College Counseling

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School counselor is not enough, unless you have a perfect stats and very dynamic kid.

False

I really think it depends how much time you as the parent can spend doing research and assisting your child. We hired a expensive college counselor, local to the DC area however they seem to not know much about our child’s public school and the context in which our child sits in terms of the course selection or the activities they have been involved in and how that all fits together in relation to others at their school. They don’t usually know the school that you come from as well as the school counselor or frankly as well as you do, if you ask questions.
I’m not sure we are getting much value out of the private college counselor to be honest, it’s a crapshoot these days and the college counselors are not going to help you get in more these days , as they might have 10 years ago. They also seem to be less concerned with “where you can get in” as a sure thing vs where you want to go, or big picture thinking.

Have you shared these concerns with your counselor? You should.

It sounds like the issue is more about the counseling service not being a good fit, not a specific concern one could share directly. How would the counselor suddenly know things they don’t or change an approach that they seem to use for all ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think some of them, at least the one we encountered, have a kind of pattern or schedule they always follow, regardless of the client. And as a result it doesn't always work out or seem fitting.

If you say "we're not considering the Ivies" to a counselor who likes to coach people for the ivies, they should, in theory be able to adapt their schtick to the kid applying to other colleges. In our experience this wasn't the case. The counselor spent over an hour talking to our kid about all the things they should do over the next 2yrs (11th & 12th grade / summers etc) to get into x or y Ivy League.

Total waste of time, that.

The problem is that students who choose to apply to certain majors at many public universities are held to a much higher standard (especially test-optional applicants) than most parents would consider reasonable, within their outdated lens. So a counselor could be overdoing it for admissions to X public university in 2019, but not in 2024. I don't know anything about your kid or your counselor but this could definitely apply here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think some of them, at least the one we encountered, have a kind of pattern or schedule they always follow, regardless of the client. And as a result it doesn't always work out or seem fitting.

If you say "we're not considering the Ivies" to a counselor who likes to coach people for the ivies, they should, in theory be able to adapt their schtick to the kid applying to other colleges. In our experience this wasn't the case. The counselor spent over an hour talking to our kid about all the things they should do over the next 2yrs (11th & 12th grade / summers etc) to get into x or y Ivy League.

Total waste of time, that.

The problem is that students who choose to apply to certain majors at many public universities are held to a much higher standard (especially test-optional applicants) than most parents would consider reasonable, within their outdated lens. So a counselor could be overdoing it for admissions to X public university in 2019, but not in 2024. I don't know anything about your kid or your counselor but this could definitely apply here.

I am not sure what you're saying. This counseling session took place in 2023. My kid wants to apply to certain colleges, they have a list. Counselor decided kid has Ivy potential, so spent an entire hour talking to them about one or two EC things they should do, which courses they should apply to at that specific Ivy. We had already said up front - kid not applying to any Ivies, no interest in that kind of advice. We are donut holes. We would never get FA but could also never afford an Ivy League education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You’re paying big money for that in-house counseling with way more attention/expertise.

No need to pay for even more.

Disagree. School counselors do not have time to review all the essays students have to write in this competitive environment where kids are applying to 15+ schools. If you want unbiased, individualized help, get some outside support.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You’re paying big money for that in-house counseling with way more attention/expertise.

No need to pay for even more.

Disagree. School counselors do not have time to review all the essays students have to write in this competitive environment where kids are applying to 15+ schools. If you want unbiased, individualized help, get some outside support.

+1

Plus the in-house counselors will have zero outside context beyond their own school. Which in itself is limiting.

[Anonymous]

My son has had a great experience with Jodi Siegel and I can't recommend her enough. She is extremely knowledgeable, positive and easy to work with. She has helped him throughout the process, beginning with course selection his sophomore year. She has made this process much less stressful for our family!

[Anonymous]

I know this thread is a bit old, but can anyone share specific names of recommended counselors in the area? Son is entering junior year in a DCPS, so school counseling is limited. thanks

[Anonymous]

Names would be helpful