OK, I'll name names. We used Kelly Fraser at Green Apple. We thought it was worth it. I don't have experience with the others at her company so can't comment. The essay help was critical. With her and the essay counselor's guidance, our DS, who was kind of middle of the road at a Big 3, was able to think hard about the Common app essays and the supplementals write some really strong essays that highlighted some of his interesting and unusual EC's. The coached him to think about it in ways he wouldn't have and had insights we did not.

He was miraculously accepted everywhere (except one safety). For his younger sibling - they probably would have been ok without a college counselor, but it was enormously helpful in deciding strategy for ED/EA.

It's pricey, but the CO at our school is not great (yes, I know, what are we paying for at private but that is neither here nor there).

Hired Prep matters for test prep and essay help (i.e. nagging). College list was generated with private school counselor input and seemed reasonable. Test scores were good. DD1 in T15 and DD2 in T50, fwiw

I was on my DC#1's back all summer into senior year about college. They hated it. DC now in college still talks about how annoyed they were.

I should've hired a college counselor. I didn't think we needed one (DC is very high stats), but I'm not that well versed on college admissions these days (I went to a CA state school).

I'm hiring one for DC#2 who doesn't have high stats, and we are already butting heads regarding the college list.

Anonymous wrote:I’m also looking for ideas.

Willing to pay significant $$$ but need help with curating a good applicant narrative; ideas for summer internship for my current junior and help getting junior’s research published in area of study. Also, need help with activities list to see what else might need to be supplemented.

Aiming for T25 privates. Full pay.

Are the names mentioned here reputable and will they help with all of this for a junior?

Make sure the counselor you hire does that. We hired one who gave us the impression she did, but it became obvious her approach was to ‘work with students as they are.’ Which is fine. But disappointing if you were hoping to find someone who will help build a profile!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any names or referrals for companies or counselors?

We tried to do it on our own for first child (too stressful plus SN). We hired Richard Montauk for no. 2. It went very well. Paid by the hour. Total was about $3500. Well worth it and same child is now using him for grad school applications. I found him by his Amazon author page (he's written a number of books about admissions). He works long distance. I don't know where he lives but DC loved him and the process went much better for us without mom and dad nagging

Aaaand…there it is. Folks, be skeptical of any name that just “happens” to pop up again and again and again, especially when so many of the posts have the whiff of inauthenticity.

I second this. Was not happy with interaction and find it creepy that this name keeps popping up.

Some recs here for those looking.

50k - Northwestern, UChicago, Stanford, Princeton, Cornell
80k - MIT, Harvard

Give the counselor 50-80k minimum. They hand it off to the Ivies admission offices.
That’s why IvyWise/private schools/etc charge so much.

How do you think kids with the exact same stats as other kids get in? They have some special scent?

It’s called the scent of money, honey.

We were happy with the company “empowerly”.

Anonymous wrote:college counselor was me!

I listened to every episode of Your College Bound Kid for about 3 years - which is a lot~ and felt pretty knowledgable.

two kids, top 20 schools. I will say both kids are good about time management. I can see how outsourcing this would make sense when you have to nag a lot

Another YCKB listener here but we needed a counselor as a buffer between parents and teen.
What the investment in listening to podcasts did was it allowed us to get a better sense in selecting counselor.

college counselor was me!

I listened to every episode of Your College Bound Kid for about 3 years - which is a lot~ and felt pretty knowledgable.

two kids, top 20 schools. I will say both kids are good about time management. I can see how outsourcing this would make sense when you have to nag a lot

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do I find reputable ones? Witg good track records?

I’m also hearing the “good ones” are about 50-75,000 a year. Ones like IvyWise; IvyCoach; Crimson etc.

https://thecollegeinvestor.com/43949/ivywise-review/

Where does this data come from? Is it self reported?

https://thecollegeinvestor.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/image1.png

It wasn’t just a waste of money, also a waste of time. It’s our first one and I regretted deeply.

Anonymous wrote:How do I find reputable ones? Witg good track records?

I’m also hearing the “good ones” are about 50-75,000 a year. Ones like IvyWise; IvyCoach; Crimson etc.

https://thecollegeinvestor.com/43949/ivywise-review/

I’m also looking for ideas.

Willing to pay significant $$$ but need help with curating a good applicant narrative; ideas for summer internship for my current junior and help getting junior’s research published in area of study. Also, need help with activities list to see what else might need to be supplemented.

Aiming for T25 privates. Full pay.

Are the names mentioned here reputable and will they help with all of this for a junior?