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

[Anonymous]

We did one for our student and it was well worth it. They did not parent nor did we want them to. What they did do was:

1. Take a little time to know our student, not just coursework and grades but interests and priorities
2. Come up with a list of ~25 schools to consider and of course adjusted based on any feedback we had as a family
3. Made suggestions how to go about some of the visits
4. Set up a clear, organized timetable for test-taking, applications and essays
5. Went through the common app in detail alongside our student
6. Helped with some of the game theory such as where to apply early, regular, etc.

Would I do it for every student? No, but to learn it one time was helpful. I would not say enjoyable given there are emotions in the background, but definitely worth it. In fact I am considering whether I could do a low-cost service to help other families, again at a lower price so as to help more people. If you can do project management and learn how the schools work (I worked in higher ed once), it can be treated more as a process than anything else, just have to manage it well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Please could you share name ? I'd be really grateful. My email is [e-mail]

Please share the info PLEASE [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

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.

PLEASE PLEASE share the counselor info to [e-mail]

[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.

PLEASE PLEASE share the counselor info to [e-mail]. Will be very grateful!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes!

Hired CC during DC's sophomore year - and where they were most helpful was in advising about course load, ECs and creating DC's narrative over the course of sophomore-senior years (including summers). One area in particular which set DC a part from classmates was the international independent research study/paper DC's undertook which resulted in their being published in a prestigious international scholarly journal. DC would have never known the current trend of colleges valuing these research papers nor how to navigate which research study programs to apply to w/o college counselor.

My DC is very much interested in research programs but does not have a clue where to start. PLEASE PLEASE share the CC info with me at [e-mail]. Will be very grateful! Thanks!

[Anonymous]

People,It depends on the child. My 19 year old ,self motivated, during Covid lock down,would wake herself up at 7am to read and practice ACT questions. Would cry in elementary school if she got 99% on a test and would spend hours trying to figure out why she did not get 100%. Never got a B in high school Took multiple advanced courses in high school. We did still get a college counsellor for $5000. Did we need him,probably not but we were scared. Took ACT 1st time and received 34 out of 36. She immediately said she had to do the test again.Was shocked at her reaction but did the test again.Received 36. Anyways got admitted to 6 Ivy's,MIT,Stanford. Currently in Harvard with a 3.9 gpa so far.
My son is headed to 11th grade. Different animal ! Laid back,smart but refuses to push himself. B student. Do we need a counsellor ? YES . Boys are always more difficult i think. Good luck all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People,It depends on the child. My 19 year old ,self motivated, during Covid lock down,would wake herself up at 7am to read and practice ACT questions. Would cry in elementary school if she got 99% on a test and would spend hours trying to figure out why she did not get 100%. Never got a B in high school Took multiple advanced courses in high school. We did still get a college counsellor for $5000. Did we need him,probably not but we were scared. Took ACT 1st time and received 34 out of 36. She immediately said she had to do the test again.Was shocked at her reaction but did the test again.Received 36. Anyways got admitted to 6 Ivy's,MIT,Stanford. Currently in Harvard with a 3.9 gpa so far.
My son is headed to 11th grade. Different animal ! Laid back,smart but refuses to push himself. B student. Do we need a counsellor ? YES . Boys are always more difficult i think. Good luck all.

People! You are reactivating a thread more than a year old!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

[e-mail]

Thank you very much!

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

[Anonymous]

The irony is that you hire a college counselor for massive bucks, then to make sure you're not getting ripped off you end up doing all the research yourself anyway. [Ask me how I know...]

Anonymous wrote:I get that this post is probably geared towards families gunning for Ivies and with lots of cash to burn but I just wanted to tell everyone else that you really don’t need this. I did college research myself to understand what the best matches would be for my DC - there are so many resources out there for free that any educated person can help their kid assemble a list. We did pay DC’s regular tutor to help with test prep and to be the task master on essays. Worth every penny to have someone else help brainstorm, set deadlines for drafts, and then give a basic review before submitting. I think there were maybe 3 different essays. Probably spent less than 1k on all of this, and if we hadn’t done the test prep would’ve been even less, only $200-300 dollars for the essay sessions.