Ours was of great help managing the essay process which is a huge project. I think this part would be of great value for any applicant.

We also asked her advice on course selection a few times. This part I feel is probably of more value for a kid who will NOT be in the top 10%, not registering for the very top classes in every subject, and needs more nuanced advice about how to spend their time/energy.

stay away from Jodi Siegel unless you want to pay someone to do the opposite of help. saying this to warn others.

Depends on what you and your child's strengths and weaknesses are.

I write for a living, so we won't be seeking any essay help for either kid. We've been down the writing tutor road and it's painful to watch these tutors dance around feedback that I feel comfortable being frank about. At this point my kids know I'm going to tear their essay apart and it's welcomed.

If you can't provide that kind of support, 100% get a writing tutor and do it early on so that they have time to skill build.

We do however have a kid that is lost beyond my abilities and they need a 3rd party to provide a reality check and guidance. We're hoping they will work on lists together and find area's of improvement that will have the biggest impact. We think it's more important to get a counselor for our child with the lower stats, the other student will land just fine with the school's GC.

We considered one for course selection, but we found talking to other parents- parents of older students, had the best insights.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Areas where I think we could use expert guidance
Course selection
Summer activities
Curating a list
Drafting/editing essays

Anything else we should consider in this process? Also what type of cost is associated with counselors? I've heard some crazy high numbers which would be hard to swing on top of tuition.

You are right that by the time you start talking with the school guidance counselor the path is largely set. However, you can do some of the footwork yourself unless your kid has a specialized interest like applying for musical theatre in college.

Speak to parents of seniors now that the college dust has settled and instead of asking for specific names of outside counselors ask what things they think was helpful in the college process/outcome and what things if they knew then what they know now they would have done differently. I spoke to two senior parents that I knew well enough from activities / common middle school etc. and they let me know what I could expect from guidance office and where I needed to do legwork. One also gave me the suggestion to have my kid get involved in leadership outside of the school - the time commitment was bigger than the in school clubs but the experience had been amazing. I did my own legwork for the summer programs, based on cost, timing, my kid’s interests and the school being someplace on the potential list. Not expecting any boost for getting in, but to see if they liked the campus and the subject matter and also to demonstrate interest in both the school and topic. We did hire someone for the essay brainstorm and topic for one because we knew between guidance office and this being our second time, we didn’t need more than that.

We thought this but found mid-10th grade it was immensely helpful to talk to someone about course selection, essays, ECs. They sort of redirected a few things for the better which in some cases we knew already but needed confirmation and in other cases it was news to us, but welcome news.

For me, I was worried that the outside /full service college counselor, would be like working with a personal shopper at a high end store - going for full price options without consideration of costs. If I planned to pay full price for two overlapping in college and ED was part of the application strategy, I probably would have pursued it.

Now there are some less expensive, packaged service that could include suggestions for activities, classes etc, and if it costs the same whether you start as a rising senior or rising sophomore, that could be worth it in my situation but you would need to weigh in about the list if looking for schools with merit/not only need based aid or that are OOS or out of country options that are less expensive than private 80K plus/year.

You’re paying big money for that in-house counseling with way more attention/expertise.

No need to pay for even more.

Course selection: take the most rigorous classes that your student can handle
Summer activities: activities that are free and/or competitive look better, but anything can feed/introduce an interest and/or earn money
List: You don't need to start making a list until the second half of junior year. In the meantime, go to some local schools that are big/small/urban/suburban/rural and see what your child likes
Essay: No need to work on that until the summer before senior year

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Areas where I think we could use expert guidance
Course selection
Summer activities
Curating a list
Drafting/editing essays

Anything else we should consider in this process? Also what type of cost is associated with counselors? I've heard some crazy high numbers which would be hard to swing on top of tuition.

You are right that by the time you start talking with the school guidance counselor the path is largely set. However, you can do some of the footwork yourself unless your kid has a specialized interest like applying for musical theatre in college.

Speak to parents of seniors now that the college dust has settled and instead of asking for specific names of outside counselors ask what things they think was helpful in the college process/outcome and what things if they knew then what they know now they would have done differently. I spoke to two senior parents that I knew well enough from activities / common middle school etc. and they let me know what I could expect from guidance office and where I needed to do legwork. One also gave me the suggestion to have my kid get involved in leadership outside of the school - the time commitment was bigger than the in school clubs but the experience had been amazing. I did my own legwork for the summer programs, based on cost, timing, my kid’s interests and the school being someplace on the potential list. Not expecting any boost for getting in, but to see if they liked the campus and the subject matter and also to demonstrate interest in both the school and topic. We did hire someone for the essay brainstorm and topic for one because we knew between guidance office and this being our second time, we didn’t need more than that.

We thought this but found mid-10th grade it was immensely helpful to talk to someone about course selection, essays, ECs. They sort of redirected a few things for the better which in some cases we knew already but needed confirmation and in other cases it was news to us, but welcome news.

Our family used a private college counselor for both our unhooked kids. I agree that it makes sense to talk to parents of seniors to get their take. Even at the most well-regarded private schools, the college counseling differs. It was worth the money to find outside help but it might not be the case for everyone. Both kids are now at T10 schools. Obviously they had the stats, but I think the private counselors were better at helping them present those accomplishments in a way that resonated with admissions officers. The school counselors didn't have time to help in that same way.

Anonymous wrote:

Areas where I think we could use expert guidance
Course selection
Summer activities
Curating a list
Drafting/editing essays

Anything else we should consider in this process? Also what type of cost is associated with counselors? I've heard some crazy high numbers which would be hard to swing on top of tuition.

You are right that by the time you start talking with the school guidance counselor the path is largely set. However, you can do some of the footwork yourself unless your kid has a specialized interest like applying for musical theatre in college.

Speak to parents of seniors now that the college dust has settled and instead of asking for specific names of outside counselors ask what things they think was helpful in the college process/outcome and what things if they knew then what they know now they would have done differently. I spoke to two senior parents that I knew well enough from activities / common middle school etc. and they let me know what I could expect from guidance office and where I needed to do legwork. One also gave me the suggestion to have my kid get involved in leadership outside of the school - the time commitment was bigger than the in school clubs but the experience had been amazing. I did my own legwork for the summer programs, based on cost, timing, my kid’s interests and the school being someplace on the potential list. Not expecting any boost for getting in, but to see if they liked the campus and the subject matter and also to demonstrate interest in both the school and topic. We did hire someone for the essay brainstorm and topic for one because we knew between guidance office and this being our second time, we didn’t need more than that.

Other than the things on your list OP they can be helpful curating your kid's EC's and volunteer time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:School counselor is not enough, unless you have a perfect stats and very dynamic kid.

False

Obvs this is broad. There are a lot of schools and a lot of counselors. At our school the counselor provided no useful information. They did their job, but added no value. Every question was answered without any additional insight based on experience or knowledge, simple answers.

Anonymous wrote:School counselor is not enough, unless you have a perfect stats and very dynamic kid.

False

Anonymous wrote:I have children attending an independent school and starting to wonder if just using the school's college counselors will be enough in this new ever evolving college admissions landscape. If you utilized an outside counselor how did you go about findig them? Did you use someone local to where you are that has a good understanding of your local high school market, did you use a more national couselor or one located in a specific area of the country. I've tried asking other parents at our school and heard a mix of things and very few are willing to give actual names. One used a counselor specializing in the California Schools, another that specialized in Ivys, another more familiar with the local landscape and others that just used the school. However, I don't feel like we will be getting any attention until late Junior year which seems late in the game and would like guidance a little earlier in the process to make sure the most options remain open.

Areas where I think we could use expert guidance
Course selection
Summer activities
Curating a list
Drafting/editing essays

Anything else we should consider in this process? Also what type of cost is associated with counselors? I've heard some crazy high numbers which would be hard to swing on top of tuition.

School college counselor at an independent/private school that sends a decent proportion to T30s each yr (ie at least 25%) will be just fine. Both mine are at T10s and my most recent one got into multiple T10s unhooked. The school counseling knows what they are doing.
However: they do not pick courses. The teachers invite the kids into the hardest courses each spring. By the time college counseling really kicks off middle of 10th, the path to the highest-rigor 5-10% group is a ship already sailed. Unhooked kids have to be in that rigor group or they dont get into T10s from our school(and even in that group less than half the kids do).
Private college counseling is a waste of $ for the top kids

School counselor is not enough, unless you have a perfect stats and very dynamic kid.

I have children attending an independent school and starting to wonder if just using the school's college counselors will be enough in this new ever evolving college admissions landscape. If you utilized an outside counselor how did you go about findig them? Did you use someone local to where you are that has a good understanding of your local high school market, did you use a more national couselor or one located in a specific area of the country. I've tried asking other parents at our school and heard a mix of things and very few are willing to give actual names. One used a counselor specializing in the California Schools, another that specialized in Ivys, another more familiar with the local landscape and others that just used the school. However, I don't feel like we will be getting any attention until late Junior year which seems late in the game and would like guidance a little earlier in the process to make sure the most options remain open.

Areas where I think we could use expert guidance
Course selection
Summer activities
Curating a list
Drafting/editing essays

Anything else we should consider in this process? Also what type of cost is associated with counselors? I've heard some crazy high numbers which would be hard to swing on top of tuition.