Hiring a College Counselor?
nomood
101 replies12 discussionsRegistered User Posts: 113 Junior Member
Hi everyone,
I'm a rising senior, and my parents want to hire a college counselor to help me with college apps because they want me to go to an Ivy League school. I really don't have a problem with that, I'll take all the help I can get, but my only issue is that this counselor costs more than a year of instate tuition at UCLA.
My parents philosophy is that if they can afford it, then it's investing in my education and I should use the resources I have to create the best application I can. This is great and all, but I just think it's way too much money. I know that this counselor would help me a lot, I just can't personally justify the price even though my parents already have.
What should I do? I have until June 30th to either convince my parents that I don't need a counselor and save a LOT of money, or accept the fact that my parents are using their money to help advance my education.
22 replies I'm a rising senior, and my parents want to hire a college counselor to help me with college apps because they want me to go to an Ivy League school. I really don't have a problem with that, I'll take all the help I can get, but my only issue is that this counselor costs more than a year of instate tuition at UCLA.
My parents philosophy is that if they can afford it, then it's investing in my education and I should use the resources I have to create the best application I can. This is great and all, but I just think it's way too much money. I know that this counselor would help me a lot, I just can't personally justify the price even though my parents already have.
What should I do? I have until June 30th to either convince my parents that I don't need a counselor and save a LOT of money, or accept the fact that my parents are using their money to help advance my education.
Replies to: Hiring a College Counselor?
What, exactly, do you know about the track record for this specific counselor? Does the person have a lot of experience working with students from your high school who have an academic record like yours? If so, where were those students admitted in the past two or three years?
What would you want help with when applying? Making your list? Fine-tuning your essays?
And I love that they're so supportive, I just cant wrap my head around the fact that they're willing to drop so much money on something that I really could do on my own.
If they promise (or write misleading ads that imply) they can get you into a tippy top, run in the opposite direction.
Otoh, a good one will understand which colleges are the better targets. Maybe it's not Columbia.
If you believe you can be doing this on your own, you should be doing this, right now. Not waiting. You need to understand the flavor of a college (all your targets,) what matters to them and what not, the traits they want to see in you, how to convey that, etc.
A counselor getting 90% into Ivies is likely hogwash, unless those kids were superior, with outstanding/perfect full holistic records through hs, to begin with. Or, are in one of the exclusive prep schools that groom thier kids from day one of 9th. (Or sooner.)
Even so, I can't imagine 90%. Was it "Ivy" or "one of their top choices?" That latter is often misleading. It doesn't even mean a top college, it's a reworking of directions.
If you get a counselor, it should be the right one for you.
And not all charge exhorbitant fees, for just the application support.
So, I can pretty much assure you that, if this counselor is claiming that 90% of the kids they counseled went to an Ivy, AND they agree to work with you, they are scamming your parents out of $13,000. Based on your stats and profile, you are a pretty competitive applicant. However, there is absolutely no legal way anybody can make sure that 90% of all candidates like you will be accepted to an Ivy, or anything even remotely close to that percentage. For $13,000, there is no illegal way either.
If the counselor tells you that 90% of their clients are happy with the colleges which they ended up attending, that is something else.
In any case, with your profile, you do not need a counselor, unless you want some help in, as @happymomof1 wrote, fine-tuning essays, etc.
What you need to convince your parents is not that you don't need help, but that this consultant does not have a 90% chance of getting you an Ivy acceptance, and that they're wasting their money, if that's what they believe. It may be that they are misunderstanding the consultant (the consultant could have said something like "90% success rate in getting students in top colleges, including Ivies"), or that the consultant is scamming them.
Ask your parents what they think that a college counselor will do that will help you get into an Ivy league college. If there were a college counselor in California who legitimately had a 90% success rate at placing students in Ivy League colleges for $13,000, do they really think that rich entitled Southern California parents would be paying $300,000, and committing fraud, to get into USC?
If they really want to help you, then you should find somebody who will help you with writing. While a B+ in AP Lang Comp isn't a bad grade at all, it mans that a bit more work or writing will be a useful thing, not only for your college essay, but for your college life in general. I don't think that you actually NEED it, but, if they are insisting on paying money of something that will help your college, you may as well go with something like that.
And I actually got an a- this semester in AP Lang!!!! Really proud of myself
1) what services will you provide me (e.g essay writing; prep to take the ACT/SAT again to get a higher score)?
2) over what time period will you be providing me these services?
3) the Ivies are all different types of colleges, which ones will the counselor be steering me towards?
4) can we pay you hourly, not a lump sum for services?
5) you claim to have a 90% success rate for the ivies, how are you doing it specifically?
6) do you have 3 references for clients of yours?
7) if you are so sure I will get into an ivy, how about I pay you 50% of your fees upon acceptance?
While I'm a big proponent of good college counselors I would never pay a flat fee but only have used ones that have an hourly rate. $13,000 seems VERY cost prohibitive, especially this late in the game but to be honest with you, if your parents want to spend their money on this counselor I see very little downside to you as long as YOU have a good list of reach, match, and safety colleges on your college list and let them know that the odds are against you to get into an ivy without some kind of hook.
Good luck to you and remember this should be a fun and exciting time in your life and you have worked very hard on your academics in HS! Try to stay positive and think what wonderful opportunities you will have in college no matter where you end up.
She recommends to start as freshman or sophomore summer before junior year as the latest for the full pay.
It includes one on one coaching, an essay writing seminar with all her candidates and very close monitoring of applications, dates and requirements.
For rising senior candidates, she only offers the senior “cram” package.
It is only $2500 and offers all of the things below except the planning, class selection and narrowing choices etc.
In our case as an FYI for rising junior d at the time, basically told my val 1530 level rock star the reality of H’s and other too non ivy admissions and D left in tears.
It wasn’t to dissuade her or not help craft the h and other applications but the expectations were laid out accordingly.
There’s no ivy assurances for anyone outside of athlete recruits and z lister types.
This advisor mandates school visits in a wide swath of types and selectivity before discussing any schools.
The advisor has an incredible history of delivering well prepared applications and results. She does not deliver Ivy League.
To say otherwise is a lie.
What you are paying for is ridiculously expensive and sounds like they are taking advantage of your parent's generosity, naïveté, and love for you.
Ask around school. Do some google searching locally.
Only select a local advisor in your community that has a reputation to protect and verified experiences with people you know. Ask for some references.
It might help you with your parents to compare.
The prices and packages are right there to compare against what you’ve been shown.
Many of these services are t even the person who sells you the package.
The one we used, you don’t get an assistant or student with this person. It’s her and her alone. She does have a writing professor on staff to help lead the essay conversations and seminar.
I just think 13k for you at this time is outrageous.
There's a phrase attributed to P.T Barnum, but was used regularly by confidence men and hustlers back in the day..."There's a sucker born every minute." Times never change.
Anyone who has access to the UCs and top CSUs at instate tuition rates and passes for full pay at ANY Ivy really doesn't understand the whole game of opportunity, success and wealth creation. I guess it's their money to do with as they will, but if you get into a good UC or Cal Poly and they give you the difference of what you'd spend to go to a full pay private school, you'd be many millions ahead if you invested it at average stock market returns.
Not a big fan of this type of analysis. IMO, college is MUCH more than a monetary return on investment (ROI). If you really wanted to save money you could go to a community college, as a junior you transfer to your cheapest local university/college, live at home, never study abroad, never eat out, or join a club or sorority/fraternity, etc. and save and invest all of that money. As a ROI, probably a "good idea". As an enjoyable full college experience, a very bad idea. Remember you can lose money investing in the stock market (hello 2001, 2008) and your "$2,000,000" return will take 30+ years to accumulate, will be taxed (in most states both by the feds and state) and won't have the same purchasing power (inflation) as if you had that money in today's dollars. A degree and the education you get from a top college can never be taken away.