Senior Parents: if you hired a private college counselor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I can comment after it’s all over. No results yet.

Me too.

From the side of : didn’t hire one.

We could afford it- but didn’t feel we needed it. Seemed like a waste of $. Their school did help set up common app. He had multiple eyes on his essays for review, feedback - nobody hired.

Guess we’ll see soon.

[Anonymous]

Hired one after my kid got shut out on private HS applications. Did not think it was worth it. Marginally useful to encourage DC to take ACT and SAT early. Good test taker; reviewed on his own. Was once and done. Did help come up with common app essay topic but kid wrote essay independent. Got minor edits from counselor. No help on list of schools to apply to; useless on that. Somewhat helpful on a schedule for apps but kid is organized anyway so probably not needed. Applied ED to top school and got in.

[Anonymous]

Hired one on an hourly basis to talk to DC and generate a list of schools. It’s something we could have done in theory, but DC was like a deer frozen in headlights, just completely overwhelmed, and I suspect our voices were starting to come in like the adults’ in Charlie Brown.

The list helped break through the logjam. DC then had specific schools to read about in Fiske, etc. Rejected some, got interested in others, which then gave us things to talk about as we considered still others.

Thereafter we checked in with counselor only occasionally — advice about whether to submit lopsided scores, a check-in for DC before the first interview etc. It was all very relaxed, and although we mostly know the drill, it was nice to have someone outside the family to use as a sounding board.

[Anonymous]

Hired a college counselor spring of junior year based on recommendation from someone. It has been so helpful - from helping DC select high school courses, to knowing which colleges would be a good fit, to keeping DC on track, to answering questions that come up from us or DC that we'd have no idea how to answer. Has let us be almost completely hands-off and has kept application stress out of our relationship with DC.

So far, DC has been accepted at 4 of the colleges to which they applied - all OOS. Three were EA, one was RD (early notification - we didn't know this was a thing but this was a "likely" so I think that's why).

Our experience so far is that it is well worth the money if you find the right one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do I find reputable ones? Witg good track records?

I’m also hearing the “good ones” are about 50-75,000 a year. Ones like IvyWise; IvyCoach; Crimson etc.

lol no one with real money ie rich paid that
. That’s my cronies

They have and do pay that much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not as easy to say if it is worth it or not - even with school results. What if they accepted your student based on something having nothing to do with the counselor's work? We hired a counselor once, not a high end one, and it helped us and our student. Since we have three kids, I can make a decent case that paying the first time helped across all three kids.

You hire a counselor to do one or more of the following:

1. College prospect selection without parent/high school bias
2. Set and manage a process
3. Overall story of the student and making sure it comes through the app
4. Additional eyes on essays and ideas for same
5. How to complete the common app
6. Any secret sauce on differentiation, how different colleges work, etc.
7. Maybe most important - you don't have to be the task master and sour your relationship with your student, the counselor does that (in a nice way).

For a family making a lot of money, spending 5k-10k won't matter. For the rest of us, I would say you can do a lot of this on your own for less. Or hire for specific areas of need, for example essay review.

For older child their high school guidance counselor was somewhat helpful with the creating the list (assuming your child could articulate what they were looking for) and outlining the college process. They were own their own for everything else. We were looking for assistance with items 2-7. We spent less than 3K and it was worth it. My kid ended up at a low reach (EA) with merit and I think the brainstorming with the essay, organizing the process, common app review and reducing the conflict of us needing to be the task master for everything was worth it.

Our younger child has a very different set of schools , is more organized, attends a private high school where they do more of 4,5, and 6. Plus I had been thru the process already. We opted for essay brainstorming/help only rather than full college counseling. Too soon to say the results. From what I’ve seen though, I think they’ve put the best foot forward application wise, that they could. I will add in our case we were looking at schools that offer merit which might not be typical of someone with outside counselor or essay prep. I worked with both my kids to come up with their college list and the counselors vetted/weighed in and maybe suggested an extra school or two.

[Anonymous]

Any names or referrals for companies or counselors?

[Anonymous]

Used a reputable local person (found on Yelp, not in DC area) for number one who I very much liked. Very familiar with the high school and could help our child navigate its peculiarities in terms of course selection and the like. My daughter was if anything too ambitious, and the counselor helped us advise her how to effectively manage her time and not do too much (or stress too much). Great hand holder, especially as school counselor was awful and stressed my kid out. Results were excellent, would have been anyway, but counselor was a lovely supportive presence.

For number two, I used a former AO who works remotely. No handholding but excellent understanding of how the process is evolving, very good understanding of the differences between schools and fit and great advice on course selection and essay topics (child already a strong writer). Set firm early deadlines which were a lifesaver, as the child is a terrible procrastinator. Child accepted EA to a top choice and has other results pending.

Both cost somewhere between $5-$10k, both worth it for different reasons. Both fit the kids well. I’ve seen the Ivy Wise blog and thought advice was poor. Save your money.

[Anonymous]

I hired someone for essay only around July of summer before senior year. My child really liked her and she was helpful. She did a little editing but mostly just kept child on track and helped her brainstorm. While it was not necessary, I don’t regret. My child applied ED (recruited athlete) and only did the common app and one supplemental. She was a strong candidate and knowing that her essays were ready and solid for ED date reduced my anxiety and made me not worry that all would go smoothly (which it did).

[Anonymous]

Two things come to mind:
There’s a sucker born every minute
A fool and his money are soon parted

[Anonymous]

I’m not sure it’s any different than paying for another service. I paid to have someone manage the process because I saw that it took over our friend’s life when he devoted two years to learning the process and helping his kids.

I paid to not have to do the research, not manage my kids, and therefore preserve our relationship in the last year they were in my house and already trying to pull away from us, which is natural for growing independence.

Sure, I could have been blessed with kids who could do it all themselves (research schools, manage deadlines, and figure out supplemental essays, and figure out the common app, and other apps for schools who don’t take it, fill it out w/o errors, and on) on top of a heavy load, but those aren’t my kids. Besides, when I’m in a time crunch I hire help and when I’ve needed to make career move I’ve hired a coach.

Excellent investment for me. That doesn’t mean it is for everyone.

[Anonymous]

In the end it wasn't really necessary since DC discovered during junior year that they were good at running and wound up EDing at a school that was interested in them for XC/TF.
But it was still helpful because the counselors worked with them on the common app and on essays -- so I didn't have to micromanage on those -- and also helpfully advised on course selection and a few other things along the way. But we'll never know if the counselors would have helped DC get into the "reachier" schools on their list.

We probably won't hire a counselor for DC2, now a high school sophomore. DC2 is more independent and organized, and the lay of the land is a little clearer for them. We may engage more targeted help with essays down the road. But I don't think we need outside help coming up with a list of schools, navigating HS course selection, or doing the common app.

We also separately engaged an SAT tutor for DC1 and that was totally worth it. Did 5-6 tutoring sessions before DC1 took the SAT for the first time in March of junior year, and DC1 crushed it. It was really nice to have that score given DC1's good but imperfect grades. The tutoring was not cheap, but I'm happy with the ROI. We will definitely engage the same tutor for DC2 this summer and try to have them take the SAT or ACT this August. One fewer thing to deal with during the school year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No one else??

My friend hired someone for her 11th grader because both parents work long hours and prefer to outsource this to reduce conflict in the home.
My other friend hired someone just to help with essays for her 12th grader. Student in question has received top tier early action college acceptances so far.
Neither myself nor any of my other friends hired college counselors, but we all hired tutors.

This question is often asked on DCUM, but in general people will steer you away, explaining it's not worth the money. I think if you really want to maximize a college counselor, you need to hire one to plot high school trajectory, starting in 9th grade (so hire in 8th grade when it's time to choose courses). I considered this for my younger kid, but ultimately I think we'll go without, just like for the first kid.

If we had to do all over again, we may have done a variation of this: hire someone when in 8th grade to discuss the college process, DCs' interests at that time, and considerations (e.g., curriculum, ECs, etc). Then let it go for the next couple of years, then probably reengage sophomore spring/summer, mainly to discuss ACT/SAT and figure out a test schedule. Then again near end of junior year to outline essay schedule for summer as well as discuss dis/likes of schools, etc. with the goal of having the common app essay finished, a near final draft of school list in hand, possibly near completion of ED/EA essays if going that route, and an application timeline for the fall.

One of our DCs didn't need it, but the other one could've used more structure than only starting with an essay coach the summer before senior fall. If at all possible, great to get the tests done by junior spring. We also lucked out here: DC1 nailed a great ACT score, then tried to raise to a 36 on one more test. Didn't work but was fine with the 35. DC2 we assumed would need to take 2-3 times to get above 30 so the first round was considered a practice test in order to get a feel for the conditions, pacing, etc. Landed a 34 and wisely announced they were done as nearly all the schools DC was considering placed more emphasis on GPA over test scores. So back to the books for that DC.

[Anonymous]

I think it helps to think about the areas in which you specifically need support, then hire for that. The process is easier if your kid knows what they want to pursue in college or what type of college they want. (Many don’t though.) Ask senior parents at your school in which areas were the high school’s counselors were most helpful—if they are great at narrowing down a school list and your kid knows their major and type of school they like, maybe you don’t need help with that. If your child is all over the board on where to apply, an outside counselor might be a good second opinion. If your child will be applying to 10+ schools and isn’t a prolific writer, having outside essay help is great as the counselors do get a ton of essays to read (now that kids are having to answer 20+ prompts even just editing for typos is a lot). If you as a parent need overall process support, an outside counselor can be helpful for that too (school can only do so much hand holding for everyone).
Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I don’t know how this can be answered anymore than asking any question like this:

Was relying on your kid’s HS counselor a good choice regarding course selection, school selection, etc?

I mean, you could have the best private counselor in the world who’s matched with a kid who won’t do the work. You could have the best kid in the world, who’d get in anywhere regardless of the counselor’s input. You could have an overpriced counselor with a great reputation who gives some bad info. You could have someone who raves about a counselor and you hate them. Maybe they raved bc their kid got in somewhere they wanted but who knows if that was the counselor’s work?

I’ve done it with my kids and no relationships have been ruined. I don’t get people saying they outsourced so they had pleasant remaining years with their kids.