Best advice you got from a private college admissions counselor?

[Anonymous]

Another book is The Art if the College Essay by Gabriella Glancy.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Following up on the National Honor Society. Yes, it may be a dime a dozen kind of honor and not all that prestigious compared to other honors that are harder to achieve, but it's still important to get and list it (even if it's at the bottom of the awards list), and here's why -- if you're eligible and *don't* have it, it may raise eyebrows. NHS chapters can decline to extend invitations to kids based on character, so not having it when all the other applicants from your school have it may raise a red flag. It's better not to raise that potential red flag in the first place, particularly as it's such an easy lift for a kid with good grades.

What absolute nonsense. No one cares.

I have to agree. It will not raise eyebrows in the context of the entire application and recommendations.

You do you, but the thread asked for advice from professional college advisors, and this came from a professional college advisor.

If he said NHS was important, then he is a bad professional college advisor.

Well, she has an excellent track record of coaching kids who get into the Ivys, MIT, Stanford, etc., so I'll take her advice over yours.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:First question to be asked of parents: What can you realistically afford for five or six years. Do NOT look at any institution that the family cannot afford. Do not dangle schools in front of your children that the family cannot afford. Run those EFC calculators and figure it out in advance. Don't waste time on schools that are $80K a year ++. Count on more than four years. There are 4000 institutions in America, there is a place for your child. Consider highly in-state if finances or other family issues (illness, taking care of seniors, parents, SN kids) are at play. Consider community college guaranteed admissions programs.

But base the “$80k” figure on the net price. For broke families, Princeton, for example, is the cheapest school other than the military academies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Following up on the National Honor Society. Yes, it may be a dime a dozen kind of honor and not all that prestigious compared to other honors that are harder to achieve, but it's still important to get and list it (even if it's at the bottom of the awards list), and here's why -- if you're eligible and *don't* have it, it may raise eyebrows. NHS chapters can decline to extend invitations to kids based on character, so not having it when all the other applicants from your school have it may raise a red flag. It's better not to raise that potential red flag in the first place, particularly as it's such an easy lift for a kid with good grades.

What absolute nonsense. No one cares.

I have to agree. It will not raise eyebrows in the context of the entire application and recommendations.

You do you, but the thread asked for advice from professional college advisors, and this came from a professional college advisor.

If he said NHS was important, then he is a bad professional college advisor.

Well, she has an excellent track record of coaching kids who get into the Ivys, MIT, Stanford, etc., so I'll take her advice over yours.

You go right ahead and do that, and pay for the privilege, Totally your choice.

[Anonymous]

I would think that any sort of academic integrity issues would be known to teachers and administration then noted on the counselor's recommendation and report in the CA.
I doubt that adcoms have time to infer that a candidate has "character" issues from not being in NHS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Following up on the National Honor Society. Yes, it may be a dime a dozen kind of honor and not all that prestigious compared to other honors that are harder to achieve, but it's still important to get and list it (even if it's at the bottom of the awards list), and here's why -- if you're eligible and *don't* have it, it may raise eyebrows. NHS chapters can decline to extend invitations to kids based on character, so not having it when all the other applicants from your school have it may raise a red flag. It's better not to raise that potential red flag in the first place, particularly as it's such an easy lift for a kid with good grades.

What absolute nonsense. No one cares.

I have to agree. It will not raise eyebrows in the context of the entire application and recommendations.

You do you, but the thread asked for advice from professional college advisors, and this came from a professional college advisor.

If he said NHS was important, then he is a bad professional college advisor.

Well, she has an excellent track record of coaching kids who get into the Ivys, MIT, Stanford, etc., so I'll take her advice over yours.

Is she a former admissions officer at a top college? I might guess “no”. Many kids with the accomplishments to get admitted to those schools cant even fit NHS on the common app.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:First question to be asked of parents: What can you realistically afford for five or six years. Do NOT look at any institution that the family cannot afford. Do not dangle schools in front of your children that the family cannot afford. Run those EFC calculators and figure it out in advance. Don't waste time on schools that are $80K a year ++. Count on more than four years. There are 4000 institutions in America, there is a place for your child. Consider highly in-state if finances or other family issues (illness, taking care of seniors, parents, SN kids) are at play. Consider community college guaranteed admissions programs.

But base the “$80k” figure on the net price. For broke families, Princeton, for example, is the cheapest school other than the military academies.

The college counselor is not speaking to broke families! I doubt families that would qualify for that level of aid at Princeton are shelling out $8-$10k for a private college counselor.