<p>I do my own taxes with Turbotax, and they are fairly complex. I wish we had the equivalent of Turbotax for college admissions! Wouldn’t it be great to just answer yes or no to every question, put in a few few numbers/etc. from forms, and be done? No essays with your taxes, too. </p>
<p>Really, though, taxes and college admissions are kind of apples and oranges. I do see MANY parents of my kids’ peers who are clueless about the college admissions process. Our GC will help them a lot once the kid gets into 11th grade/ fall of 12th grade year (independent private school), but if a parent wants their kid to be prepared for admission to an elite school, they either better spend a lot of time out here before that or hire some help. Every once in a while a “natural” emerges who doesn’t need any additional spit & polish to get in, but I think there are many kids who could be more competitive for admission with an earlier focus on college preparation. </p>
<p>While I think many parents out here would choose not to spend the money on a private GC (and I have not chosen to, I am a “do it yourselfer”), I don’t think it is an unreasonable question for the OP to ask.</p>
<p>Anyone with a reasonable degree of intelligence who wants to take the time to dig out the information. available here and elsewhere can navigate the college application process. </p>
<p>That’s not true for millions of people whose tax situation is more complicated than salary, mortgage, and a couple savings accounts. Anybody who owns a small business or who has dozens of other complicating factors and who doesn’t use a tax professional is either leaving money on the table or asking for trouble with the IRS, perhaps both. The tax code is thousands of pages. The case law interpreting that code is thousands more. </p>
<p>To imply that there is any correspondence at all simply beggars belief. And to imply that because somebody needs to hire a college counselor because the process is as complex as is tax accounting is utter nonsense.</p>
<p>annasdad - I could do my own presentation at work, make calls, set up meetings, getting lunch, drive, if I had the time, but I don’t. The key here is time. Just because someone hires a private college counselor doesn’t mean someone is not intelligent or couldn’t do it if given time, same with filing income taxes. </p>
<p>My guess is most people’s tax filing is probably pretty straight forward, without a lot of business gain/loss, or different corporate structures.</p>
<p>A private counselor can be a great help for some people, for instance LD students and for showcasing those students that didn’t have perfect grades or limited ECs. Otherwise, for most of us on here, it is not necessary.</p>
<p>Do I wish I had a counseling session or two when DS was an 8th grader? Yes, it would probably have mad a difference, as we would have entered national science comptetitions and we would have forced our school to allow him to take math classes at the local college. he would have been focusing on community service projects that were coordinated outside of school rather than as part of Key Club for higher profile. If a private counselor could have made him motivated to do SAT prep, that would have great too. </p>
<p>I think we are being really harsh here. </p>
<p>(As a tax professional, I also do not think applying to college is more complicated than the federal tax code. Nor are there as many annual changes to the process).</p>
<p>I am not saying college process is more complicated than tax code. What I am saying it is a process which could be made easier by working with a professional, similar to tax filing, house selling, or financial planning.</p>
<p>I’ll weigh in…the college application process itself has gotten more complicated over the years. I think it important to seek out information in a way that is useful and good for each family. If it’s here on a message board, or online elsewhere…and that works for you…then fine. BUT in my opinion that is the tip of the iceberg. We were fortunate to have good college advising for one child at our high school…and for the other we sought help from professionals in his field of study. That was our choice. Even with the child where we had good enough advising at school, we still had some guidance from a college advisor. Our choice…not everyone’s choice.</p>
<p>Re: complexity…Some would say that the financial aid process is more complicated than the tax filings. Financial aid applications include the need for accurate tax filings…step one. BUT families needing need based financial aid also should be aware of the FAFSA formula AND the variance in the different financial aid formula for schools. Reading a common data set for a college can be daunting until one really figures out what it’s saying. Maybe for some people this is “second nature” and very easy…but for many it’s a confusing set of numbers and %ages. Not understanding this is common…and does not mean the person doesn’t have the intelligence to figure it out…it just takes time. Some people wouldn’t even think to look at the common data set for a variety of schools.</p>
<p>I will say…just because something is EASY for one person doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily easy for another. Also…just because one person does something, doesn’t mean others must do it also.</p>
<p>We have done our own taxes, used tax prep software, and had an accountant do our taxes. It didn’t mean that one year we were brilliant and the next not. It also didn’t mean that our taxes were more or less complicated. It was simply personal choice.</p>
<p>Choosing a college counselor is personal choice. If a family wishes to do this…and it works for that family…than it is the right choice. If you feel like you can go it alone…go right ahead…that’s ok too…but don’t knock other people’s choices.</p>
I think that statement is applicable to our family, and maybe less to others. Due to the kind of school D2 is aiming for, where we live now, and due to the fact we are not really allowed to have very complicated financial situation, college process is more complicated for our family. It could very well be the other way around for other people. But nevertheless, it is easier to consult professionals sometimes.</p>
<p>@oldfort, the college process is actually relatively easy to figure out. I have purchased three books totaling $37 in order to understand the intricacies of the ivy league admissions process. What these books tell you is exactly what a private guidance counselor will tell you. In my free time I will look things up and construct my “strategy” of how I’m applying, which is simply applying and being who I am. If you need financial guidance you can rind books to make things simple. I purchased another book and got a job in order to help pay for college. Overall the college process is pretty simple if you read some books that will take only four five hours in total to read all of them. You should force your child to be responsible and take charge in the college process.
And no I did not get tutored for the ACT/SAT. I think tutors in general for students who do well in school is ridiculous. If you need to have a tutor for an honors/ap class then get out of the class because you aren’t suited for it. Those high level classes should be for those who can handle the material on their own. I have the drive to do well and spent an hour a day during the second half of junior year and got in the 99 percentile for the ACT. It was simple if you got a book to help you.
If you have special interests you can also purchase books or use the internet as a resource.
Overall private guidance counselors is a result of helicopter parents. The majority of kids don’t know how to do anything by themselves anymore, their parents help them with anything.</p>
<p>I spoke on the phone to a private college counselor one time-- I couldn’t have afforded her fee but she was clearly a thoughtful, intelligent person who had much more experience navigating the college process than I do, and had a lot to offer. She was recommended to me by someone who had paid that fee and was very glad he had. In the days when we went to college there were about the same number of seats at college and FAR fewer students competing for them, no common app, plenty of chance for a student to be interviewed, and thus to really speak for him or herself, at most schools. I did my application process entirely myself. Had my parents or GC or a teacher shown enough interest to so much as read my essay over before I sent it, or to explain to me that being on a waitlist doesn’t mean just sitting there waiting, I likely would have had better results. I am certainly helping my daughter–by studying this website, reading what I can, talking to people who’ve been through it, etc. I don’t feel like we need a counselor but some people feel differently and if they get good results, good for them. </p>
<p>So-- to the OP-- I think word of mouth is just about the only way to choose. That and a good solid talk with the counselor. </p>
<p>To those who believe a kid can or should get through this on his/her own-- well, they can. But why would not give help and advice to your own child with the most important decision/process of their life thus far, which will have an immense effect on their future and your own future too?</p>
<p>Despite the availability of books to help with the financial aid process…there are still those who miss out for a variety of reasons…or misunderstand the information they read…or interpret it in a way that is what they WANT to hear rather than what is really fact. There are also many variables in the financial aid process that vary from school to school…and every year students and families are surprised by the outcomes of thei applications/financial aid. And unlike the taxes (if you make a mistake, the government sends you a love note to ante up)…with financial aid, if you don’t get it right in terms of schools the first round…it could be too late by May 1 to make additional applications for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>The financial aid process is not simple, although with some work, it’s not something that most parents could not figure out.</p>
<p>The rest of the college process is simple, though time-consuming. It does take time to do the research, but rocket science it ain’t. If someone wants to hire someone to do the work for them, there’s nothing wrong with that. Personally, I’d rather do it myself and put the money saved toward freshman tuition.</p>
<p>Seems like it would benefit the NACAC organization you just linked to if you could go to that link and actually search for a counselor in your area. I don’t see any way to do that…</p>
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