College counseling

[Anonymous]

For parents and students who have gone through the college admission process, could you please give advice on a good college counseling prep company that worked for your DC? and if you think it was worth it? Would you say it is required to have for kid in public school?
My DC is in a large public school and not sure if counselors have time to provide advice. Any advice from parents currently going through this process or past experiences?
Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Is your DC first generation that you need this help?
First generation kids with good stats seem to be doing very well this year,

[Anonymous]

yes first generation Asian boy. My DC however will be applying next year, is a junior and was wondering if we need to hire a college counslor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:yes first generation Asian boy. My DC however will be applying next year, is a junior and was wondering if we need to hire a college counslor

Just to clarify, "first generation" doesn't mean first generation in America - it means first generation in your family to go to college.
Those kids are highly prized right now. My guess is if your kid has good grades and test scores he will do very well in college admissions.

[Anonymous]

Whether it is worth it really depends on what you are looking for -- the college counselors can be wildly expensive and most charge by the package rather than the hour. If you just want help finding schools, it is probably not worth it as there are not really any hidden gems that you cannot find on your own (or better, the student can find) and kids tend to apply to a finite list of schools. If you want help on essays and someone to prod the student forward, it can be useful and if you think that the counselors have "ins" with certain prestigious schools and can get your kid in, well that is not likely to happen. Our experience with limited college counseling is that it was not very helpful but we did not opt for a package and were likely a low priority.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For parents and students who have gone through the college admission process, could you please give advice on a good college counseling prep company that worked for your DC? and if you think it was worth it? Would you say it is required to have for kid in public school?
My DC is in a large public school and not sure if counselors have time to provide advice. Any advice from parents currently going through this process or past experiences?
Thank you.

Do not waist your money in a CC go to college confidential and look at this forum.

[Anonymous]

We did it ourselves. Familiarize yourself with Naviance and know that the grade point averages for the school are based on the nd of year senior year. Most students see an increase of their GPA senior year and if you are inFCPS it is the the weighted GPA. I do not know about the others.

Also get a book on colleges like Barron’s or Peterson’s and look through them.

[Anonymous]

A private counselor can be useful if your kid isn’t motivated and you don’t have time to do the research yourself. Or, if you foresee endless battles about getting your kid to fill out the apps, write the essays, etc and you need a neutral 3rd person to nag your kid. Otherwise, we did it ourselves and DC got into a top Ivy. DC was very motivated and did a lot of what’s below herself.

Get a book about how to write the essay. (I.e, write about yourself instead of about why your grandmother is your hero because they want to learn about you, not about your grandmother. Don’t tell NYU or Columbia you love NYC because they want to know why you love their school. And so on.)

Look at your school’s Naviance but bear in mind it doesn’t include ECs which are usually key to results.

Look at College Confidential to see the reports about who got in and why they think they got in. Ignore the “chance me” threads because these are naive kids “chancing” other naive kids and don’t reflect actual results.

Ignore everything you read on DCUM. Sort of kidding, but the boosters and haters here are more brazen and post more frequently than on CC, which is more heavily moderated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A private counselor can be useful if your kid isn’t motivated and you don’t have time to do the research yourself. Or, if you foresee endless battles about getting your kid to fill out the apps, write the essays, etc and you need a neutral 3rd person to nag your kid. Otherwise, we did it ourselves and DC got into a top Ivy. DC was very motivated and did a lot of what’s below herself.

Get a book about how to write the essay. (I.e, write about yourself instead of about why your grandmother is your hero because they want to learn about you, not about your grandmother. Don’t tell NYU or Columbia you love NYC because they want to know why you love their school. And so on.)

Look at your school’s Naviance but bear in mind it doesn’t include ECs which are usually key to results.

Look at College Confidential to see the reports about who got in and why they think they got in. Ignore the “chance me” threads because these are naive kids “chancing” other naive kids and don’t reflect actual results.

Ignore everything you read on DCUM. Sort of kidding, but the boosters and haters here are more brazen and post more frequently than on CC, which is more heavily moderated.

PP again. If your kid is in public school, you really should be prepared to do this research yourself if your goal is anything besides the in-state public. Our counselor tried to talk us out of applying anywhere but the in-state public (which is excellent overall but not in DC’s intended major), even though we were full pay at the ivy.

[Anonymous]

Also, listen to the podcast "Getting In"

[Anonymous]

We hired for the sake of shalom bayit.

(Peace in the house)

I did not enjoy raising a teen.

[Anonymous]

PP +1000 on for the sake of peace. But I love my teens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP +1000 on for the sake of peace. But I love my teens.

I love mine, too. But this was not a stage of parenting I liked.

[Anonymous]

The comprehensive packages these counselors offer can be very helpful because it is all encompassing. Ours will take us all the way through transitioning into college (first semester).

[Anonymous]

Agree with most of the other posters. With the exception of some a la carte ACT prep, we did this ourselves by doing a lot of research and reading. So far, the early results are good. I wouldn’t expect much in the way of college search and selection from a HS guidance counselor. Private counseling is great if you have the money, but expect to spend a lot of $$.