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[quote=Anonymous]I asked this question on the College forum about a year ago. DC is at a large public with overwhelmed counselors. (DC and sibling have also been in private schools, which is why I come here, before anyone jumps on me.) My biggest concerns were that (1) things had changed so much since our day that we wouldn't be able to help DC figure out a realistic set of schools to apply to, or (2) that we'd miss something key like SAT subject tests.

The answer I got was that counselors can be helpful to families where communication is breaking down under all the stress. DC is refusing to focus, or DC insists on applying only to HYP, and such.

You can do this without a private counselor - we did. You just need to do your own research so you have realistic expectations and understand new requirements (those SAT subject tests again). Going it alone worked for us - DC got into DC's first choice, an ivy (lots of credit due to DC for great grades and ECs). If you start spring of junior year (about now...) you can figure out the lay of the land on College Confidential and Naviance. That way, you can use these confidentially, so to speak. Instead of spending a panicky night before some deadline, you can gradually, over the summer, help DC consider different colleges and weigh various options. The trick is being all ready to help when DC is finally ready to focus ;)

Go to collegeconfidential.com and read the recent "results" threads for the various colleges, to see who gets into and who is rejected from different colleges. Go on Naviance (if you have it) to see who got in from your school and with what GPA and SAT (Naviance works best if you also know who was recruited for athletics or had other hooks, which Naviance won't tell you). Read books about admissions, maybe starting with the hilarious, but helpful, Crazy U by a local reporter. Honestly, a college counselor is unlikely to have better info than this, unless they actually worked in admissions in your first choice school very recently.
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