Sara Harberson Application Nation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She is fantastic. Highly rec. I used to be an admissions reader at a highly selective college and her advice is spot on. I have used her twice and followed for several years prior. Her guidance is very thorough and thoughtful. You belong to a FB group where you can ask questions. You get monthly zooms and step by step guidance to do it all on your own. However there are lots of add ons you can pay for beyond that basic level if want. Such as essay editing, activity list editing, college list building, supplemental essay building etc etc. Whatever level you need and want to pay for is available. She is personable and will get to know your kid. Mine had great success with no add ons. You just have to go in knowing that there are a lot of over achievers that all want ivys and you have to just tune out the noise and take what you need. The only real criticism is that the advice is aimed at the upper tiers and sometimes I think they forget that the same rules don’t always apply to everyone. You just have to go with your gut and use the advice to fit your kids situation and goals. Which isn’t hard. For the most part the FB group is very kind and supportive and they answer all questions very quickly. Highly highly rec.

You lost me at Facebook. I’m 56 and I never got a Facebook account. It’s still a thing?

[Anonymous]

FB groups are huge for college counseling. Much more active than here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think there’s a lot of pressure to do the add-ons in AN. So you think you are paying just the monthly fee but could end up paying much more than that.

Sara is very professional for the most part. but I didn’t care much for her conflicting advice to different ethnic groups as I felt she was being biased.

I didn’t really feel much pressure. Some in the group had great acceptances (HYPSM) even without the add-ons.

It’s only a small number though. One member used 5-6 different former AOs to review her son’s application. Others are legacy, yet others attend feeder schools. I thought the percentage was very low in our year and there were rockstar legacies, feeder school kids, etc.

I wouldn’t rely on just AN. They have good advice, but I don’t think enough to get someone into a prestigious school. If you know nothing about admissions, it’s a huge help!

[Anonymous]

How did the AN26 kids do this cycle?

Thinking about joining for my sophomore next year - and would love some intel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did the AN26 kids do this cycle?

Thinking about joining for my sophomore next year - and would love some intel.

Idk, but you might be more likely to get your question answered if you start a new thread. What happens when an old 16 page thread is bumped is that people respond to old posts, not realizing how old the thread is, and your question will get buried.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did the AN26 kids do this cycle?

Thinking about joining for my sophomore next year - and would love some intel.

Quite well. Follow the AN instagram and they are constantly posting the acceptances. Kids in at most schools. Soon they will post where the AN26 kids choose to attend as well. We joined with 24 and 26 (left after ED) and had a great experience and great outcomes. Did no add ons. Highly rec.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How did the AN26 kids do this cycle?

Thinking about joining for my sophomore next year - and would love some intel.

from their instagram and FB reels - seems pretty impressive. For what we pay monthly I feel like its worth it. They really do answer questions timely

[Anonymous]

Well worth it, we had a great experience with her

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well worth it, we had a great experience with her

Same- AN was by far the most helpful and informative resource in this process, much more so than the public high school counselor and the consultant mom-turned-counselor we tried. DC was admitted to all but one reach and received a lot of merit almost everywhere, including schools that give merit only to a tiny percentage of applicants. Only did 2 add-on offers over 2.5 years and they were well worth it even though I was given a hard time on here.

[Anonymous]

No longer in AN26, but they did well in the early round- including multiple HYPSM acceptances.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did the AN26 kids do this cycle?

Thinking about joining for my sophomore next year - and would love some intel.

from their instagram and FB reels - seems pretty impressive. For what we pay monthly I feel like it's worth it. They really do answer questions timely

They do! My only quibble is that there are a couple non-AN employees (i.e., random parents!) who try to jump in with responses before the staff actually sees them. And then they're sort of responding to these random people as well. Not a big deal, I'm sure they would disagree if it was wrong info, but I want to hear from the AN people, not this random person. (Also, why are those couple people on all day, responding to every post??)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How did the AN26 kids do this cycle?

Thinking about joining for my sophomore next year - and would love some intel.

from their instagram and FB reels - seems pretty impressive. For what we pay monthly I feel like it's worth it. They really do answer questions timely

They do! My only quibble is that there are a couple non-AN employees (i.e., random parents!) who try to jump in with responses before the staff actually sees them. And then they're sort of responding to these random people as well. Not a big deal, I'm sure they would disagree if it was wrong info, but I want to hear from the AN people, not this random person. (Also, why are those couple people on all day, responding to every post??)

That's an interesting take. I did AN twice and actually found the other parents (for the most part) really helpful in terms of generating discussion. I think one of the flaws of AN is that folks take everything the AN team says as gospel when the perspective of parents on the other side can add so much nuance. This is such a subjective process that thinking answers through with multiple perspectives really felt like a win. I thought they did a good job of always answering quickly, and maintaing authority, but sometimes the discussions died once they chimed in. The overall vibe was quite different between the two years we participated though. There were some Alpha parents whose kids were "perfect" that dominated the conversations one year. In the end, while the advice is solid and the model is fantastic, it is a business and the advice can skew that way at times. The knowledgeable parents, to me, provide a gut check there to think beyond the AN answer as the only way to do things and help create a trusting and supportive community.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FB groups are huge for college counseling. Much more active than here.

Well I never joined my firstborn’s college Facebook page, never had a Facebook account. I’m better for it after hearing from friends about the ridiculous parents on the college pages.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FB groups are huge for college counseling. Much more active than here.

Well I never joined my firstborn’s college Facebook page, never had a Facebook account. I’m better for it after hearing from friends about the ridiculous parents on the college pages.

To each his own. I've found both of my kid's college pages to be great sources of info. Parents are for the most part kind and share answers/perspectives quickly on everything from recommended dentists and tailors to where to order a birthday cake to how to navigate finding a hospital/a ride/etc. to details about where to find parking. Helpful if you wish to participate.

[Anonymous]

I thought the group College Admissions Experts was really helpful. Lots of crowdsourcing information, people LINKED to websites to show how they came up with their opinion, and it seemed like there was respect for every college (unlike here).

There are some essay tutors and indie counselors there, so there's a mix of observations.