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[quote=Anonymous]6:32 here:  OP, sure there are counselors who have recent (or relatively recent) experience as admissions staffers.  While I can't name any who have that experience and who are local, you can certainly work with someone who's based in another city.  Google and ye shall find.  But, are these folks going to be able to provide what you're not getting from your school counselor?  I'm not sure about that.  I am sure, however, that they're gonna charge you a gazillion dollars for what they can provide.  (Google Michelle Hernandez, for example; she's a former Dartmouth staffer who does private counseling, admissions "boot camps", application massaging, etc.)

Let's consider: how would a private counselor respond to the questions you pose?  He/she won't be able to answer the questions about what Naviance doesn't reveal; that's an inherent limitation of Naviance.  Re the choice of summer experiences, my bet is most counselors will tell you to go with the option your child feels most passionate about.  Sure, some might tell you one or the other will "look better" on an application, but, honestly, do you want to package your kid that way?  And, even if you do, would following this advice really be the golden ticket to getting your kid into Penn or Columbia or whereever?  In my experience, admissions is such a crap shoot that nobody can tell you this for sure.  In light of that, what worked for us was to trust the advice you'll get from current admissions staffers for free: it's not so much what your kid does in the summers or after school, but how he/she can convey in an essay the impact that experience had on him/her.  Maybe I'm being a Pollyanna here, but I do believe that an applicant who spends the summer lifeguarding can write a better essay than someone who worked at NIH.  And, yes, I have one example I can cite to support my argument: he lives in my house and will be going to his first-choice school next fall (got in early action -- yay DS!).

Finally, as to planning your spring-break college visits.  Yes, that's tricky, esp. b/c you probably don't have a full transcript of junior year yet, nor SAT scores, and you might have only one or 2 AP scores or none at all.  In other words, you really don't have a complete picture of what your child's application will look like.  That's OK -- just be sure you see a range of schools.  So, absolutely, visit Penn, but also see Haverford or Bryn Mawr or Swarthmore, also see Dickinson or Gettysburg -- or both.  Just make sure you get the safeties in the mix.  And, actually, this is my strongest piece of advice: don't waste energy venting about the school counselor.  Work around her as you can -- DD is already doing a good job of that.  Honestly, I spent way too much time fretting about the counselor one of my kids had, and you know, he ignored all the craziness on her part, got into his first-choice school and moved on.  Who know?  Maybe she wrote him a great recommendation; maybe not, but in any case, he didn't waste time on her.  A good life lesson for him -- and for his worrisome mom.  -             [/quote]

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