Word of mouth in the right circles. The best individual counselors get booked quietly via word of mouth in my town.

Don't bother with the certificates.

This is an industry like selling real estate or being a headhunter--connections matter a lot and there are no barriers to entry if you are a fast learner, and know enough and they feel comfortable with you. People don't want to hear that, but it's true.

Anonymous wrote:You need to complete the UCLA college counseling certificate and join the IECA organization before you think about charging.

But honestly, the world doesn’t need more independent counselors helping rich people. You could make a HUGE difference by volunteering to help at a Boys and Girls club or even an essay workshop at a high school without as many resources. Call the counseling office at Justice and offer to volunteer.

This. and realizing you are competing against counselors who have actually served time in elite school admissions.

Anonymous wrote:You need to complete the UCLA college counseling certificate and join the IECA organization before you think about charging.

But honestly, the world doesn’t need more independent counselors helping rich people. You could make a HUGE difference by volunteering to help at a Boys and Girls club or even an essay workshop at a high school without as many resources. Call the counseling office at Justice and offer to volunteer.

+1 My cousin did the UCLA certificate program and has a pretty upscale college counseling business in NYC.

Anonymous wrote:You need to complete the UCLA college counseling certificate and join the IECA organization before you think about charging.

But honestly, the world doesn’t need more independent counselors helping rich people. You could make a HUGE difference by volunteering to help at a Boys and Girls club or even an essay workshop at a high school without as many resources. Call the counseling office at Justice and offer to volunteer.

+ 1

Anonymous wrote:You need to complete the UCLA college counseling certificate and join the IECA organization before you think about charging.

But honestly, the world doesn’t need more independent counselors helping rich people. You could make a HUGE difference by volunteering to help at a Boys and Girls club or even an essay workshop at a high school without as many resources. Call the counseling office at Justice and offer to volunteer.

Those certificates are scams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm interested in helping less resourced kids, in a few years after I get #2 and #3 off, pro bono. I see how much DC1 gained from supportive teachers and family, and I wish the same for other kids in our community.

You could look into volunteering for an organization like ScholarMatch, which works with first-generation students:

https://www.scholarmatch.org/get-involved/volunteer-with-us/college-coach

Yep, I’m on my second year volunteering with ScholarMatch!

If you accept money ask yourself how you’ll handle being blamed when kids don’t get in. Will you offer refunds? This can be a nasty business.

You need to complete the UCLA college counseling certificate and join the IECA organization before you think about charging.

But honestly, the world doesn’t need more independent counselors helping rich people. You could make a HUGE difference by volunteering to help at a Boys and Girls club or even an essay workshop at a high school without as many resources. Call the counseling office at Justice and offer to volunteer.

Honestly, just volunteer your time and help kids from under-resourced high schools whose families can't afford consultants. Good way to give back. Does your full time corporate job not pay enough? Plus I know so many moms who think they are college admissions experts after going through the process with their kids - the same way so many new mom writers think they can write a parenting book after they have kids. I am sure you are very good at advising and helping with essays - I am too, and it's been a great for volunteer work. I used to interview for my alma mater as well, and go into under resourced high schools to meet with the students about the college process. It's fulfilling work that really helps others.

Anonymous wrote:You can definitely get $150/hour and word of mouth should help. Or you could volunteer to speak at local school PTA meetings, which will get you exposure and clients.

OP here. Thanks! This is helpful--The kids I currently work with (friends' kids) for free are pretty involved in travel sports and church so I think they would definitely spread the word in those circles. Most of them are really happy with the experience and their outcomes.

You can definitely get $150/hour and word of mouth should help. Or you could volunteer to speak at local school PTA meetings, which will get you exposure and clients.

Anonymous wrote:I'm interested in helping less resourced kids, in a few years after I get #2 and #3 off, pro bono. I see how much DC1 gained from supportive teachers and family, and I wish the same for other kids in our community.

You could look into volunteering for an organization like ScholarMatch, which works with first-generation students:

https://www.scholarmatch.org/get-involved/volunteer-with-us/college-coach

I'd be interested to hear what people think in terms of how much to charge.

I'm interested in helping less resourced kids, in a few years after I get #2 and #3 off, pro bono. I see how much DC1 gained from supportive teachers and family, and I wish the same for other kids in our community.

Also, what is a reasonable price to charge in Northern Virginia? Again, I'm not interested in tippy-top premium pricing to "package" kids over 4 years--I'm more interested in just working with seniors during the application process.

I've been helping friends' kids with essay writing, preparing applications, interview preparation, selecting schools to apply to, and choosing schools for a few years and I find it really rewarding.

I also mentor undergrads through the college I attended (it's a HYPSM school), and I used to do admissions interviews (but stopped because of possible conflict of interest).

I have a full-time corporate job but this is something I truly enjoy and I think I am pretty good at (at this point, I've pretty much memorized the Virginia Tech essay prompts).

Does anyone have ideas on how to turn this into an organized side hustle? I'm not interested in charging tippy-top dollar or having employees but rather having a small client list each year that I would work with personally.