Becoming a Private College Admissions Counselor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counselors are for people who don’t want to help their kids (like we all did). You guys are so dense. Most people I know don’t research or spend time here.

There are so many of them and spending $5-10-15-25k is not a big deal. Your demographic is not the target.

I guess you’re correct. I just can’t imagine spending $5-25K on something we can do ourselves, especially something as important and personal as college admissions. Of all things, that doesn’t feel like it should be outsourced.

So I’m definitely not the demographic. Leaving this thread.

5-25k is nothing when you are targeting people who spend 250k on high school, 250k on college and 250k on professional school.

Exactly. I spent $25k in a week just randomly on an impromptu five night trip. The demographic for this kind of thing is very different than the people who sit on this site day and and day out.

Even if you’re not super rich, if you are the type who spent thousands on prepping your kid to take the test to get into a selective high school, spent thousands on SAT prep and cram schools, etc., it makes sense to spend another few thousand making sure essays and applications look good.

I’m sure I’m going to get flamed for this, but here goes:

If your child needs all that support (essay writers, test prep, people to apply for them), SHOULD they be going to these colleges?

The answer is no, they shouldn’t.

[Anonymous]

Don't know if anyone mentioned this, but college essay guy has a program for folks like this. Check it out.

[Anonymous]

Related book recommendation:

The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays by Irena Smith

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Golden-Ticket/Irena-Smith/9781647424640

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with those who said word of mouth should help a lot. I have thought about doing this, too, but I interview for my alumni association and you can't do that if you are a college counselor. It sounds weird, but I really like meeting those applicant kids and it also helps keep me current on the landscape. (I also have a job lol) So I help friends and family with apps for free. People ask me all. the. time. for help. As soon as they know I do it. I imagine if I created a website or social media presence, went to PTA meetings, etc. I would be off to the races with some clients. Building a functional business would just depend on my willingness to hustle. Best of luck to you, if you decide to pursue this!

Agree. You can probably have access 5-10 year quasi retirement run with this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Related book recommendation:

The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays by Irena Smith

https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Golden-Ticket/Irena-Smith/9781647424640

She’s on Substack. No longer counseling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counselors are for people who don’t want to help their kids (like we all did). You guys are so dense. Most people I know don’t research or spend time here.

There are so many of them and spending $5-10-15-25k is not a big deal. Your demographic is not the target.

I guess you’re correct. I just can’t imagine spending $5-25K on something we can do ourselves, especially something as important and personal as college admissions. Of all things, that doesn’t feel like it should be outsourced.

So I’m definitely not the demographic. Leaving this thread.

5-25k is nothing when you are targeting people who spend 250k on high school, 250k on college and 250k on professional school.

Exactly. I spent $25k in a week just randomly on an impromptu five night trip. The demographic for this kind of thing is very different than the people who sit on this site day and and day out.

Even if you’re not super rich, if you are the type who spent thousands on prepping your kid to take the test to get into a selective high school, spent thousands on SAT prep and cram schools, etc., it makes sense to spend another few thousand making sure essays and applications look good.

I’m sure I’m going to get flamed for this, but here goes:

If your child needs all that support (essay writers, test prep, people to apply for them), SHOULD they be going to these colleges?

The answer is no, they shouldn’t.

The kids don’t necessarily need all the support but the parents still buy it because it is a nice to have if you can easily afford it and it makes the process easier on the kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counselors are for people who don’t want to help their kids (like we all did). You guys are so dense. Most people I know don’t research or spend time here.

There are so many of them and spending $5-10-15-25k is not a big deal. Your demographic is not the target.

I guess you’re correct. I just can’t imagine spending $5-25K on something we can do ourselves, especially something as important and personal as college admissions. Of all things, that doesn’t feel like it should be outsourced.

So I’m definitely not the demographic. Leaving this thread.

5-25k is nothing when you are targeting people who spend 250k on high school, 250k on college and 250k on professional school.

Exactly. I spent $25k in a week just randomly on an impromptu five night trip. The demographic for this kind of thing is very different than the people who sit on this site day and and day out.

Even if you’re not super rich, if you are the type who spent thousands on prepping your kid to take the test to get into a selective high school, spent thousands on SAT prep and cram schools, etc., it makes sense to spend another few thousand making sure essays and applications look good.

I’m sure I’m going to get flamed for this, but here goes:

If your child needs all that support (essay writers, test prep, people to apply for them), SHOULD they be going to these colleges?

The answer is no, they shouldn’t.

I don't agree. The colleges have done wrong here by turning this into a ridiculous game, benefitting those who know how to play it. The fact that the kids need help navigating reflects a broken system, not their lack of qualification. (I'm just talking about college app advice generally, not folks writing their essays for them)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counselors are for people who don’t want to help their kids (like we all did). You guys are so dense. Most people I know don’t research or spend time here.

There are so many of them and spending $5-10-15-25k is not a big deal. Your demographic is not the target.

I guess you’re correct. I just can’t imagine spending $5-25K on something we can do ourselves, especially something as important and personal as college admissions. Of all things, that doesn’t feel like it should be outsourced.

So I’m definitely not the demographic. Leaving this thread.

5-25k is nothing when you are targeting people who spend 250k on high school, 250k on college and 250k on professional school.

Exactly. I spent $25k in a week just randomly on an impromptu five night trip. The demographic for this kind of thing is very different than the people who sit on this site day and and day out.

Even if you’re not super rich, if you are the type who spent thousands on prepping your kid to take the test to get into a selective high school, spent thousands on SAT prep and cram schools, etc., it makes sense to spend another few thousand making sure essays and applications look good.

I’m sure I’m going to get flamed for this, but here goes:

If your child needs all that support (essay writers, test prep, people to apply for them), SHOULD they be going to these colleges?

if you have to have private coaches, SHOULD you be going pro?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please don’t bother with getting some pay to play junk certificate from UCLA, lol.

these certificates are pretty useful. it's like getting a brokers license. doesnt' really take you very long, you do learn some info, have access to some mailing lists and conferences you wouldn't otherwise, get to put "certified iec" in the corner of you docs/site which will matter to 10% of your clients. (if you google, how do I find a counselor, it links to this list).

it's not expensive or burdensome. do it while youre doing the rest.

[Anonymous]

I think the college app process has certain trends that are hard to understand unless you're really following. do passion projects still work - yes, but not paid research. although that worked up until like two cycles ago.

very few counselors have any interest in writing essays for kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think the college app process has certain trends that are hard to understand unless you're really following. do passion projects still work - yes, but not paid research. although that worked up until like two cycles ago.

very few counselors have any interest in writing essays for kids.

Right; nor do they give the highest quality essay feedback in terms of what is wrong with the essays. They expect families to hire “separate” essay coaches (often more expensive). Finding someone who really does both and gives high-quality feedback is hard.

We learned that the hard way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the college app process has certain trends that are hard to understand unless you're really following. do passion projects still work - yes, but not paid research. although that worked up until like two cycles ago.

very few counselors have any interest in writing essays for kids.

Right; nor do they give the highest quality essay feedback in terms of what is wrong with the essays. They expect families to hire “separate” essay coaches (often more expensive). Finding someone who really does both and gives high-quality feedback is hard.

We learned that the hard way.

This is a great question to ask someone you might hire.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Counselors are for people who don’t want to help their kids (like we all did). You guys are so dense. Most people I know don’t research or spend time here.

There are so many of them and spending $5-10-15-25k is not a big deal. Your demographic is not the target.

I guess you’re correct. I just can’t imagine spending $5-25K on something we can do ourselves, especially something as important and personal as college admissions. Of all things, that doesn’t feel like it should be outsourced.

So I’m definitely not the demographic. Leaving this thread.

5-25k is nothing when you are targeting people who spend 250k on high school, 250k on college and 250k on professional school.

Exactly. I spent $25k in a week just randomly on an impromptu five night trip. The demographic for this kind of thing is very different than the people who sit on this site day and and day out.

Even if you’re not super rich, if you are the type who spent thousands on prepping your kid to take the test to get into a selective high school, spent thousands on SAT prep and cram schools, etc., it makes sense to spend another few thousand making sure essays and applications look good.

I’m sure I’m going to get flamed for this, but here goes:

If your child needs all that support (essay writers, test prep, people to apply for them), SHOULD they be going to these colleges?

The answer is no, they shouldn’t.

I don't agree. The colleges have done wrong here by turning this into a ridiculous game, benefitting those who know how to play it. The fact that the kids need help navigating reflects a broken system, not their lack of qualification. (I'm just talking about college app advice generally, not folks writing their essays for them)

The vast majority of kids don’t need paid help. Stop normalizing this because you have more money than sense and then blaming the colleges.

[Anonymous]

I realize there are many parents like OP who want to turn a buck based on what they learned micromanaging their own kids through the college process, but IMO a number of the recent college grads on instagram selling their expertise would probably do a better job than most of these adults. Just my two cents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So far you have no true actual results of your help. I would not even entertain paying you without verifiable positive statistics.

Right now you are just a bored mom who likes to write essays.

I agree with this. Build up a success story resume. You might like it but not actually make an impact on acceptances. Then use that to attract paying clients.

She’ll build a roster quickly. You’d be surprised how much money there is sloshing around in this industry sector.

Op: make yourself hard to pin down/book. They’ll come running to you.

Why are you busybodies so negative? She doesn’t want your business.

A roster is not the same as a portfolio of success. Any would anyone pay a random stranger with zero verified results a penny?

You might as well ask your next door neighbor.