Admission Consultant Recommendation - Hourly services

[Anonymous]

www.schoolingdoula.com

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't found anyone inexpensive who knows all the colleges that well. Maybe they exist out there, but the really knowledgeable and helpful experts are definitely not working for $120/hr for three, one-off sessions.

I think the hive mind on here, or maybe CC, is better if you want inexpensive advice concerning admission to a "top college".

There is a lack of genuine knowledge on here. In fact, the real knowledge, when it does exist, is kept close to everyone's chest for fear of raising the competition. Otherwise it's just opinion and conjecture and very few actual stats. There's a lot of BS.

We worked with a very expensive private college counselor who charges by the hour. A fraction of their advice was really very good. The rest of the time they made wild suggestions that were untenable or told long boring stories of their successes (student success) while simultaneously deriding and mocking those same students or their families. That didn't instill confidence in us to continue working with them.

Please share the name so we can avoid

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

What is the NPC mentioned above? Very good advice here I think, though this is the first time I’ve gone through it but I have noticed a pattern of certain schools liking more kids than expected,or not taking even very very high stat kids from my child’s HS. Kind of eye opening.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

What is the NPC mentioned above? Very good advice here I think, though this is the first time I’ve gone through it but I have noticed a pattern of certain schools liking more kids than expected,or not taking even very very high stat kids from my child’s HS. Kind of eye opening.

Net Price Calculator. To make sure you're comfortable paying the price you'll likely see on the bill. And it's totally true that there are often a couple colleges that seem to especially like your high school and a couple that don't. It's part of the randomness of the process , and IMO it's probably healthier to accept it than knock your head against a wall that Stanford doesn't ever take kids from your high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't found anyone inexpensive who knows all the colleges that well. Maybe they exist out there, but the really knowledgeable and helpful experts are definitely not working for $120/hr for three, one-off sessions.

I think the hive mind on here, or maybe CC, is better if you want inexpensive advice concerning admission to a "top college".

There is a lack of genuine knowledge on here. In fact, the real knowledge, when it does exist, is kept close to everyone's chest for fear of raising the competition. Otherwise it's just opinion and conjecture and very few actual stats. There's a lot of BS.

We worked with a very expensive private college counselor who charges by the hour. A fraction of their advice was really very good. The rest of the time they made wild suggestions that were untenable or told long boring stories of their successes (student success) while simultaneously deriding and mocking those same students or their families. That didn't instill confidence in us to continue working with them.

Please share the name so we can avoid

That is against DCUM rules. Sorry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

What is the NPC mentioned above? Very good advice here I think, though this is the first time I’ve gone through it but I have noticed a pattern of certain schools liking more kids than expected,or not taking even very very high stat kids from my child’s HS. Kind of eye opening.

+1

NP here. This is the most helpful post I have ever seen on this sub, and I have tried to be helpful on this sub, in the past, which is not the norm. There are too many "list" posts, especially rankings and ingenuous comparisons, and ingenuous "what do you think of this school?" posts, which help no one. Most often, bad information is given, which is obvious to those parents who have kids in college or older. Those posts mean nothing, and are not helpful.

This post is exactly true, and parents not in the know can be shocked when their high stats kid is NOT picked in favor of a lower stats kid for/from the same college/high school. Parents need to be aware, and consequently, prepared. For many years, colleges denied they had "spots to fill" for certain students (females in STEM, particularly CS, in colleges that were not traditionally strong in CS, for one example); and also that they only chose so many kids from one high school. The latter is obvious, since there are only so many spots each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't found anyone inexpensive who knows all the colleges that well. Maybe they exist out there, but the really knowledgeable and helpful experts are definitely not working for $120/hr for three, one-off sessions.

I think the hive mind on here, or maybe CC, is better if you want inexpensive advice concerning admission to a "top college".

There is a lack of genuine knowledge on here. In fact, the real knowledge, when it does exist, is kept close to everyone's chest for fear of raising the competition. Otherwise it's just opinion and conjecture and very few actual stats. There's a lot of BS.

We worked with a very expensive private college counselor who charges by the hour. A fraction of their advice was really very good. The rest of the time they made wild suggestions that were untenable or told long boring stories of their successes (student success) while simultaneously deriding and mocking those same students or their families. That didn't instill confidence in us to continue working with them.

Please share the name so we can avoid

That is against DCUM rules. Sorry.

Initials?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

What is the NPC mentioned above? Very good advice here I think, though this is the first time I’ve gone through it but I have noticed a pattern of certain schools liking more kids than expected,or not taking even very very high stat kids from my child’s HS. Kind of eye opening.

+1

NP here. This is the most helpful post I have ever seen on this sub, and I have tried to be helpful on this sub, in the past, which is not the norm. There are too many "list" posts, especially rankings and ingenuous comparisons, and ingenuous "what do you think of this school?" posts, which help no one. Most often, bad information is given, which is obvious to those parents who have kids in college or older. Those posts mean nothing, and are not helpful.

This post is exactly true, and parents not in the know can be shocked when their high stats kid is NOT picked in favor of a lower stats kid for/from the same college/high school. Parents need to be aware, and consequently, prepared. For many years, colleges denied they had "spots to fill" for certain students (females in STEM, particularly CS, in colleges that were not traditionally strong in CS, for one example); and also that they only chose so many kids from one high school. The latter is obvious, since there are only so many spots each year.

I didn't find it helpful I found it generic. Who wants to start with a list of 20-50 potential colleges? That's insane. it is like a hobby list for those with OCD.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

What is the NPC mentioned above? Very good advice here I think, though this is the first time I’ve gone through it but I have noticed a pattern of certain schools liking more kids than expected,or not taking even very very high stat kids from my child’s HS. Kind of eye opening.

+1

NP here. This is the most helpful post I have ever seen on this sub, and I have tried to be helpful on this sub, in the past, which is not the norm. There are too many "list" posts, especially rankings and ingenuous comparisons, and ingenuous "what do you think of this school?" posts, which help no one. Most often, bad information is given, which is obvious to those parents who have kids in college or older. Those posts mean nothing, and are not helpful.

This post is exactly true, and parents not in the know can be shocked when their high stats kid is NOT picked in favor of a lower stats kid for/from the same college/high school. Parents need to be aware, and consequently, prepared. For many years, colleges denied they had "spots to fill" for certain students (females in STEM, particularly CS, in colleges that were not traditionally strong in CS, for one example); and also that they only chose so many kids from one high school. The latter is obvious, since there are only so many spots each year.

I didn't find it helpful I found it generic. Who wants to start with a list of 20-50 potential colleges? That's insane. it is like a hobby list for those with OCD.

Most of my kids are already in college and it is a very helpful way to know target places for your high school, for kids with your kids stats, in conjunction with Naviance. This is more than half the problem - parents being unrealistic regarding their high school's and their child's targets. You can easily whittle the resulting list of colleges down, according to location, size and major in relation to your applicant child. There has to be some research, otherwise how does your child know where to apply? You make no sense.

If you have anything constructive to add, that would be helpful, instead of dismissing and being unhelpful.

Of course, there are certain parents for whom only certain colleges will do, and that is your prerogative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

What is the NPC mentioned above? Very good advice here I think, though this is the first time I’ve gone through it but I have noticed a pattern of certain schools liking more kids than expected,or not taking even very very high stat kids from my child’s HS. Kind of eye opening.

+1

NP here. This is the most helpful post I have ever seen on this sub, and I have tried to be helpful on this sub, in the past, which is not the norm. There are too many "list" posts, especially rankings and ingenuous comparisons, and ingenuous "what do you think of this school?" posts, which help no one. Most often, bad information is given, which is obvious to those parents who have kids in college or older. Those posts mean nothing, and are not helpful.

This post is exactly true, and parents not in the know can be shocked when their high stats kid is NOT picked in favor of a lower stats kid for/from the same college/high school. Parents need to be aware, and consequently, prepared. For many years, colleges denied they had "spots to fill" for certain students (females in STEM, particularly CS, in colleges that were not traditionally strong in CS, for one example); and also that they only chose so many kids from one high school. The latter is obvious, since there are only so many spots each year.

I didn't find it helpful I found it generic. Who wants to start with a list of 20-50 potential colleges? That's insane. it is like a hobby list for those with OCD.

Many people start with a list of 20-50 schools. I have a spreadsheet right now with a broad list (35). My kid is a junior. By the end of the school year it will get cut in half once we have a precise idea of what her stats are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I've heard about this one Oxford/montauk situation about 50 times already and I'm not an especially close reader of this site.

For the last 6-8 months or so (since spring of my kid's junior year), I have been excessively, depressingly obsessive about this forum, College Confidential, r/a2c, and multiple college planning FB groups. I could tell you everything there is to know about Kat Cohen, Sarah Harberson, and a host of other counselors (many of whom I think are hacks, like Julie Kim.) You know whose name NEVER comes up outside of DCUM? This Montauk fellow. And yet he gets mentioned here ALL the time. Why is that?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

What is the NPC mentioned above? Very good advice here I think, though this is the first time I’ve gone through it but I have noticed a pattern of certain schools liking more kids than expected,or not taking even very very high stat kids from my child’s HS. Kind of eye opening.

+1

NP here. This is the most helpful post I have ever seen on this sub, and I have tried to be helpful on this sub, in the past, which is not the norm. There are too many "list" posts, especially rankings and ingenuous comparisons, and ingenuous "what do you think of this school?" posts, which help no one. Most often, bad information is given, which is obvious to those parents who have kids in college or older. Those posts mean nothing, and are not helpful.

This post is exactly true, and parents not in the know can be shocked when their high stats kid is NOT picked in favor of a lower stats kid for/from the same college/high school. Parents need to be aware, and consequently, prepared. For many years, colleges denied they had "spots to fill" for certain students (females in STEM, particularly CS, in colleges that were not traditionally strong in CS, for one example); and also that they only chose so many kids from one high school. The latter is obvious, since there are only so many spots each year.

I didn't find it helpful I found it generic. Who wants to start with a list of 20-50 potential colleges? That's insane. it is like a hobby list for those with OCD.

Most of my kids are already in college and it is a very helpful way to know target places for your high school, for kids with your kids stats, in conjunction with Naviance. This is more than half the problem - parents being unrealistic regarding their high school's and their child's targets. You can easily whittle the resulting list of colleges down, according to location, size and major in relation to your applicant child. There has to be some research, otherwise how does your child know where to apply? You make no sense.

If you have anything constructive to add, that would be helpful, instead of dismissing and being unhelpful.

Of course, there are certain parents for whom only certain colleges will do, and that is your prerogative.

I make perfect sense. We live in California. Our kids will be applying to some of the UC and maybe one or two CS colleges. That's it. There's enough of a range of reach / target / safety within those colleges and we can afford $40k per year x 2

The rest is BS. No one needs to waste their time in the way you're suggesting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

What is the NPC mentioned above? Very good advice here I think, though this is the first time I’ve gone through it but I have noticed a pattern of certain schools liking more kids than expected,or not taking even very very high stat kids from my child’s HS. Kind of eye opening.

+1

NP here. This is the most helpful post I have ever seen on this sub, and I have tried to be helpful on this sub, in the past, which is not the norm. There are too many "list" posts, especially rankings and ingenuous comparisons, and ingenuous "what do you think of this school?" posts, which help no one. Most often, bad information is given, which is obvious to those parents who have kids in college or older. Those posts mean nothing, and are not helpful.

This post is exactly true, and parents not in the know can be shocked when their high stats kid is NOT picked in favor of a lower stats kid for/from the same college/high school. Parents need to be aware, and consequently, prepared. For many years, colleges denied they had "spots to fill" for certain students (females in STEM, particularly CS, in colleges that were not traditionally strong in CS, for one example); and also that they only chose so many kids from one high school. The latter is obvious, since there are only so many spots each year.

I didn't find it helpful I found it generic. Who wants to start with a list of 20-50 potential colleges? That's insane. it is like a hobby list for those with OCD.

Most of my kids are already in college and it is a very helpful way to know target places for your high school, for kids with your kids stats, in conjunction with Naviance. This is more than half the problem - parents being unrealistic regarding their high school's and their child's targets. You can easily whittle the resulting list of colleges down, according to location, size and major in relation to your applicant child. There has to be some research, otherwise how does your child know where to apply? You make no sense.

If you have anything constructive to add, that would be helpful, instead of dismissing and being unhelpful.

Of course, there are certain parents for whom only certain colleges will do, and that is your prerogative.

I make perfect sense. We live in California. Our kids will be applying to some of the UC and maybe one or two CS colleges. That's it. There's enough of a range of reach / target / safety within those colleges and we can afford $40k per year x 2

The rest is BS. No one needs to waste their time in the way you're suggesting.

You do realize that not everyone resides in CA, or is aiming for the UC (or state) system? I hope that particular system is good to you, because for the rest of the world, especially students literally at the top of their class by senior year, the college application process is much a lottery, and does not afford such luxuries (including applying to a minimum number of schools) that the UC system provides for CA residents. Consequently, students are having to do more research. But good for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I feel like I've heard about this one Oxford/montauk situation about 50 times already and I'm not an especially close reader of this site.

He specialized in British schools. Oxford is mentioned in his website as is LRE. I learned about the reputation of Imperial college from him. He’s also very knowledgeable about German and Dutch schools. He also does law school applications

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:the very good advice I got early on was: your kid is not that special.

+ look at the college placement from your high school from the last three years.

+ remove the schools that aren't a good fit/too high/too low. So for us that was the military academies, the super stem schools, the lows. The "highs" are a little harder to lop off .. isn't my kid a high too? So okay, keep the highs.

+ there's your draft list of 30-50 colleges. then run the NPC and knock a few more out.

+ then visit big small rural city big small schools. knock out the kind of school doesn't fit for your kid. down to 20.

+ Now it's junior year late spring and your kid has to research these 20 schools. You have your grades now and test scores. some of the "highs" no longer realistic. narrow it down to 12.

+ higher an essay coach to help but nothing else.

This advice works if your kid goes to a solid high school where kids go to good schools. If your kid will be the first to ever consider Princeton from Iowa City High, you'll need more help.

What is the NPC mentioned above? Very good advice here I think, though this is the first time I’ve gone through it but I have noticed a pattern of certain schools liking more kids than expected,or not taking even very very high stat kids from my child’s HS. Kind of eye opening.

+1

NP here. This is the most helpful post I have ever seen on this sub, and I have tried to be helpful on this sub, in the past, which is not the norm. There are too many "list" posts, especially rankings and ingenuous comparisons, and ingenuous "what do you think of this school?" posts, which help no one. Most often, bad information is given, which is obvious to those parents who have kids in college or older. Those posts mean nothing, and are not helpful.

This post is exactly true, and parents not in the know can be shocked when their high stats kid is NOT picked in favor of a lower stats kid for/from the same college/high school. Parents need to be aware, and consequently, prepared. For many years, colleges denied they had "spots to fill" for certain students (females in STEM, particularly CS, in colleges that were not traditionally strong in CS, for one example); and also that they only chose so many kids from one high school. The latter is obvious, since there are only so many spots each year.

I didn't find it helpful I found it generic. Who wants to start with a list of 20-50 potential colleges? That's insane. it is like a hobby list for those with OCD.

I started with the Fiske Guide which is quite a lot more than 20-50.