Wake up call about private counseling

[Anonymous]

So many parents pay 25-50k for private college counseling and the kids aren’t getting into Michigan. Or Wisconsin.

A friend showed me her DC app. Whoa.
The major choice sucks.
The essays are not distinguishing enough.
The activity lists are generally blah.

Why are people paying this?!? For these results? Is this year an anomaly?

It’s shocking.

I haven’t paid a stand-alone counselor and DC has gotten into both OOS.

[Anonymous]

I would not assume so many parents pay that much, because as you said, that's just nuts.

[Anonymous]

Most people have no idea what a good application looks like.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many parents pay 25-50k for private college counseling and the kids aren’t getting into Michigan. Or Wisconsin.

A friend showed me her DC app. Whoa.
The major choice sucks.
The essays are not distinguishing enough.
The activity lists are generally blah.

Why are people paying this?!? For these results? Is this year an anomaly?

It’s shocking.

I haven’t paid a stand-alone counselor and DC has gotten into both OOS.

So I'm going to call this as baiting by a bored kid. This is silly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many parents pay 25-50k for private college counseling and the kids aren’t getting into Michigan. Or Wisconsin.

A friend showed me her DC app. Whoa.
The major choice sucks.
The essays are not distinguishing enough.
The activity lists are generally blah.

Why are people paying this?!? For these results? Is this year an anomaly?

It’s shocking.

I haven’t paid a stand-alone counselor and DC has gotten into both OOS.

So I'm going to call this as baiting by a bored kid. This is silly.

Nope.
A parent.

When you look at the class choice and the activities and the major is out of left field and does not match anything there. It makes you wonder if the counselor was just asleep at the wheel?

Sometimes I think kids pick these majors aspirationally? Almost like what they hope to study one day, not realizing they need evidence for it.

What a good counselor should have said no. You absolutely cannot do that because there is no good story.

[Anonymous]

I think there’s a wide range in quality and price (and not necessarily correlated). I posted in another thread about DC’s independent education consultant who helped them get into HYPSM early this cycle plus multiple fully funded scholarship/research opportunities throughout high school. We paid the IEC 22.5K over the course of 4 years, and it was well worth it for our family. I’ve heard of others that cost hundreds of thousands or even 1MM+!

[Anonymous]

The moral of the story may be when you are interviewing counselors is to find out if you can have you speak with a previous client who had a similar profile to your kid to see how they fared.

Because it’s not always apples to apples with their track record.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think there’s a wide range in quality and price (and not necessarily correlated). I posted in another thread about DC’s independent education consultant who helped them get into HYPSM early this cycle plus multiple fully funded scholarship/research opportunities throughout high school. We paid the IEC 22.5K over the course of 4 years, and it was well worth it for our family. I’ve heard of others that cost hundreds of thousands or even 1MM+!

Did you post the name?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many parents pay 25-50k for private college counseling and the kids aren’t getting into Michigan. Or Wisconsin.

A friend showed me her DC app. Whoa.
The major choice sucks.
The essays are not distinguishing enough.
The activity lists are generally blah.

Why are people paying this?!? For these results? Is this year an anomaly?

It’s shocking.

I haven’t paid a stand-alone counselor and DC has gotten into both OOS.

Not all consultants are equal, once who can get you in, charge six figures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there’s a wide range in quality and price (and not necessarily correlated). I posted in another thread about DC’s independent education consultant who helped them get into HYPSM early this cycle plus multiple fully funded scholarship/research opportunities throughout high school. We paid the IEC 22.5K over the course of 4 years, and it was well worth it for our family. I’ve heard of others that cost hundreds of thousands or even 1MM+!

Did you post the name?

I did not, as I don’t wish for my posts to be misconstrued as advertisements.

[Anonymous]

You can get a fantastic private counselor for a fraction of that amount.

[Anonymous]

That's bonkers. Like PP, there are great counselors for much less. Ask around. We had friends who used advisors and we spoke with those who had results we hoped for.

[Anonymous]

I wonder if counselors always recommend a major. My ds did not list one as he is undecided, and got in everywhere he applied (top 50 to 100 so didn’t have huge ambitions) He also wrote a sport essay which was really his most authentic topic to describe who he is.

[Anonymous]

Local good college counselors charge around $8,000 for the whole package, starting at end of sophomore year.

[Anonymous]

Didn’t use one and my kid rid worlds better than all friends that did. T10/15/Ivy RD acceptances.