Hiring a college consultant

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your goal. If its to find merit aid to reduce costs, it could pay off because the consultant might direct your child to schools he/she would not otherwise consider that offer good merit aid. If its to reduce parent-child stressors by having someone else make sure child is completing essays, etc. in a timely manner, also beneficial. If its to get a leg up in admission to a competitive college, I see no benefit to hiring a college consultant whatsoever.

--signed parent of a hs senior

Bolded part above - priceless.

--signed another parent of a hs senior

+1 This is why I did it. I have an only child and I knew I would be stressed out by the process and probably pass that stress along to my kid. Truthfully, not just the logistics of the application process but knowing what schools to consider, what was realistic, when to push my kid in terms of options to consider, and when to mange expectations (mine and DC), etc. It was money well spent on mental health (mine and DC's) and my relationship with my kid. A luxury, to be sure, and one I would choose again.

A good CC will really help you find a balanced list of Reach/Target/Safety. They will help kids and parents (if one of you is ratings obsessed) to understand that anything with less than 20% acceptance rate is a REACH for every kid, even your 1580/4.0UW/15 AP snowflake. if you listen, they will help you target the right reaches for your kid and their interests (nobody should really want to go to all 8 Ivies--they are all really different) and good targets. If you listen your kid will get into most of their targets and safeties and they will all be schools your kid likes/wants to attend. They help you look beyond just rankings and find the right fit. and manage the stress of it all

[Anonymous]

I was thinking the same - I was looking for someone who will help with the 'system' - ex for a STEM focus kid interested to get into a T20 school - you need to have taken these courses, have such EC's, join such clubs.. etc? having this information might be helpful, especially for those who dont have a elder child who has gone thr this process..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Cmon DCUMers, seriously? You all think any part of private college counselor is worth it? Do your own damn research. It’s not that hard. I thought all the parents on here were smart and went to T20 universities.

I do think they can have conversations with kids that get listened to about the school lists. I also think they can find some schools that will just never pop up. For elite schools I think they can help shape the application and do a better gap analysis than any parent could. I also think it is worth it to have the application and essays out of the parent kid dynamic. Is that worth it? It may depend on how much money you have. 10k to a biglaw partner is not 10k to two GS-14s. Is it absolutely needed -- no. Is it helpful --- yes.

And yes parents did go to T20 schools -- that is why they know that their own knowledge and advice is inferior to someone who does this all day and year in and year out.

+1000

I've done tons of research, and in the end our CC jokingly told me I had 90% of the skills for being an excellent CC (I lack the essay writing component and know that). But I don't do this for my job. I don't have the time to research a list of 100+ colleges to find the ones that will work best for my kid---I can do it but might miss some real gems. Our CC knows which ones have special programs that will work well for my kid, which ones you MUST interview or you likely wont get in, just the little things that they have learned over their many years in the business. Why redo all the research yourself that someone else has spent 20+ years honing? Sure I don't just take their word for everything and we included some schools on the list that we had researched and were interested in. But ultimately, why wouldn't I pay for someone who specializes? My kid's top 3 choices included 2 that I didn't have on the list initially---and ultimately included where they ended up. As soon as the CC listed these 2 unknown to us schools, we researched and I had a feeling they would be top schools (and I was right). But what if we hadn't found them?

I don't use google doctor to treat all medical conditions, I use it in conjunction with my own doctors and I use it to ask knowledgeable questions. But I still see a doctor. This is the same---I do my own research but I use someone who is skilled in this area and draw upon their years of knowledge to assist the process. If you can afford it, it seems silly not to use it when you ultimately are going to be paying $200K+ for college---it's a drop in the bucket financially.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking the same - I was looking for someone who will help with the 'system' - ex for a STEM focus kid interested to get into a T20 school - you need to have taken these courses, have such EC's, join such clubs.. etc? having this information might be helpful, especially for those who dont have a elder child who has gone thr this process..

If you hire the CC for 9th grade, they will do exactly this. Most have a set fee for the entire process, and the best financial deal is to utilize this unlimited price over the full 4 years. They will help you see if you must have FL all 4 years for the schools you are targeting. Help you have a good EC list---help you see that pointy is often better than just joining more clubs/activities. And help you do this in a reasonable manner so your kid is happy with the choices thru HS, not just doing it all just to get into college. They will also help you take summer camps/courses to determine your interest in subjects (engineering/cs/whatever the interest is).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any good ones that do hourly without a minimum? I’m pretty informed but have a few questions I’d like to run by someone who preferably worked in admissions before.

We used Richard Montauk. He was by the hour. RichardMontauk.com.

Thank you, Richard.

You are a child and not offering anything of substance here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Depends on your goal. If its to find merit aid to reduce costs, it could pay off because the consultant might direct your child to schools he/she would not otherwise consider that offer good merit aid. If its to reduce parent-child stressors by having someone else make sure child is completing essays, etc. in a timely manner, also beneficial. If its to get a leg up in admission to a competitive college, I see no benefit to hiring a college consultant whatsoever.

--signed parent of a hs senior

Bolded part above - priceless.

--signed another parent of a hs senior

+1 This is why I did it. I have an only child and I knew I would be stressed out by the process and probably pass that stress along to my kid. Truthfully, not just the logistics of the application process but knowing what schools to consider, what was realistic, when to push my kid in terms of options to consider, and when to mange expectations (mine and DC), etc. It was money well spent on mental health (mine and DC's) and my relationship with my kid. A luxury, to be sure, and one I would choose again.

+1 exactly why I did for my only child.

[Anonymous]

We hired someone the second semester of 9th grade. She helped with class selection, ECs, essays for competitive summer programs, college list, essays for college apps and recommendations. She was absolutely invaluable, particularly on the essays and the college list. My son was accepted to every competitive summer program he applied to and to his ED1 super reach school.

As an alumni interviewer for a very competitive university, I knew enough going into this process to know that we needed help. The cost of college is so high, why skimp on a skilled consultant? Some may be able to do it themselves but the essays are really tricky, particularly the "why us" variety. And, tailoring ECs to develop the sought-after spike is not so simple.

We did interview six different consultants that all came recommended. The costs varied widely, but in the end, we let DS pick the person with whom he felt most comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was thinking the same - I was looking for someone who will help with the 'system' - ex for a STEM focus kid interested to get into a T20 school - you need to have taken these courses, have such EC's, join such clubs.. etc? having this information might be helpful, especially for those who dont have a elder child who has gone thr this process..

If you hire the CC for 9th grade, they will do exactly this. Most have a set fee for the entire process, and the best financial deal is to utilize this unlimited price over the full 4 years. They will help you see if you must have FL all 4 years for the schools you are targeting. Help you have a good EC list---help you see that pointy is often better than just joining more clubs/activities. And help you do this in a reasonable manner so your kid is happy with the choices thru HS, not just doing it all just to get into college. They will also help you take summer camps/courses to determine your interest in subjects (engineering/cs/whatever the interest is).

Yes - my kid is in 9th grade and thats exactly how I was hoping to is a CC.

Any CC recommendations to start with?

[Anonymous]

I regret not hiring one. The stress is real, kid had several breakdowns. Fortunately they ended up where they wanted to be.