Private College Counseling Advice?

[somersmom]

My son is going into junior year of HS - he's a great student, especially in math and science. I'm thinking of getting some private help on the college admissions process - not those $40K "high-end" consultants, but perhaps through Stanley Kaplan. My husband and I both work full-time, and his HS guidance counselor is good but spread very thin.

Stanley Kaplan's services sound good, and are more affordable than others I've looked into (up to about $2K, vs. $4K-plus, which is beyond our budget).

Has anyone had any experiences good or bad with Kaplan or other similarly priced private college counseling services?

[ingerp]

All I'd say is there is SOOOOO much information available on the web and in books. I spent a *lot* of time this past year (my oldest just graduated high school) and feel like I got a pretty good handle on things. This site (awesome!), petersons.com or princetonreview.com for factual stuff, ctcl.com + the attendant book, Harvard Schmarvard, so many other books/opinions/. . . available <mostly> for free. I'd start there and see how it goes. (1) You really can do this on your own. (2) One of the greatest pieces of advice I read (in many places) is that there really is not the one perfect school for any kid. It matters much more what they do when they get there than where they go. Really.

[DHRBC07]

I went to a prestigious prep school and everyone used private counselors in addition to the school provided ones. I highly recommend it, even if you can do just one or two sessions so that they can double check your essays, do a practice interview, and assemble a reasonable list.

[Consolation]

The kids who used private counselors around here had great success. Some parents are more knowledgeable than others. Even if the parents are completely up to speed, my observation is that kids will take advice from someone who is NOT their parent much more readily.

It's important that the counselor be someone who is sympatico with your kid, though.