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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm the ADHD mom and I *wish* I had shared what I had known with a friend: Their son is graduating from a private high school on the west coast. The parents are educators and they have some money for college but also very real financial limitations. Their son was advised by the college advisor at his school to apply to a wide range of schools that... was heavy on out-of-state flagship public universities.

We all know where this is going, right? He got into some of the top programs in the country for his major -- and his parents had to tell him that he wouldn't be able to attend. Luckily they ended up with one (just one!) solid and affordable option, but WOW they got terrible advice from the school counselor, who was focused entirely on where he could get in and not at all on what they could afford.

My friend is kicking herself for not getting a second opinion and for so thoroughly trusting this highly-regarded private school professional. But just didn't know what she didn't know, and felt that she was already paying for this service and should have been in good hands.

Anyway, she didn't want to second guess a fellow educator, and I didn't want to drop unsolicited advice. But... man. Just because people get paid to do a professional job of things or have certain credentials really doesn't mean they know what tf they're doing, and that some of us couldn't really provide valuable service.

For what it's worth, I have a friend who does this on the west coast and does very well. SHe also got into it after her first two teens successfully (on their terms) went through the application process. She came at it from a background first in personal fitness coaching, and then in small business coaching. So while the knowledge base came later, she had a solid foundation of working with with clients to develop clarity on their own goals, priorities, challenges, etc. And because she has that experience and focus, and not just a tendency to default to some generic "what's best," people love working with her and her business is thriving. [/quote]

Look, with all due respect, sure you did a nice job with your kids, but it makes you an expert on nothing. Many people do a nice job with their kids. It’s all about economics. Recognize your privilege. Unless you’re talking about doing this for poor kids for free, you’re not adding anything of value that isn’t already there.[/quote]

With all due respect, my kids ARE poor kids! Not food-insecure poor, but Pell grant poor. Am I misunderstanding?(very possible!) What privilege you referring to?

Saying college counselors don't add anything of value is like saying fitness coaches don't add anything of value--because the information is out there. The thing is, there is a TON of information out there, even overwhelmingly so, and it's not actually intuitive to everyone to analyze the available info, evaluate their own circumstances ,and apply the information thoughtfully to their own situation--and THEN break that down into actionable steps and do the work of executing that plan over time without guidance.

Everyone is busy and many are overwhelmed -- whatever their financial circumstances. There are plenty of reasons people seek out support and benefit from it--though I, probably much like you, did not, and that was the right thing for our family.

That said, I would urge anyone contemplating doing this professionally to be entirely above board about your experience and what you bring to the table. It would certainly be wrong for me to hold myself out as an expert.

And also, unlike this paid private school professional, I could spot the issues with their list a mile away! And would never freaking advise a student from a middle class family on a budget to apply mostly to out of state flagships in the absence of some specific hope idea or plan.

Again this stuff is "common knowledge" among a certain subset of people. And a much larger group is entirely clueless and would like to hire someone to clue them in.

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