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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]No one else??[/quote]

My friend hired someone for her 11th grader because both parents work long hours and prefer to outsource this to reduce conflict in the home. 
My other friend hired someone just to help with essays for her 12th grader. Student in question has received top tier early action college acceptances so far. 
Neither myself nor any of my other friends hired college counselors, but we all hired tutors.

This question is often asked on DCUM, but in general people will steer you away, explaining it's not worth the money. [b]I think if you really want to maximize a college counselor, you need to hire one to plot high school trajectory, starting in 9th grade (so hire in 8th grade when it's time to choose courses).[/b] I considered this for my younger kid, but ultimately I think we'll go without, just like for the first kid.

[/quote]

If we had to do all over again, we may have done a variation of this: hire someone when in 8th grade to discuss the college process, DCs' interests at that time, and considerations (e.g., curriculum, ECs, etc). Then let it go for the next couple of years, then probably reengage sophomore spring/summer, mainly to discuss ACT/SAT and figure out a test schedule. Then again near end of junior year to outline essay schedule for summer as well as discuss dis/likes of schools, etc. with the goal of having the common app essay finished, a near final draft of school list in hand, possibly near completion of ED/EA essays if going that route, and an application timeline for the fall.

One of our DCs didn't need it, but the other one could've used more structure than only starting with an essay coach the summer before senior fall. If at all possible, great to get the tests done by junior spring. We also lucked out here: DC1 nailed a great ACT score, then tried to raise to a 36 on one more test. Didn't work but was fine with the 35. DC2 we assumed would need to take 2-3 times to get above 30 so the first round was considered a practice test in order to get a feel for the conditions, pacing, etc. Landed a 34 and wisely announced they were done as nearly all the schools DC was considering placed more emphasis on GPA over test scores. So back to the books for that DC.[/quote]

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