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

[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 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.

Ours was based in Houston TX but wouldn’t recommend him.

[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.

I got mine from Central PA. 4k for total package. I’ll let you know if I recommend her next year at this time!

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:We used a independent counselor. But, before hiring her, we interviewed a wide variety of of counselors, some independent and others members of larger firms. All were highly recommended to us by folks who had actually used their services. We let our DS select the person with whom he felt most comfortable. The counselor we hired began working with DS in 10th grade. She helped him with course selection, summer school applications to highly selective programs, ECs, college list, essays, interview prep and the common app itself. Her guidance went so far beyond what our private school could provide. Very pleased with the investment -- money well spent.

Please share the info [e-mail]
Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

yep. Counselor framed our expectations for our 4.6 gpa DC with excellent ECs and a 1520 SAT. We thought that these scores were crazy good. What did we know ... DC got into a selective, T20 ED and is thrilled.

Don't think I'll need a counselor for DC 2 but maybe for DC 3. I think I get the general grade inflation landscape and hopefully DC 2 will apply accordingly. (DC 3 is significantly younger so may need another look at the landscape.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We used a independent counselor. But, before hiring her, we interviewed a wide variety of of counselors, some independent and others members of larger firms. All were highly recommended to us by folks who had actually used their services. We let our DS select the person with whom he felt most comfortable. The counselor we hired began working with DS in 10th grade. She helped him with course selection, summer school applications to highly selective programs, ECs, college list, essays, interview prep and the common app itself. Her guidance went so far beyond what our private school could provide. Very pleased with the investment -- money well spent.

Please share with me at [e-mail]. Thank you !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For our first and second we hired the same college counselor. She was fantastic a gem for sure.

Pricing she was middle of the road. At the time I thought it was a huge waste and my kids could have easily done everything themselves. MIT & Yale acceptances.

By the third one I parcelled out this kid in particular was Mr who cares I will get in somewhere. I did not want to spend his senior year fighting. He did do some ACT prep for English-type work, no math because he excels at that. He went to CMU.

My last three no college prep. Similar school acceptances.

Please share the name of your counselor [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Bump

[Anonymous]

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.

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.

You are right. But our CC said the student needs to control the narrative. The AOs know that almost all kids take the AP exam after taking an AP class at our school, if you report some AP scores and not others, perhaps you got worse than a 3? A 4 is not bad.

[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 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.

Ours was based in Houston TX but wouldn’t recommend him.

Our was Richard Montauk, based somewhere in New England. Hourly. Worth every penny

[Anonymous]

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.

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.

My son is a CS major and she said not to submit 4s in AP lang or history.

[Anonymous]

My DC have gone to private schools where they have excellent college counseling departments. So, no.

[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.

Please share the information with us . [e-mail] , many thanks.

[Anonymous]

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.

Would really appreciate it if you could share the contact information.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For our first and second we hired the same college counselor. She was fantastic a gem for sure.

Pricing she was middle of the road. At the time I thought it was a huge waste and my kids could have easily done everything themselves. MIT & Yale acceptances.

By the third one I parcelled out this kid in particular was Mr who cares I will get in somewhere. I did not want to spend his senior year fighting. He did do some ACT prep for English-type work, no math because he excels at that. He went to CMU.

My last three no college prep. Similar school acceptances.

Please share the college counselors information. Thank You

[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.

Please share the name and contact information of the consultant. It might be worth a try to see if he will take on a client or two. Thank You