Has anyone used a private college consultant early in HS?
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Anonymous
| After researching, talking to a wide range of folks with diverse kiddo situations, we did engage with a college consultant at the start of HS to provide early guidance on helping us/kid not just wander through early HS and then end up Junior/Sr year trying to create a narrative of unique/distinct applicant and/or just supporting deadline & essay/applicant mgt. Grateful if you can avoid shaming this decision in your responses - I am curious of the experience of other parents who did the same and what they got out of the consultant early in process. |
Anonymous
| I want to know if anyone used a college consultant in 7th and 8th. |
Anonymous
| No need for us — DC’s school assigns the student to a college counselor in the summer before 9th (possibly even end of 8th for students coming up from the MS; DC started in 9th) who helps with course selection for all four years and really gets to know the student personally. The school has a college night for 9th graders that is a very high-level overview but discusses things like testing, grades, activities/awards, etc; then two college nights in 10th, one of which brings in AO reps from around the country to lead mock admissions selections by reviewing a few applications. And then they really dive in by winter break of junior year. |
Anonymous
I want to do this too. Can you share who you used? |
Anonymous
| My kid is in 10th grade and I haven't seen the need. He doesn't need someone to tell him to take the most rigorous classes he can handle and his advisor and subject matter teachers were helpful guiding him to what level classes are appropriate. He also doesn't need someone to tell him what ECs he's interested in. |
Anonymous
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Yes, there was a family in my neighborhood who did.
Two DD both ended up at Michigan applied to all top schools. Michigan only school they got into. |
Anonymous
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Yes, but my kid was in public school where I felt that she would have no guidance on planning her academics. The person I hired had sent two kids to her HS so she knew it well and gave great advice on what classes to take and how to plan all four years.
She also helped my DD narrow down her EC interest to one area, had her focus on that, take classes that complimented it and look for internships that did as well. She got into all but one of the schools to which she applied including 2 very top publics. I think her EC focus and corresponding academic classes set her apart. It also helped that she applied for majors in that same area, one that is not as popular as business/econ/tech. |
Anonymous
| We cannot afford one. But it might ultimately make a bigger difference because of the extra time to impact course choices, ECs, etc. |
Anonymous
| the college consultant we used (by-the-hour, very good results) said he likes to start with students in sophomore year. |
Anonymous
Michigan OOS is not easy to get into. |
Anonymous
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We hired one in the spring of sophomore year. Best decision ever.
Helped with junior year course selection. Also helped with deciding on summer activities, one of which was to prep heavily for SAT. Junior year they started building a resume to determining her pillars of interest. The narrative was formed from these pillars. Gradually some pillars were eliminated to create a more focused and impactful narrative. She's a senior now and well on her way to submitting some very strong applications. |
Anonymous
| My cousin hired one for his kid, the package cost 50k!! |
Anonymous
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I’m hiring one for my freshman. Her kids went to our HS and she’s also got a freshman.
I want to tap into her knowledge of our school, academics, extra curriculars and, eventually college selections. She said she typically meets with younger HS students 2-3 times a year for the first two years. |
Anonymous
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My friend is a high end college consultant (HYPS degrees) and takes students from grades 10-12 (gets a retainer for the 3 years.)
She won’t take them in grade 9 generally (no need to put on so much pressure so young), but says she won’t take them for grade 11 either because it’s too late to give them advice on coursework, summer programs, internships etc that could help strengthen the application package. |
Anonymous
| For those that hired in 9th or 10th, what is the general price range? |