What Did Your Educational Consultant Do for You?

[Anonymous]

We have hired an educational consultant for the first time this year. She is very nice and certainly knowledgeable about which schools would be a good fit for our child. We signed up for her complete (and expensive!) package and perhaps had unrealistic ideas about how much she would be helping us throughout the process. She always responds if we contact her with a question (we've only had a few), but we otherwise never hear from her. Since this is our first experience, we wonder if we perhaps had unrealistic expectations or whether an educational consultant, in fact, should be doing a bit more. Has anybody had a similar experience?

[Anonymous]

sucka

[Anonymous]

Our educational consultant helped us find a good match for our child based on concerns raised by teachers and by testing. I had seen a bunch of schools in a previous year and she highlighted others that were a great match for our child. She knew a lot about each school and when we had questions in our mind about certain aspects, she was able to help shed light on those issues - sometimes confirming our thoughts, other times giving extra information to lessen our concerns. She was also great at reviewing our write-ups - we had done a pretty good job to start - but she suggested we add a bit on "this" and remove a bit on "that". She was very helpful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:sucka

+1
Sorry, but you have "newbie desperate to please" parent written all over you. She could smell this a mile away.

But if I were you, OP, now that you've bought the "complete package," whatever that is, I would work her tail off.

[Anonymous]

cashed the check

[Anonymous]

Wtf is an educational consultant? I think I've heard it all now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wtf is an educational consultant? I think I've heard it all now.

Well then, you're pretty dumb.

[Anonymous]

Pretty dumb to not have heard of one and pretty dumb to use one,

[Anonymous]

How hard is it to figure this stuff out on your own? Why on earth would you need this consultant? You research the school, you go on a tour and then you ask around and get feedback. Done and free.

[Anonymous]

little harsh here on OP. Both DH and I were working very hard when DC1 was applying for schools. We considered using an ed consultant, then realized DC had no extenuating circumstances (e.g., wildly divergent test scores, crippling social anxiety, etc), so we just handled on our own. I think ed consultants probably help families where parents may not be realistic about their DCs' potential at that time or greatly underestimate how steep admissions odds are at some schools.

If OP believed that an ed consultant could pull a string, then that is probably misguided.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:little harsh here on OP. Both DH and I were working very hard when DC1 was applying for schools. We considered using an ed consultant, then realized DC had no extenuating circumstances (e.g., wildly divergent test scores, crippling social anxiety, etc), so we just handled on our own. I think ed consultants probably help families where parents may not be realistic about their DCs' potential at that time or greatly underestimate how steep admissions odds are at some schools.

If OP believed that an ed consultant could pull a string, then that is probably misguided.

Help them how? By talking some sense into them? Therapists are cheaper.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have hired an educational consultant for the first time this year. She is very nice and certainly knowledgeable about which schools would be a good fit for our child. We signed up for her complete (and expensive!) package and perhaps had unrealistic ideas about how much she would be helping us throughout the process. She always responds if we contact her with a question (we've only had a few), but we otherwise never hear from her. Since this is our first experience, we wonder if we perhaps had unrealistic expectations or whether an educational consultant, in fact, should be doing a bit more. Has anybody had a similar experience?

Aren't all the applications in at this point? So there's nothing you can do at this point but wait.

[Anonymous]

I would never use a consultant for high school but am considering 2 or 3 sessions for my graduating DC to maneuver and get more insight into the college application process.

We will, of course, use the college counseling office in addition to college info. Sorry but DCUM isn't invited to this party.

[Anonymous]

I agree PP's are being harsh on OP. There are some kids that are "harder to place". Having someone who knows the schools can be invaluable if you are moving a child from an environment that isn't working to one that you hope will work.

Yes, there are some people who go to consultants thinking they will give them an inside track or the inside scoop when they don't actually need those things. But that doesn't mean there aren't cases where hiring a consultant is worthwhile.

For those of you who believe a consultant is a total waste, consider yourself lucky for having a child that is flexible and will succeed in a variety of environments...or even if your child needs accommodations, be thankful that you understand both your child and the private school options available well enough to do it on your own.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would never use a consultant for high school but am considering 2 or 3 sessions for my graduating DC to maneuver and get more insight into the college application process.

We will, of course, use the college counseling office in addition to college info. Sorry but DCUM isn't invited to this party.

If you are at a private school you probably don't need this. If you are at public school and this is your first time through the college process I highly recommend it. Not sure we would have been able to navigate it very well for our public school kid if we hadn't been through it once at a private school.