At a non-DMV private. Like so many others here.

3.8 uw kid without private counselor:
Admitted to all early action/rolling schools - some with merit, including Michigan (other than USC).
Waiting on private RD T25 in March and a few SLACs.
Humanities major (undersubscribed major).
National awards.
Did have essay coaching /editing, but no private counseling.

Anonymous wrote:Our private counselor is the head of a company that works with students across the country. Point being is that he work with families at public and private high schools in various states and knows A LOT more than our counseling staff within our private school. He even mailed us copies of the books he and his partners authored on college admissions.

I'm already paying a lot of money for private school for the actual education, and so it was a no brainer to pay a little more for objective outside help.

Let me guess. His initials are RM

Our private counselor is the head of a company that works with students across the country. Point being is that he work with families at public and private high schools in various states and knows A LOT more than our counseling staff within our private school. He even mailed us copies of the books he and his partners authored on college admissions.

I'm already paying a lot of money for private school for the actual education, and so it was a no brainer to pay a little more for objective outside help.

one of the main benefits of a private counselor, imho, is that they put your dc on an accelerated timeline. Everything--apps, essays, common app admin stuff--all of that is completed earlier than what your private would have your dc do.

Getting things done early, earlier than you think is even necessary, is absolutely worth it.

Of course if your dc can do all of this on his or her own, go for it.

The organizational help you get from a counselor is worth it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is at a top private school in nyc and I know more kids who have private counselors in the good public schools than our school. I'm sure some of the super wealthy families have them, but our school counselors are really good. Also, the super wealthy have legacy plus donor status and got in early. Not sure why they need more help than that

um.. part of your fees includes that "private" school college counseling where they pretty much can hold a student's hand through the process since there aren't many students, whereas public school counselors have hundreds of students.

um, duh. that's what I was saying. others were saying 75% of kids at nyc private schools have counselors and I said, not at our school. it's not really needed. if that's okay with you

The kids where tons have them are places like Fieldston, Horace Mann, Collegiate and Trinity.

I doubt they "need them" either, but they aren't hurting for money so why not.

Untrue. We're at Fieldston and private CCs are not the norm in our school.

Like other private school parents on this thread, we didn't hire a private college counselor either.

At our private school (non-DMV), few of my friends are using private counsellors unless they fall into these exceptions:
1) recruited athlete candidate
2) neurodiverse or other learning issue profile
3) non-competitive student in terms of grades

The vast majority of strong students aren't using them in our private school community.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is at a top private school in nyc and I know more kids who have private counselors in the good public schools than our school. I'm sure some of the super wealthy families have them, but our school counselors are really good. Also, the super wealthy have legacy plus donor status and got in early. Not sure why they need more help than that

um.. part of your fees includes that "private" school college counseling where they pretty much can hold a student's hand through the process since there aren't many students, whereas public school counselors have hundreds of students.

um, duh. that's what I was saying. others were saying 75% of kids at nyc private schools have counselors and I said, not at our school. it's not really needed. if that's okay with you

? no, it isn't ok with me. /s ??? WTF is that about.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is at a top private school in nyc and I know more kids who have private counselors in the good public schools than our school. I'm sure some of the super wealthy families have them, but our school counselors are really good. Also, the super wealthy have legacy plus donor status and got in early. Not sure why they need more help than that

um.. part of your fees includes that "private" school college counseling where they pretty much can hold a student's hand through the process since there aren't many students, whereas public school counselors have hundreds of students.

um, duh. that's what I was saying. others were saying 75% of kids at nyc private schools have counselors and I said, not at our school. it's not really needed. if that's okay with you

The kids where tons have them are places like Fieldston, Horace Mann, Collegiate and Trinity.

I doubt they "need them" either, but they aren't hurting for money so why not.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is at a top private school in nyc and I know more kids who have private counselors in the good public schools than our school. I'm sure some of the super wealthy families have them, but our school counselors are really good. Also, the super wealthy have legacy plus donor status and got in early. Not sure why they need more help than that

um.. part of your fees includes that "private" school college counseling where they pretty much can hold a student's hand through the process since there aren't many students, whereas public school counselors have hundreds of students.

um, duh. that's what I was saying. others were saying 75% of kids at nyc private schools have counselors and I said, not at our school. it's not really needed. if that's okay with you

My DD is at a DMV private and we did not hire a private college counselor, although she reports that several of her friends have them. DD is very self-organized around deadlines, so that was not an issue, and the school's college counselor provided good/tough/helpful feedback on essays. List creation was largely through family conversations and input from the college counselor. So far DD -- 3.9 UW, test optional, good but not amazing ECs and a very strong writer -- has been accepted at all of her EA and rolling admission schools, which included targets as well as safeties. She has a couple of reaches in RD that she has yet to hear from, but as of now she has excellent choices with good merit aid in some cases. I am glad we did not use a private college counselor -- we don't really have that money (tuition is enough of a stretch) and I think the final results would have been very similar.

We are at a top 5 in the dmv. At our school the kids who have outside help seem to be the ones really looking to play sports at a high level who want an offer junior year and kids with severe ADHD (they all seem to use the same cc firm). Otherwise we’ve seen a few families who ended up getting one at the end of junior year bc they were mad at the school list from the school cc. They all basically ended up at the same schools the cc was recommending.

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely unnecessary and waste of money, especially if DC a good writer.

I've been a college admissions reader, and I'll note that lots of good writers don't know how to write effective college essays.

It was worth it for us for more straightforward advice on course selection, summer opportunities, and keeping kid on schedule.

Anonymous wrote:DC is at a top private school in nyc and I know more kids who have private counselors in the good public schools than our school. I'm sure some of the super wealthy families have them, but our school counselors are really good. Also, the super wealthy have legacy plus donor status and got in early. Not sure why they need more help than that

um.. part of your fees includes that "private" school college counseling where they pretty much can hold a student's hand through the process since there aren't many students, whereas public school counselors have hundreds of students.

Three