College Admissions Consultants

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

Given our DC goes to MCPS, we do not anticipate the counselors will have sufficient time to help with the college planning process. As such. we are looking for someone who previously worked in college admissions to help guide our DC in choosing schools, filling out applications, and writing essays. What is the best way to find such a person?

Thanks in advance.

Not worth it. You'll spend as much time going back and forth with the counselor about your child's academic record and interests than if you just google the process. There is a finite range of schools. Narrow it down. Tippy top student aiming high? Top 20% student aiming average? Urban? Suburban? Major? How much can you afford? This takes 20 minutes of your time and really you know the answers than any supposed counselor.

Your kid goes to Towson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

Given our DC goes to MCPS, we do not anticipate the counselors will have sufficient time to help with the college planning process. As such. we are looking for someone who previously worked in college admissions to help guide our DC in choosing schools, filling out applications, and writing essays. What is the best way to find such a person?

Thanks in advance.

Not worth it. You'll spend as much time going back and forth with the counselor about your child's academic record and interests than if you just google the process. There is a finite range of schools. Narrow it down. Tippy top student aiming high? Top 20% student aiming average? Urban? Suburban? Major? How much can you afford? This takes 20 minutes of your time and really you know the answers than any supposed counselor.

Let's just say that the parent can follow your directions and replace the work of an experienced consultant with Google. Do applications and essays take 20 minutes to complete?

Let’s just say that in most cases I am very confident that you cannot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a consultant. They begin in January and stick with you through the whole process. It's about $5K for 10 applications/schools. We interviewed several. Our kid is aiming for the tippy top and is a good candidate but is having trouble coming around to even looking at non-tippy top schools which is unhealthy and unrealistic. Part of what the consultant is doing for our family is managing that, and the kid is willing to work with them. They have already given some valuable advice.

My advice is to have your kid talk to similar kids and see what they are doing and what their siblings did.

Ours is $2500/school (for T20/30) and they do everything. Inspect each and every word and come up with strategy. Review an d rewrite each app 20+ times.
NY based

So basically they do the app for the kid. Not good mom, not good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - To add a little more information, our DC is difficult/challenging and does not want to listen to mom and dad. Mom and dad applied to college 30-40 years ago; work very busy jobs; and want to remove ourselves from what will be a stressful, time-consuming process. We also want this to be DC's choice, and not feel like we are unduly influencing her based on our college decisions and biases.

I realize this is not for everyone, but I am looking for helpful feedback.

If this is your situation AND you have the funding to do it without compromising your tuition savings, then I think you’re on the right track, OP.

Have you asked around at school?

There are always the corporate ones as well; I interviewed a few - decided not to go there but I liked Ivy Wise myself (that being said they were the most expensive…). I’d do some research to find what will work best for your DC and your family.

[Anonymous]

Post on your school listserve and/or ask the college advising office if they have a list of counselors students in your kid's HS have used in the past. Plenty of word of mouth recs at our MCPS HS, and you will get far more useful and localized info that way than via posting here.

[Anonymous]

We used the company College Coach. They matched us with a counselor who had years of experience working at schools where DS was applying. We bought the gold package which was expensive but worth it.

The counselor managed our family’s expectations. We all think our kids are geniuses so it’s hard to be objective. Our coach also helped DS with getting 12 applications out the door well in advance. He got tons of advice about the schools that
Interested him and application strategies (TO etc).

[Anonymous]

We hired one. Our child is at a private, but we heard mixed reviews about the counselors there and their level of support. We wanted to be supportive of the process, but I didn't want to be a nag or mess something up in the application.

No regrets. We paid for a two year package, and our kid went through a few evaluations and they talked through schools/fit/plans well before the end of junior year. Common App was started spring of last year and was in place before August 1. Essays were complete mid August and that made the beginning of school so much easier, especially with supplementals and honors college applications, which take up a lot of extra time and effort once school starts. The first few applications, even with the counselor, took 90 minutes each - the counselor was deliberate, showed her what to check and review (especially when it came to TO), etc. I'm pretty detail-oriented, but was thankful there was someone to walk us through it. The counselor followed up with schools and admissions offices if we had questions or additional things to consider.

Talk to friends who have kids that are older. I guarantee you'll get a few recommendations and folks people would not recommend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

Given our DC goes to MCPS, we do not anticipate the counselors will have sufficient time to help with the college planning process. As such. we are looking for someone who previously worked in college admissions to help guide our DC in choosing schools, filling out applications, and writing essays. What is the best way to find such a person?

Thanks in advance.

Did you check with your MCP high school? Each one has a person overlooking colleges and or career stuff. They could help. Or they could provide contacts of college counselors/advisors whom you can start contacting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DS applied to college last year after graduating from a public HS so I understand. There is a lot of information about college admissions on YouTube, although much of it is geared towards high achieving kids, so I would start there before getting a college counselor.

Search for Lisa McLaughlin (goes beyond high achievers)

Ivy Admissions Help (high achievers but not just Ivys and overall guidance in a matter of fact way, with interesting 8:00 videos about the unique features of about 20 highly ranked schools)

College Meister (similar to Ivy Admissions Help
Help)

ElvatED School (some interesting perspectives on how to tailor applications and essays to specific top rated schools)

Of course, you have to filter what they say and decide how much, if any, is helpful.

Given that my DS wasn’t applying to a Top 20 other than a UC, I didn’t need a consultant as my DS could write fairly well. But even if you do need one, these videos may help you understand the services you need.

Sounds like the person with the "busy jobs" is unable to filter which videos to watch, which articles to read, which podcast to listen, which book to tackle. Etc. They want a person to do that and keep kid in line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a consultant. They begin in January and stick with you through the whole process. It's about $5K for 10 applications/schools. We interviewed several. Our kid is aiming for the tippy top and is a good candidate but is having trouble coming around to even looking at non-tippy top schools which is unhealthy and unrealistic. Part of what the consultant is doing for our family is managing that, and the kid is willing to work with them. They have already given some valuable advice.

My advice is to have your kid talk to similar kids and see what they are doing and what their siblings did.

Ours is $2500/school (for T20/30) and they do everything. Inspect each and every word and come up with strategy. Review an d rewrite each app 20+ times.
NY based

So if they are rewriting the app 20+ times, is this consultant applying to college? Rick Singer by any chance?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

Given our DC goes to MCPS, we do not anticipate the counselors will have sufficient time to help with the college planning process. As such. we are looking for someone who previously worked in college admissions to help guide our DC in choosing schools, filling out applications, and writing essays. What is the best way to find such a person?

Thanks in advance.

Not worth it. You'll spend as much time going back and forth with the counselor about your child's academic record and interests than if you just google the process. There is a finite range of schools. Narrow it down. Tippy top student aiming high? Top 20% student aiming average? Urban? Suburban? Major? How much can you afford? This takes 20 minutes of your time and really you know the answers than any supposed counselor.

Your kid goes to Towson

I keep reading stuff like this here, and I really wish I would stop seeing this used as an insult!

[Anonymous]

op, I get why you are looking for someone. We hired a well known essay coach for $18k — the worst money we spent as far as getting the kid into a tippy-top school. But essays were done before deadlines.

Questions to ask consultant - have they helped a kid get into the colleges you kid is aiming for? What do they do if your kid is rejected from ED/REA schools? Ask for an example of essay feedback so you know whether or not it meets your needs. Some coaches preserve the kid’s voice (good) whereas other rewrite so much, it sounds like the adult is applying to college.

[Anonymous]

Also our consultant told DC to write common app essay about ECs. Create a montage. Even my high school kid knew that was a bad idea.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi,

Given our DC goes to MCPS, we do not anticipate the counselors will have sufficient time to help with the college planning process. As such. we are looking for someone who previously worked in college admissions to help guide our DC in choosing schools, filling out applications, and writing essays. What is the best way to find such a person?

Thanks in advance.

Not worth it. You'll spend as much time going back and forth with the counselor about your child's academic record and interests than if you just google the process. There is a finite range of schools. Narrow it down. Tippy top student aiming high? Top 20% student aiming average? Urban? Suburban? Major? How much can you afford? This takes 20 minutes of your time and really you know the answers than any supposed counselor.

If you spent just 20 minutes compiling your child's list of schools, you're doing it wrong. And you don't even know it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here - To add a little more information, our DC is difficult/challenging and does not want to listen to mom and dad. Mom and dad applied to college 30-40 years ago; work very busy jobs; and want to remove ourselves from what will be a stressful, time-consuming process. We also want this to be DC's choice, and not feel like we are unduly influencing her based on our college decisions and biases.

I realize this is not for everyone, but I am looking for helpful feedback.

I would definitely recommend it. We used a consultant for both kids. I would not recommend the particular one we used, but I would recommend having someone on board. It is very helpful to have the consultant put your child on a schedule and to have their knowledge of the process. Plus better to have someone else involved given the dynamic you describe. The best way is to ask around your local community then figure out what you want and interview a few. Some offer a whole package with a set process, others just give a la carte support, like to develop the college list or with essays.