Admission Consultant Recommendation - Hourly services

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is a senior or even a junior, you won’t be able to get on the calendar of anyone good. They fill their rosters early, and stop accepting clients.

So completely not true. In fact, funny.

NP but I have found this to be true (if you want someone local who is hyper-familiar with what kids coming out of local schools need to do to be competitive.) We committed to our counselor at the end of 8th grade (based on the experience of a friend's child who graduated then.) I can't count how many people over the last year or two have mentioned to me that they wish they could get some time with her but that she filled her book for current seniors back when the Class of 2024 was in ninth grade.

OP, I would focus on finding someone local who has a great track record of getting students into their reach schools. I don't mean that they get kids into Harvard; rather, that they identify appropriate reaches and then guide the student toward what they need to do to gain admission at those schools (and, of course, their targets and likelies.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't found anyone inexpensive who knows all the colleges that well. Maybe they exist out there, but the really knowledgeable and helpful experts are definitely not working for $120/hr for three, one-off sessions.

I think the hive mind on here, or maybe CC, is better if you want inexpensive advice concerning admission to a "top college".

Good ones charge $1,000 - $1,400/Hr.

Really? Like who?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is a senior or even a junior, you won’t be able to get on the calendar of anyone good. They fill their rosters early, and stop accepting clients.

So completely not true. In fact, funny.

No, it is true. Usually starts around 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is a senior or even a junior, you won’t be able to get on the calendar of anyone good. They fill their rosters early, and stop accepting clients.

So completely not true. In fact, funny.

No, it is true. Usually starts around 7th grade.

[Anonymous]

Does any ok e get the feeling the posters on this board give false info and discourage because they view every poster abs they’d kid as competition? Lol. These crazy pps aren’t really transparent: You are too late!! Don’t get test prep! Don’t get a counselor! Go TO! Lmaof!

[Anonymous]

^anyone

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does any ok e get the feeling the posters on this board give false info and discourage because they view every poster abs they’d kid as competition? Lol. These crazy pps aren’t really transparent: You are too late!! Don’t get test prep! Don’t get a counselor! Go TO! Lmaof!

Yes, and I suspect that some of them are here just to F with us, probably not even parents in the first place. It's a shame, it corrodes the trust of genuine posters. Its a farce.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does any ok e get the feeling the posters on this board give false info and discourage because they view every poster abs they’d kid as competition? Lol. These crazy pps aren’t really transparent: You are too late!! Don’t get test prep! Don’t get a counselor! Go TO! Lmaof!

Yes, and I suspect that some of them are here just to F with us, probably not even parents in the first place. It's a shame, it corrodes the trust of genuine posters. Its a farce.

You must be one of them because you are sowing distrust and suspicion on this board. Do you have a high schooler kid?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid is a senior or even a junior, you won’t be able to get on the calendar of anyone good. They fill their rosters early, and stop accepting clients.

+1
Very few good ones work just hourly for only a few hours with one client---they want to provide the entire package, which IMO is worth it. We paid ~$3.5K for unlimited access to our counselor. Was worth every penny, and would have been worth more had we started in Freshman/soph year

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You are contributing to the already toxic college admission situation by hiring admissions counselors. Stop gaming the system and calm down.

Nope---I hired a counselor (assuming you can afford it) just so I didn't have to nag my bright but obstinate procrastinator. Keeps the process moving smoothly and kept our parent/kid relationship intact during stressful senior year. Also helps to have someone other than Mom/Dad telling them yes, you have to do this.

[Anonymous]

Kelly Fraser at Green Apple hands down. All my kids at top 15 and/or Ivies.

[Anonymous]

If you are hiring someone with true expertise and contacts within the school these people are charging $50K minimum for the top schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't found anyone inexpensive who knows all the colleges that well. Maybe they exist out there, but the really knowledgeable and helpful experts are definitely not working for $120/hr for three, one-off sessions.

I think the hive mind on here, or maybe CC, is better if you want inexpensive advice concerning admission to a "top college".

There is a lack of genuine knowledge on here. In fact, the real knowledge, when it does exist, is kept close to everyone's chest for fear of raising the competition. Otherwise it's just opinion and conjecture and very few actual stats. There's a lot of BS.

We worked with a very expensive private college counselor who charges by the hour. A fraction of their advice was really very good. The rest of the time they made wild suggestions that were untenable or told long boring stories of their successes (student success) while simultaneously deriding and mocking those same students or their families. That didn't instill confidence in us to continue working with them.

So look for a new counselor. Also, know that you don't just blindly hire one. I did the process for our first kid myself (3.5UW/no AP/1200---so not aiming for T50 schools kid), so I was prepared to do it for 2nd as well. But decided to use a Counselor to assist. Best purchase ever---helped keep kid on track---helped them narrow down choices, and ultimately their Top 3 acceptances were places I would have only suggested 1 initially (hint: that's not where my kid is) so it was the counselor who enlightened us to where my kid eventually went and for my kid's TOP safety (true hidden gem). So helping create the best college list was a key reason to pay them. Then they help keep your kid on a schedule without you nagging them. worth every penny

[Anonymous]

We hired a counselor for our current junior after watching admissions results roll in last year. Our friends who used the same company, had much less stressful results than our friend who did it all alone. Even though we aren’t looking at the top 10, we wanted to bring in someone to help guide us and provide knowledgeable insight. Also, one of the most important parts, is that someone else is telling our teenager what to do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does any ok e get the feeling the posters on this board give false info and discourage because they view every poster abs they’d kid as competition? Lol. These crazy pps aren’t really transparent: You are too late!! Don’t get test prep! Don’t get a counselor! Go TO! Lmaof!

Yes, and I suspect that some of them are here just to F with us, probably not even parents in the first place. It's a shame, it corrodes the trust of genuine posters. Its a farce.

You are seriously paranoid, I have a college freshman and a high school sophomore. We are interviewing college counselors now for the sophomore because we found with our older child, the better counselors filled their rosters by junior year and weren’t accepting new clients.

Op can call around and find out for themself. It’s the busiest time for college counselors right now since they are helping their seniors with applications.