If you are at a private high school, make your kid befriend the college counseling office.

Anonymous wrote:My kid is rising senior at T25. We did use one (national company) probably for FOMO mentality. In retrospect it wasn't that helpful. I'm sure they have some benefits like keeping your kid on a schedule and making them really think about what kind of college they want but nothing really that you couldn't do yourselves if your diligent and organized. These companies often prey on your fear and make you feel like your kid is going to lose out if you don't use them. Why else would so many college consultants have "Ivy" in their name? Also, my sense is that they tend to undersell your kid so that you're not upset when your kid does not get into their dream school. I can see international applicants using them as they may not be so familiar with US colleges and admissions but save your money if you're domestic.

I always wonder about that. They need good word of mouth. Hard to be rational in this process, so I’d also have to think they undersell to avoid upset parents.

My kid is rising senior at T25. We did use one (national company) probably for FOMO mentality. In retrospect it wasn't that helpful. I'm sure they have some benefits like keeping your kid on a schedule and making them really think about what kind of college they want but nothing really that you couldn't do yourselves if your diligent and organized. These companies often prey on your fear and make you feel like your kid is going to lose out if you don't use them. Why else would so many college consultants have "Ivy" in their name? Also, my sense is that they tend to undersell your kid so that you're not upset when your kid does not get into their dream school. I can see international applicants using them as they may not be so familiar with US colleges and admissions but save your money if you're domestic.

The better question:

who are the consultants to avoid/that you had a horrible experience with.

Anonymous wrote:I think it's mostly your kids. If they have it, they have it.

A lot of posts here reporting it's a waste, but I think mostly it's just mediocre kids. It's like you need ingredients to cook a dish. If you don't have the ingredients, then the chef can't make a dish out of it.

Just some food for thoughts.

I agree, but also if you have the ingredients it’s also a waste. If they have it, you can do it on your own.

Anonymous wrote:I know this question has probably been asked many times before, but I wanted to reach out specifically to parents whose kids were admitted to a top 25 schools, either in the most recent admissions cycle or in the past few years.

Which college consultant (if any) did you use, and how was your experience?

Please, no snark , just hoping for genuine, firsthand recommendations or feedback from those who have real information to share.

Thanks in advance!

InGenious prep. Overpriced for what you get. Basically, a proofreader and a someone to keep them to a timeline. DC had to come up with essay topic, write the essay, etc. and the consultant proofed and commented. Cost $7K for that service but DC did get in a top 20 so not going to look back and question our decision to use a consultant.

Anonymous wrote:Consultants are a waste of money. All the ones that are recommended on DCUM were basically cheaters whose suggestion to us was to cheat and lie our way into these colleges.

No, thank you. My kids aced all academic milestones and tests, and had excellent ECs. We accepted the fact that as an Asian-American male wanting to do CS, it will be a hard sell. Happy as to where he landed up. It was great from every metrix. And he interned at great places and got return offer from all.

Cheat and lie in what way?

Consultants are a waste of money. All the ones that are recommended on DCUM were basically cheaters whose suggestion to us was to cheat and lie our way into these colleges.

No, thank you. My kids aced all academic milestones and tests, and had excellent ECs. We accepted the fact that as an Asian-American male wanting to do CS, it will be a hard sell. Happy as to where he landed up. It was great from every metrix. And he interned at great places and got return offer from all.

I think it's mostly your kids. If they have it, they have it.

A lot of posts here reporting it's a waste, but I think mostly it's just mediocre kids. It's like you need ingredients to cook a dish. If you don't have the ingredients, then the chef can't make a dish out of it.

Just some food for thoughts.

My son did a lot of research on admissions. He is very motivated and is now at a top 20 school. No admissions counselor used

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. Unhooked.

No consultant (but I do listen to a lot of podcasts!)

This!

THIS THIS THIS.

Some of y'all acting like omg you are lying, you definitely used a consultant!

No, there's parents that really care about helping their kids have all of the requisite knowledge/information to make their application as strong as possible. Those parents essentially become admissions consultants.

If you don't, cool, that's your choice- but you're the one that's delusional and making bs excuses for what you have done (or didn't do).

We did use cheap-o extra "test prep" offered by our (not fancy) HS. My kid probably could have taught the class but it was helpful to have assignments and a forced time to study amidst a million other responsibilities.

Exactly! My first aha moments were listening to Inside the Yale Admissions Office while driving. Got me super curious and interested in college admissions in general. Mine did very well. I obviously don’t know, but I just don’t believe anyone paid could have offered any knowledge we didn’t already find ourselves.

Same but Admissions Beat for Dartmouth.....

We spent $15K on a private counselor for our oldest DD and she got into a mid-ranked LAC. From a results perspective, it was a waste. But it was somewhat helpful to have him look over essays and provide emotional support.

For our middle DD we did not use a private CC and she had much better results. She's at Northwestern. We relied more on her school based college counselor since we realized school based CC understands what her achievements in the context of her school are and what's possible for her.

For DS we will also rely on our own experience plus school based CC.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. Unhooked.

No consultant (but I do listen to a lot of podcasts!)

This!

THIS THIS THIS.

Some of y'all acting like omg you are lying, you definitely used a consultant!

No, there's parents that really care about helping their kids have all of the requisite knowledge/information to make their application as strong as possible. Those parents essentially become admissions consultants.

If you don't, cool, that's your choice- but you're the one that's delusional and making bs excuses for what you have done (or didn't do).

We did use cheap-o extra "test prep" offered by our (not fancy) HS. My kid probably could have taught the class but it was helpful to have assignments and a forced time to study amidst a million other responsibilities.

Exactly! My first aha moments were listening to Inside the Yale Admissions Office while driving. Got me super curious and interested in college admissions in general. Mine did very well. I obviously don’t know, but I just don’t believe anyone paid could have offered any knowledge we didn’t already find ourselves.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yale. Unhooked.

No consultant (but I do listen to a lot of podcasts!)

This!

THIS THIS THIS.

Some of y'all acting like omg you are lying, you definitely used a consultant!

No, there's parents that really care about helping their kids have all of the requisite knowledge/information to make their application as strong as possible. Those parents essentially become admissions consultants.

If you don't, cool, that's your choice- but you're the one that's delusional and making bs excuses for what you have done (or didn't do).

We did use cheap-o extra "test prep" offered by our (not fancy) HS. My kid probably could have taught the class but it was helpful to have assignments and a forced time to study amidst a million other responsibilities.

T25?

Anonymous wrote:Yale. Unhooked.

No consultant (but I do listen to a lot of podcasts!)

This!

THIS THIS THIS.

Some of y'all acting like omg you are lying, you definitely used a consultant!

No, there's parents that really care about helping their kids have all of the requisite knowledge/information to make their application as strong as possible. Those parents essentially become admissions consultants.

If you don't, cool, that's your choice- but you're the one that's delusional and making bs excuses for what you have done (or didn't do).

We did use cheap-o extra "test prep" offered by our (not fancy) HS. My kid probably could have taught the class but it was helpful to have assignments and a forced time to study amidst a million other responsibilities.