Wake up call about private counseling

[Anonymous]

My reaction is that you don't know how bad this student's application would have been had they not worked with a counselor. You also don't really know what this student's abilities are. My DS looks smart and is in classes that suggest he's smart, but he couldn't write his way out of a paper bag- my younger child wrote with more intelligence and coherence when they were in 3rd grade. Maybe the $25k was worth it to this family to bring their kid up to the level of mediocrity you saw on the application.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your friend showed you her child's COLLEGE APPLICATION? That's bonkers. These poor children.

+1. What an invasion of privacy.

OP here. My friend shared it with me. She's shocked by the subpar results so far and my kid (without a counselor but I do hang out here, subscribe to App Nation, and listen to a TON of podcasts) has had incredible results, given test optional.

It's one of my closest friends. I adore her kids. The positioning was just all off.
It's almost like the counselor just let the kids do what they wanted.
She's paying A LOT (higher end for what was quoted here). She had no idea the common app was poorly done.

TO kids who bomb the tests are getting in lol. What a joke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Your friend showed you her child's COLLEGE APPLICATION? That's bonkers. These poor children.

+1. What an invasion of privacy.

OP here. My friend shared it with me. She's shocked by the subpar results so far and my kid (without a counselor but I do hang out here, subscribe to App Nation, and listen to a TON of podcasts) has had incredible results, given test optional.

It's one of my closest friends. I adore her kids. The positioning was just all off.
It's almost like the counselor just let the kids do what they wanted.
She's paying A LOT (higher end for what was quoted here). She had no idea the common app was poorly done.

TO kids who bomb the tests are getting in lol. What a joke

We know quite a few TO kids who've had great success this year, but I think they all had something that made them standout or be memorable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My reaction is that you don't know how bad this student's application would have been had they not worked with a counselor. You also don't really know what this student's abilities are. My DS looks smart and is in classes that suggest he's smart, but he couldn't write his way out of a paper bag- my younger child wrote with more intelligence and coherence when they were in 3rd grade. Maybe the $25k was worth it to this family to bring their kid up to the level of mediocrity you saw on the application.

+1. All true. just look for ethical counselors who charge by the hour. They exist. You don't need to sign on for any $25k package. We found one for our younger DC ... I now wish we had hired him for tge eldest. I now realiz our public counselor was overwhelmed and gave bad advice.

[Anonymous]

Not from DMV area but the comments and threads on this board were very helpful (and spot on) for my ‘24 kid (high stats, regular activities, no hooks, “typical” private school UMC kid). There’s a lot of arrogance and meanness on this board, but a lot of the posters tell it like it is. I found this thread + private school counselor + advice/warnings from local parents with ‘22 and ‘23 kids to be sufficient. Did not hire an outside counselor and am glad we didn’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not from DMV area but the comments and threads on this board were very helpful (and spot on) for my ‘24 kid (high stats, regular activities, no hooks, “typical” private school UMC kid). There’s a lot of arrogance and meanness on this board, but a lot of the posters tell it like it is. I found this thread + private school counselor + advice/warnings from local parents with ‘22 and ‘23 kids to be sufficient.

I agree about the quality of advice. My DS worked with a private counselor and 98% advice she gave was identical to the information I found on this board. Having said that, it was helpful to have her working with him because I didn't have to nag him to finish his essays, submit applications, etc. YMMV, of course. If he was more diligent, there wouldn't have been a need to bother with private counseling.

[Anonymous]

We spent about $18k with a Private Counselor.
Kid had a 22 ACT and a 3.3 UW GPA. No APs….

He got in Alabama. Quite frankly we thought he would have to go the Community College route…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We spent about $18k with a Private Counselor.
Kid had a 22 ACT and a 3.3 UW GPA. No APs….

He got in Alabama. Quite frankly we thought he would have to go the Community College route…

Isn’t that basically the same thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We spent about $18k with a Private Counselor.
Kid had a 22 ACT and a 3.3 UW GPA. No APs….

He got in Alabama. Quite frankly we thought he would have to go the Community College route…

Why would you pay $18k to apply to colleges with 75%+ acceptance rates.

That’s the craziest thing I have ever heard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many parents pay 25-50k for private college counseling and the kids aren’t getting into Michigan. Or Wisconsin.

A friend showed me her DC app. Whoa.
The major choice sucks.
The essays are not distinguishing enough.
The activity lists are generally blah.

Why are people paying this?!? For these results? Is this year an anomaly?

It’s shocking.

I haven’t paid a stand-alone counselor and DC has gotten into both OOS.

I thought the whole point of a college counselor was to avoid having to send a kid to Michigan.

omg

That must have been a troll. Right?

Or someone who does not consider Michigan a top school. The horror!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many parents pay 25-50k for private college counseling and the kids aren’t getting into Michigan. Or Wisconsin.

A friend showed me her DC app. Whoa.
The major choice sucks.
The essays are not distinguishing enough.
The activity lists are generally blah.

Why are people paying this?!? For these results? Is this year an anomaly?

It’s shocking.

I haven’t paid a stand-alone counselor and DC has gotten into both OOS.

I thought the whole point of a college counselor was to avoid having to send a kid to Michigan.

omg

That must have been a troll. Right?

Or someone who does not consider Michigan a top school. The horror!

It’s better than Maryland.
Or even UVA.
So there’s that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We spent about $18k with a Private Counselor.
Kid had a 22 ACT and a 3.3 UW GPA. No APs….

He got in Alabama. Quite frankly we thought he would have to go the Community College route…

Isn’t that basically the same thing?

No, it isn't. And you know it. Please don't be a jerk. My goodness this place can be toxic sometimes (or most of the time thanks to posts like this).

[Anonymous]

I just can't imagine paying a dime for this service. First kid got into first choice, starting the process with the second kid now.