life (parents) much easier and most importantly brought new perspectives to the table.
DD was struggling with SAT and reached plateau at one point. He suggested to try ACT. So DD changed her course and focused on ACT. DD got a 36 on ACT!! We were so relieved.
His wife was a journalist, and reviews/comments on all essays and writings.
DD had a less stressful cycle and now a Junior at a T20 school. The consultant charged $3,500 per cycle. Unlimited essay review. calls, email, text. Meet in person monthly (if I remember correctly). He was quite responsive too.

I think he is now retired due to health issue. Finding the right consultant does help the process.

The right consultant is valuable. And $3500-4000 for them over 2-4 years all in is worth every penny. If you are going to pay $40K+/year for college you might as well invest a little bit to get help getting in and finding the right school for your kid. The right one guides you, and does NOT do it for your kid. They keep you on track and help you curate the best list for applications for your kid, so you have 2-3 true safeties that your kid loves and will actually get into. So even if the rest doesn't go well, you end up happy.

Where are all these reasonably priced counselors? We priced some--Salomon brothers in NYC has a $20K flat payment. Makes some sense only if you start as soon as 9th grade. Another one said $300 per hour. We gave up and said we will do our own research.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hired an independent consultant 3 years back and he made our life (parents) much easier and most importantly brought new perspectives to the table.
DD was struggling with SAT and reached plateau at one point. He suggested to try ACT. So DD changed her course and focused on ACT. DD got a 36 on ACT!! We were so relieved.
His wife was a journalist, and reviews/comments on all essays and writings.
DD had a less stressful cycle and now a Junior at a T20 school. The consultant charged $3,500 per cycle. Unlimited essay review. calls, email, text. Meet in person monthly (if I remember correctly). He was quite responsive too.

I think he is now retired due to health issue. Finding the right consultant does help the process.

The right consultant is valuable. And $3500-4000 for them over 2-4 years all in is worth every penny. If you are going to pay $40K+/year for college you might as well invest a little bit to get help getting in and finding the right school for your kid. The right one guides you, and does NOT do it for your kid. They keep you on track and help you curate the best list for applications for your kid, so you have 2-3 true safeties that your kid loves and will actually get into. So even if the rest doesn't go well, you end up happy.

Where do people live when you are quoting $3500 - $4000 over two years? You must be outside the DMV as I don't realistically know of any local counselors that charge that little for a comprehensive service, or you would hit that level with only like 10-15 hours of help if you pay hourly.

I guess there is no reason you necessarily have to hire someone local if you are comfortable conducting all your meetings on Zoom...maybe it is better to hire top counselor in Des Moines?

West coast large city, more expensive than dcum.
Private, independent counselor.
Cost was $4k for unlimited psckage. We used her from Feb junior year thru making decision in April. Senior year
But that cost was for entire 4 years, had we started earlier.

We got 35+ hours of her time is my estimate.
Independent counselors are the best imo

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We hired an independent consultant 3 years back and he made our life (parents) much easier and most importantly brought new perspectives to the table.
DD was struggling with SAT and reached plateau at one point. He suggested to try ACT. So DD changed her course and focused on ACT. DD got a 36 on ACT!! We were so relieved.
His wife was a journalist, and reviews/comments on all essays and writings.
DD had a less stressful cycle and now a Junior at a T20 school. The consultant charged $3,500 per cycle. Unlimited essay review. calls, email, text. Meet in person monthly (if I remember correctly). He was quite responsive too.

I think he is now retired due to health issue. Finding the right consultant does help the process.

The right consultant is valuable. And $3500-4000 for them over 2-4 years all in is worth every penny. If you are going to pay $40K+/year for college you might as well invest a little bit to get help getting in and finding the right school for your kid. The right one guides you, and does NOT do it for your kid. They keep you on track and help you curate the best list for applications for your kid, so you have 2-3 true safeties that your kid loves and will actually get into. So even if the rest doesn't go well, you end up happy.

Where do people live when you are quoting $3500 - $4000 over two years? You must be outside the DMV as I don't realistically know of any local counselors that charge that little for a comprehensive service, or you would hit that level with only like 10-15 hours of help if you pay hourly.

I guess there is no reason you necessarily have to hire someone local if you are comfortable conducting all your meetings on Zoom...maybe it is better to hire top counselor in Des Moines?

West coast large city, more expensive than dcum.
Private, independent counselor.
Cost was $4k for unlimited psckage. We used her from Feb junior year thru making decision in April. Senior year
But that cost was for entire 4 years, had we started earlier.

We got 35+ hours of her time is my estimate.
Independent counselors are the best imo

Good for you...that is a great deal.