Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 00:23     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:I found 2 excellent essay coaches from a Facebook group called College Talk. I set up a few calls and hired the people who i thought were a good fit for my kid. They were helpful, kind, patient and experienced. In that Facebook group, there are also certified independent college counselors who chime in to answer questions, and I found that helpful as well, although were looking specifically for essay support vs full college counseling. Be sure to have mutually agreed upon and clear expectations before you hire anyone to avoid misunderstanding and disappointment.


+1

We found our essay coach through College Talk too. 10/10 experience.
Anonymous
Post 02/10/2026 00:02     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
I found 2 excellent essay coaches from a Facebook group called College Talk. I set up a few calls and hired the people who i thought were a good fit for my kid. They were helpful, kind, patient and experienced. In that Facebook group, there are also certified independent college counselors who chime in to answer questions, and I found that helpful as well, although were looking specifically for essay support vs full college counseling. Be sure to have mutually agreed upon and clear expectations before you hire anyone to avoid misunderstanding and disappointment.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 23:33     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're looking for our rising 9th. Ranges anywhere from the low $20s to some that are close to $120.


NP here. Can you share some of the names/companies? Is there one you like best? I would also be looking for starting in 9th.


TopTier
Empowerly
IvyWise
PathIvy
Crimson
Solomon
Admittedly

The one I was most impressed with was TopTier and their suite of services, as well as the counselor they assigned to our kid and their overall screening process, which I liked the best. If we had the money ($118K), it would be an easy choice for us! We ended up going with another option on the list that was more affordable. The three I liked the most were TopTier, Crimson, and IvyWise.


I don't want big name national counseling firms where you don't know who you'll get. I want solo essay editors and senior year counselors.


Solo essay editors don't have websites and publicity for a reason. It's about being referred and knowing people. There are tons of great ones, like the one that worked with my DS who is at HYP now, but parents typically don't share names online to not overwhelm these solo essay coaches.


So how do you find them? I don't know anyone to ask.
What's the normal amount to pay for5-10 reach schools and all the attendant essays.


Ask parents at your DC's school; it's typically easier within private schools to get a good answer. My work friends had also gone through this process and some had hired essay coaches who also serve as academic advisors/tutors/planners for their children.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 23:17     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're looking for our rising 9th. Ranges anywhere from the low $20s to some that are close to $120.


NP here. Can you share some of the names/companies? Is there one you like best? I would also be looking for starting in 9th.


TopTier
Empowerly
IvyWise
PathIvy
Crimson
Solomon
Admittedly

The one I was most impressed with was TopTier and their suite of services, as well as the counselor they assigned to our kid and their overall screening process, which I liked the best. If we had the money ($118K), it would be an easy choice for us! We ended up going with another option on the list that was more affordable. The three I liked the most were TopTier, Crimson, and IvyWise.


I don't want big name national counseling firms where you don't know who you'll get. I want solo essay editors and senior year counselors.


Solo essay editors don't have websites and publicity for a reason. It's about being referred and knowing people. There are tons of great ones, like the one that worked with my DS who is at HYP now, but parents typically don't share names online to not overwhelm these solo essay coaches.


So how do you find them? I don't know anyone to ask.
What's the normal amount to pay for5-10 reach schools and all the attendant essays.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 23:09     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're looking for our rising 9th. Ranges anywhere from the low $20s to some that are close to $120.


NP here. Can you share some of the names/companies? Is there one you like best? I would also be looking for starting in 9th.


TopTier
Empowerly
IvyWise
PathIvy
Crimson
Solomon
Admittedly

The one I was most impressed with was TopTier and their suite of services, as well as the counselor they assigned to our kid and their overall screening process, which I liked the best. If we had the money ($118K), it would be an easy choice for us! We ended up going with another option on the list that was more affordable. The three I liked the most were TopTier, Crimson, and IvyWise.


I don't want big name national counseling firms where you don't know who you'll get. I want solo essay editors and senior year counselors.


Solo essay editors don't have websites and publicity for a reason. It's about being referred and knowing people. There are tons of great ones, like the one that worked with my DS who is at HYP now, but parents typically don't share names online to not overwhelm these solo essay coaches.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 23:05     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:OP, we used Jordan Kanarek. There are lots of posts on this forum that bash IECs, and that’s fine — there are pros and cons. But for us at least he was worth every penny. Our DC attends a NoVa private. They don’t start college counseling there until 11th in most respects, and for a lot of reasons we decided we needed a gentle but earlier start for our DC.

So beginning in the summer of 9th and through today, we have paid around $8500. This includes everything from guidance on course selection and ECs to list building (multiple rounds and criteria analysis) to visit reviews/debriefs to essays (multiple rounds/edits) to coordinating LORs to application strategy. It also includes counseling calls with my DC as well as calls/emails/texts with us separately as parents. The end result was that we had a very successful application process and our DC is heading off to an excellent LAC that is really a great fit. Again, the whole Q of whether to use an IEC is very family specific, but for us it made sense. We really loved working with Jordan and cannot recommend him enough. He formed a real connection with our DC, provided hours of really smart and informed advice, and kept everything going on time. We found him by word of mouth but ironically through our own research too:


Jordan Kanarek
President, Kanarek Consulting
Partner, Collegewise
(P): 949-614-3192


Thanks for naming names! HERO!


I second that! I can not believe how many parents gatekeep who they used, even after their kid is in college. Keep em
Coming!
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 22:59     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're looking for our rising 9th. Ranges anywhere from the low $20s to some that are close to $120.


NP here. Can you share some of the names/companies? Is there one you like best? I would also be looking for starting in 9th.


TopTier
Empowerly
IvyWise
PathIvy
Crimson
Solomon
Admittedly

The one I was most impressed with was TopTier and their suite of services, as well as the counselor they assigned to our kid and their overall screening process, which I liked the best. If we had the money ($118K), it would be an easy choice for us! We ended up going with another option on the list that was more affordable. The three I liked the most were TopTier, Crimson, and IvyWise.


I don't want big name national counseling firms where you don't know who you'll get. I want solo essay editors and senior year counselors.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 22:01     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
College Essay Guy - got through a lot of essays in a very efficient way. A big plus is they brought a ton of college specific knowledge on all of the T20 schools we applied and it is an immense time saver.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 20:57     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're looking for our rising 9th. Ranges anywhere from the low $20s to some that are close to $120.


Per hour?


20K to 120K
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 20:56     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Some of these numbers are insane. We paid $150/hour, one kid met 4 times, so $600 (curate list, review essays), the other needed more organizational help, so maybe 15 hours, $2250.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 20:55     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:We're looking for our rising 9th. Ranges anywhere from the low $20s to some that are close to $120.


NP here. Can you share some of the names/companies? Is there one you like best? I would also be looking for starting in 9th.


TopTier
Empowerly
IvyWise
PathIvy
Crimson
Solomon
Admittedly

The one I was most impressed with was TopTier and their suite of services, as well as the counselor they assigned to our kid and their overall screening process, which I liked the best. If we had the money ($118K), it would be an easy choice for us! We ended up going with another option on the list that was more affordable. The three I liked the most were TopTier, Crimson, and IvyWise.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 20:53     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:OP, we used Jordan Kanarek. There are lots of posts on this forum that bash IECs, and that’s fine — there are pros and cons. But for us at least he was worth every penny. Our DC attends a NoVa private. They don’t start college counseling there until 11th in most respects, and for a lot of reasons we decided we needed a gentle but earlier start for our DC.

So beginning in the summer of 9th and through today, we have paid around $8500. This includes everything from guidance on course selection and ECs to list building (multiple rounds and criteria analysis) to visit reviews/debriefs to essays (multiple rounds/edits) to coordinating LORs to application strategy. It also includes counseling calls with my DC as well as calls/emails/texts with us separately as parents. The end result was that we had a very successful application process and our DC is heading off to an excellent LAC that is really a great fit. Again, the whole Q of whether to use an IEC is very family specific, but for us it made sense. We really loved working with Jordan and cannot recommend him enough. He formed a real connection with our DC, provided hours of really smart and informed advice, and kept everything going on time. We found him by word of mouth but ironically through our own research too:


Jordan Kanarek
President, Kanarek Consulting
Partner, Collegewise
(P): 949-614-3192


Thanks for naming names! HERO!
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 20:35     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
OP, we used Jordan Kanarek. There are lots of posts on this forum that bash IECs, and that’s fine — there are pros and cons. But for us at least he was worth every penny. Our DC attends a NoVa private. They don’t start college counseling there until 11th in most respects, and for a lot of reasons we decided we needed a gentle but earlier start for our DC.

So beginning in the summer of 9th and through today, we have paid around $8500. This includes everything from guidance on course selection and ECs to list building (multiple rounds and criteria analysis) to visit reviews/debriefs to essays (multiple rounds/edits) to coordinating LORs to application strategy. It also includes counseling calls with my DC as well as calls/emails/texts with us separately as parents. The end result was that we had a very successful application process and our DC is heading off to an excellent LAC that is really a great fit. Again, the whole Q of whether to use an IEC is very family specific, but for us it made sense. We really loved working with Jordan and cannot recommend him enough. He formed a real connection with our DC, provided hours of really smart and informed advice, and kept everything going on time. We found him by word of mouth but ironically through our own research too:


Jordan Kanarek
President, Kanarek Consulting
Partner, Collegewise
(P): 949-614-3192
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 18:41     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:Ours was $8500, starting at end of sophomore year. Consultant is local to dc. I am gate keeping because she only takes a limited number of kids and word of mouth is sufficient to fill her roster. I have never seen her name mentioned here.


I understand that you won’t post her name but I’m curious what her experience is at this price point. Is she a former AO or does she have formal writing experience? A lot of counselors tout this and I’m wondering if it’s necessary.
Anonymous
Post 02/09/2026 18:38     Subject: Cost of private counselor?
Anonymous wrote:$0

Listened to a few select podcasts, agreed a family to allow an authentic pursuit of interests. Worked closely with our child’s freshman/sophomore advisor at private, and then the college counseling staff for junior/senior years.


Outstanding results. I seriously think this whole consultant field is a predatory scam playing on parental panic.


This. I paid at most a couple hundred for one offs with a counselor. You CAN do this yourself..DH and I both work. Two kids from NoVA public HS at a HYPSM.