<p>I don’t believe anyone should ever write an applicant’s essays other than the student! However, I see nothing wrong with having adults read over essays and give feedback for revision purposes. Many parents do that. A college counselor is doing the same. Many high schools (not my own kids’ one though) have students write app essays in English class and do a revision process on them there too with teacher guidance. This is very very very common. It is not doing it for the student but is guiding them and reviewing a piece of writing and giving them feedback about it. Students often have tutors for SAT help too. In both instances, in the end, the student has to perform the task themselves, even if they were guided along the way.</p>
<p>Thank you to both of you. </p>
<p>Not to go too off topic, but part of the decision was driven by the fact that I realized that I had started to feel like it would say something bad about my character if I couldn’t master this skill to guide my kid. </p>
<p>In fact, it felt a lot like when I balked at hiring a housekeeper when we could finally afford one. For me, a big source of those feelings is that these things are “women’s work” and so as a woman I should know how to do them and, even worse, they don’t have much value so why pay someone else to do it? (I worked as a housekeeper, I know it’s valuable work!) </p>
<p>Yikes!</p>
<p>One I realized that, it was a logical decision to hire someone as it fit into our budget. I do think that part of the satisfaction of our experience was our expectations. I’m not a believer in the supernatural or even fate but there is something about this process that has convinced me that my son will wind up where he’s supposed to go. We’ve done our best to prepare him to succeed anywhere he goes to school and I trust the colleges he’s chosen to meet him halfway.</p>
<p>I charge $100/hour for in-person or telephone counseling and $100/draft for essay commentary (typically, my comments and suggestions are roughly the same length as the essay).</p>
<p>I think it is perfectly fine to go over a kids essay. Grammar, syntax, intention vs. meaning, is all very important. I also think it’s perfectly fine to brainstorm ideas with the student because it has to be something he/she WANTS to write about otherwise, as I’ve said elsewhere, it falls completely flat. I would read Son’s essay and say… is this what you were saying? And if I was confused (and knew him) how might that play out with someone else reading it. If that was too much help, then I am guilty. If I helped him take an essay from way too many words down to something more reasonable via just crossing out lines, sue me. But I felt it was perfectly within the realm of good writing. Kid writes, conferences, rewrites, edits, rewrites and rewrites and then final edit. It’s a process. Also, a lot of schools look at SAT/ACT essays to make sure there isn’t a real change in voice (indicating kid had way more than simple editing help).</p>
<p>The best advice we got, IMO, was that to over edit a kids essay was to risk taking away their voice. However, it is also difficult to read some things kids write and not think, hmm that might be cliche. But in their 17 year old experiences, is it cliche if they’ve just learned it? Our counselors were very big on not over-packaging kids. That more than half of the class is attending the top 20 schools (between universities and CLA’s), I honestly think we got great advice. And all I really had to do this time around was obsess with worry if he was going to get in or not. I could come on here and vent, and then be all reassuring with S. Win/Win!</p>
<p>I have no problem with the idea of hiring someone and wish we had done that with older daughter. But that we didn’t have to with S made it that much sweeter an experience.</p>
<p>“This involves several years of grooming EC’s etc. I believe.”</p>
<p>Friends of ours have engaged this type of person. I have no idea what they are paying.
But they started sophomore year. This is not simply a matter of looking at the finished product, reviewing essays and suggesting some colleges, this is actually shaping what the finished product will turn out to be.</p>
<p>Is this horrible? Maybe. As a parent, I can tell my kid not to sit around wasting his summer, and you probably wouldn’t think that was horrible . Instead, these people are paying someone else who is telling their kid not to sit around wasting his summer. And he is listening to her, whereas maybe he wouldn’t have listened to his parents. In the end, it is he who will have really done something useful this summer, and consequently have something to show for it. Whether or not it helps with colleges. But I can see where it might.</p>
<p>He is getting input in other regards as well, eg course selection. This is all well before the actual application process.</p>
<p>I bet this is pretty common in their community.</p>
<p>A friend of ours is using a college counselor. It’s their oldest child and she is academically successful. The concept of applying to colleges, getting financial aid and scholarships was a mystery to all of them so they hired a college counselor. The rate was low (one fee for unlimited questions) and the counselor has been readily available to them. They do not live near the counselor but speak on the phone regularly. This counselor has done a great job getting them organized and trying to help them navigate the thousands of college options available. They have already engaged this counselor for their sophomore daughter to help with class selection etc.</p>
<p>I haven’t used a counselor, but will likely consult with this one in
the future. Sometimes, the experience of someone who has been there over and over again can make everything a lot easier. I would have had a lot less stress with oldest D had I had a counselor who could have provided valuable information based upon experience rather than guesswork.</p>
<p>My nephew could definitely have used one. He applied to Georgetown and Princeton without knowing they required 3 SAT IIs. He was definitely qualified for Georgetown, but was rejected, not even waitlisted.</p>
<p>^You’d think that he could have gleaned that information from the website, but you know kids…As Donald Rumsfeld said, sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know.</p>
<p>You would think…That’s why I don’t think you could just leave it to kids sometimes. They are teenagers (without fully formed brains). My sister is still kicking herself for no have been on top of him more.</p>
<p>I think your nephew’s situation sums it up for a lot of kids. And also ellemenope’s comment about not knowing what you don’t know. Are we as parents supposed to become experts on everything?</p>
<p>I think guiding your kid with college admissions is like a part time job. Look at all the parents on CC spending time gleaning information and ideas. Not all parents have the time, the inclination, or the know how to assist their child well with this process and really benefit from some outside advice and guidance through every step of the process. I think parents can do this themselves and with a child who is self motivated to figure lots out and research and explore it all too. Not everyone needs a counselor. But for many, it is a huge help. It even helps make it feel less overwhelming to have someone who knows what to do, how to do it well, and who can answer the zillion questions that arise along the way. I applaud parents and students who feel they can do this very well on their own. Many do. And I’m preaching to the choir as the parents on CC are obviously quite involved in this stuff. Many families are not even on CC. And even then, CC is not individualized help very much.</p>
<p>As any of you who have been through college admissions with your kids, you know how much time is involved and how much work it takes. And that is for even a regular admissions process. You may not realize it but some admissions processes are very specialized with much more involved than regular college admissions and more layers to the process and more to know about and understand. I happen to work with many students applying to specialized arts programs and even the college search process is very different, as is the list building (almost every program has extremely low admit rates and all are reaches), and there are all these additional tasks like resumes, auditions, and so on that are involved. For those who don’t agree with college counseling or can’t see the need for it, may be looking at their own experiences but are not aware of some other types of college processes that are much more complicated and would require huge amounts of time for parents to grasp and find out about along with their kids. Visit the Musical Theater forum some time to get an idea.</p>
<p>So much depends on available resources for the kid & family. In our situation, we never paid anyone to counsel either of our kids but they did speak with the HS college counselor a few times & so did I. If the counselor wasn’t there, I probably would have performed much of the role myself but it was helpful to have someone with more experience to bounce thoughts off of and someone more “objective” give feedback to our kids.</p>
<p>Caution–some counselors can be quite unrealistically INflating or DEflating, depending on the individuals involved. My friend’s S was told to aim low but his folks encouraged him to apply broadly including some “dream” schools. He got the best merit & need based offer from the “dream” school, where he matriculated. Our S was also told to aim low by one counselor & apply broadly by the other. He took the latter’s advice & we were all pleased with the results.</p>
<p>HIMom, by the same token, SOME parents and students are unrealistic with their college list and need an objective third party to bring a well reasoned realism to the picture. Every student should have an appropriate list and a well BALANCED list of odds (so many come to me who have neither). But in the end, a counselor should only advise and the decisions of where to apply rests with the student.</p>
<p>Slightly off topic: a year ago, DS was in Bay area so took a tour of Stanford just to see. Rising Junior at the time. Of 10+ students on the tour, he was apparently the only kid that had no idea what the ‘common app’ was. I got an earful from from my brother who was accompanying him, about not having started him on his preparation.</p>
<p>I originally posted this in January. It was my first post on these boards - and the result of an email I got from a old colleague in an admissions office at a college. I thought I’d re-post it here. Take it or leave it, but just some thoughts from one of us on the college side of things:</p>
<p>First, a few words to those of you who will be/have hired private counselors, from my perspective and the perspective of many of my friends/other admissions officers:
-Never hire a private counselor who has not actually been an admissions officer. You’d be surprised how many people realize the money in private college counseling and hang out a shingle. The people who are the most “dangerous” are the people who have no idea what they’re talking about. They may have slick brochures, a fancy office, or even stories of their successes. Run.</p>
<p>-Never hire a private counselor who boasts of their placement percentages. This is usually a bad sign, even though it appears positive; typically these manipulated metrics are being used to woo you, not actual evidence of their successes. These types of counselors/counseling firms tend to “weed out” their applicants, meaning that if your child wants to apply to Dartmouth but they don’t think s/he will get in, they are going to try to dissuade your kid or drop you as a client. Take with a grain of salt the percentages about Ivy League or “First Choice” placement. If the kid who was dying for Harvard’s Celtic Languages program got into Cornell’s Ag School, the firm’s going to use them in their stats, even if the kid ends up at Wisconsin or UM-Milwaukee (both of which have excellent Celtic programs, by the way). Similarly your son or daughter may have their hearts set on Williams, be talked into applying ED to Hamilton because the counselor convinces them they won’t get into Williams (and that they’ll only get into Hamilton ED - not that there’s anything the least bit wrong or bad about Hamilton!), and then counted in their “First Choice” stats.</p>
<p>-Counselors/firms that charge ridiculous fees (think $20,000) are going to have inflated admissions statistics. Why? Because these places are going to draw in a group of students who already have some things going for them - they typically attend independent or boarding schools, they tend to be legacy applicants to many prestigious universities, and their parents have a lot of cash to throw around (as evidenced by the $20,000 they’re coughing up for a private counselor). Of course these are just generalizations, but in my experiences (from the “other side of things”) they tend to hold true.</p>
<p>-Any private college counselor/firm that claims to have a “special relationship” with a school is lying or is doing something unethical. I’ve never heard of any admissions officer at any school I know of who maintains special relationships with these people and especially not at any of the “top” schools. Former admissions officers who create these companies are generally professionally ostracized by their former colleagues, the least of which is because of concerns over appearances issues (admissions officers like to avoid looking biased. Of course we’re all biased - what human on earth isn’t? - but we like to minimize those biases as much as possible, particularly the appearance of them!).</p>
<p>What else to keep in mind? Well, ultimately, the guidance counselor recommendation that arrives with your son/daughter’s application is going to be written by your child’s guidance counselor. Not the person you’re paying. AOs are not going to read anything your paid consultant writes, not going to call them to talk about your kid, and certainly not going to put any stock into what they think (why not? because you’re paying them to speak highly of your child!).</p>
<p>Also, you should know that using a private counselor can influence things. No, no admissions officer I know of is going to ding your child’s application because they (/their family) hired a private counselor - and you’d be surprised how it can be quite obvious some times. But I’ve had guidance counselors tell me that XYZ child is using a private counselor (just because you think you’re doing a good job of hiding this fact from your child’s counselor does not mean you are!) and seem rather disappointed over this fact. Did it influence your child’s guidance counselor letter? No way to know.</p>
<p>Of course private college counselors aren’t unilaterally bad people or unilaterally wrong choices for some young people. I’ve recommended them to some people (not specific names, but that they pursue this option perhaps) as have several of the most well-regarded high school counselors I know. Does your child have a learning disability and is that making the college search more challenging? Is your daughter dying to study a niche field (experiential education; equestrian studies; soil chemistry; Buddhism?) and her guidance counselor doesn’t have the time or doesn’t even know where to begin? Does your son go to a large high school where there aren’t the resources or manpower to help him find that school for him? Sure. Go ahead. But if you just want a “leg up” to get your little Suzy or Johnny into XYZ Name Brand Ivy Prestigious U or because your next door neighbor is doing it, think about the consequences of your time, money, and, ultimately, that it probably won’t have much of ANY impact.</p>
<p>Yes, private counselors can be great because they keep your child on track in terms of organizing the process (did they ask Ms. Chemistry Teacher to write a rec yet? Send SAT scores to their schools yet? etc), help your child refine their search, and highlight schools that align with their strengths (for example, the College of Wooster has great scholarships for students who excel in Scottish dance). Is your child looking for small liberal arts colleges but you live in Tampa and he’s never heard of Macalester? Or your daughter wants someplace “alternative” but Evergreen State College isn’t on her radar? Then it’s great s/he got a private counselor.</p>
<p>BUT most high school seniors - the majority of them - are admitted to colleges without using private counseling services. (I know it may not seem that way to some of you, especially if you live in Westchester or Long Island . . .okay, okay, sorry, nothing against the metro-NY region, just a little joke).</p>
<p>Also, AOs often times know when your child is using a private counselor, especially if its a counselor that has a high load of clients. They tend to have similarly formatted application pieces (what are the odds that 8 young people, who attend 5 different schools in a region, are going to attach resume “activity sheets” to their applications that use the same unique font, have the same unique border, are formatted in the identically similar way, and use the same exact phrasing/description for an activity? Slim). Of course that doesn’t mean anything in the process usually. But it’s something you should think about.</p>
<p>Hmmm…a few other things that jumped out at me (I can’t believe it’s late in the evening and I’m typing on a parents’ website about colleges. yikes!)-
*Your child’s application is your child’s application. It isn’t your application or “our” application. You’d be surprised how many phone calls AOs or their support staffs get from parents (and no offense mothers, but they tended to come from moms) that begin with “We wanted to know about our application…” It’s an urban myth that if you call on behalf of your son/daughter AOs are going to mark it down and somehow penalize your child, but truly they should be the ones making any sort of contact about their application. Of course that’s not always possible. They have lives - soccer, environmental science club, school trips, live in Hawaii with time change problems, et cetera. If you need to make the call for them, do it. But recognize that applying to college is part of growing up and being in charge of the process is equally important.</p>
<p>*AOs do notice, however, how you or your child act on the phone (or at information sessions or to the office staff if they come and visit). I hope this little story doesn’t out me to any former colleagues (people in my old office remember this one - it was infamous). I once had an applicant call on the phone. At many universities AOs answer their own phones (direct lines) and sometimes in high peak times people don’t realize they’re actually being transferred out to AOs because the switchboard can’t keep up (when they call the general admissions number). This young man started off by going off on why we thought his application was incomplete when he had clearly sent it to us on time (et cetera et cetera). He was vulgar, rude, and inappropriate. And, apparently, thought he was talking to a secretary. As soon as I could interrupt him and said “As an admissions officer, I am sorry to hear of the difficulties you’re having with our process…(etc etc)” and promised to look into the situation, his tone shifted dramatically. He admitted he thought I was a secretary! As if that makes it any better! I did write down his name - and not to just look into this incomplete file situation. AOs know the process is stressful (although we wish it weren’t) and tempers can sometimes flare. But there’s no need for rudeness or even worse, especially not if it’s simply a matter of students thinking they “can” be rude to someone (i.e. a secretary). It’s inappropriate and noticed.</p>
<p>*To the people who talked about independent (private) school counselors being in touch with AOs - yes, it does happen. No, there isn’t bargaining going on behind the scenes (at least not at any reputable place I know of!) but especially when it comes to schools that send large school groups (admissions parlance for applicants from a particular high school), these things happen. Typically it consists of what I’d describe as a “heads up call.” In previous decades there may have been bargaining type activity going on - “I know Sally will go to your school if you admit her; John over at Prestigious U told me that they’re admitting little Joey so can you take Sally from waitlist to admit and waitlist Joey, he’s not going to come?” That hasn’t happened in at least a decade at the top places. Nowadays it’s much more of a courtesy call to let counselors know that little Suzy, the double legacy who’s parents also happen to be big donors at her private school, is getting denied or that unfortunately the val. is going to be waitlisted and no one’s being admitted from that school this year regular decision. AOs make these calls, if they make them, AFTER the decisions have been made and most schools are phasing this out if they still do it anymore (and only to counselors who are trusted and well known to the AOs - there’s a horrifying story I heard from a colleague at another top school once where a school counselor accidentally told a kid a few days in advance of the letter arriving that he’d been denied at this university; these types of things ruin that kind of relationship). Do the majority of private (or public) school counselors talk to AOs before decisions in this way? MOST DEFINITELY NOT.</p>
<p>Okay, last but not least, AOs are humans too. I’ve cried over applicants’ essays; I’ve cried over applicants I wanted to admit but who weren’t admissible for our school; I’ve cried in the bathroom after the committee denied my favorite applicant who I loved (I’m not a cry baby I promise!). Your children’s essays have made me laugh out loud. Their teacher’s anecdotes have inspired me, made me want to share a cup of coffee with them or hear them play the guitar. Admissions officers care about their applicants, truly. We think your children are smart and funny and accomplished and driven and friendly and they paint beautiful pictures and make wonderful chicken tikka masala and cheer up old folks at the retirement home where they do community service. They’re talented musicians and scientists and poets and they can outshine me in linear algebra and most certainly know more French than I can speak. So we’re not lying when we say we regret we can’t admit them.</p>
<p>So please don’t try to game us or pull the wool over our eyes about things. It doesn’t work - and if it does, it will surely backfire.</p>
<p>Thank-you for the long post. With all due respect, I know private school counselors from my kid’s school have conference calls with adcoms from almost every college(at least big ones) a few weeks BEFORE the decision day(s). I am not saying they are actually told who is in and who is out, but they do go through each applicant in detail. I think in doing so, if they know each well enough, it wouldn’t be surprising if they could have a good idea who will get in and who’ll be wailisted. </p>
<p>Just as private school counselors would make a point of visiting schools their students would apply, college adcoms would also do the same to high schools where they would like to recruit. Have some adcoms been more aggressive in wining and dining some school counselors and say things like, “We would like to get more students from your school, I would appreciate if you could send more students here and we would give them a better look”? Yes, a friend’s private school counselor actually bragged about that and was trying to pursuade their son to apply to that school. My friend was very much turned off by it.</p>
<p>I think the days of where private schools could have arrangement with top tier schools is gone. But do I believe everything is up and up between college adcoms and private school counselors, no. Just as you mentioned, a GC may say, “student X has a private college counselor,” and you would have a bad impression of the student. If it’s really up and up, then GC should really not say anything because he/she should know it would present a negative image to college adcom. Just purely on accessibility, private school GC could also present a much better image of an applicant that adcoms do not see on the application.</p>
<p>You sound like the kind of AO every college should have, but do I believe they are all like you? No. You get rated based on the kind of student body you could put together, and applications may not always give you enough information, therefore you may call up your favorite GC to get additional information (could it cross the line sometimes?) or go to your favorite high schools (may it be private or public) because they have vetted out students for you already (similar to large corporations going to top tier schools to recruit). </p>
<p>Private school counselors get rated based on what kind of schools they could get their students into (they do not do anything else). Private high schools are ranked based on percentage of students get admitted to top 20s. Are most of them up and up? Are some of them more aggressive than others? What are people willing to do when it’s their livelihood? A few years back, a well known private school in NYC wasn’t getting students into a HYPS schools, the headmaster (not a counselor) made a point of visiting the school, and that year more students were admitted. Maybe the headmaster was worried about his/her job and thought he/she should do something about it before he is booted out by the board.</p>
<p>We didn’t send our kids to private school to leverage off the scool’s college counseling service. We figured if they got a good education, then everything should follow. But after 13 years of been in the system, I have seen and heard a few things I don’t really agree with nor do I think it’s fair. I wish it was lilly white as you have posted. Before our D1’s college process, we were naive to believe based on her stats, strong ECs, and the fact she is a great kid, she would be able to get into many schools of her choice. After the result came out, seeing who got in where and who didn’t, I for one do not believe there is no gaming going on.</p>
<p>I know that one of the CC’s at a rival school is an alumnus of one of those top 20 schools and I do think they get more kids into said school than us. However, we get far more admit letters to H&P than they do. Is there gaming going on? I don’t know. But interestingly, I think when you admit a few students from a school (especially a small one) and they do exceedingly well at your institution, there might be more a chance those students will be admitted. Our GC also told us that if a school sees 4 kids qualified for their school from ours, they will admit all of them. My sister used to tell me that the reason my niece didn’t get accepted to Brown was because they only take one student from their school and call the CC to see who it was going to be. At the time I may have believed her, but now I just think my niece, brilliant as she is wouldn’t have been a good match for them, despite her great grades and high scores.</p>
<p>One of our CC’s tries to dissuade kids from applying to huge reaches, but ours’ point of view was, “who am I to crush their dreams?” and “While a long shot, it’s still a shot.” Her mission was to get kids to think realistically and put together a list that would give the kid some choices in the end. </p>
<p>The process for our D15 is going to be much different than it was for son. She wont have a sport to contribute (and while son wasn’t recruited per say, he is a really solid athlete), nor will she have taken a ton of AP or even the school’s toughest curriculum. However, she will still be well prepared to handle college level work when the time comes. Her list will be different and we’ll see what that is, but I know that we have invested wisely in her education because for us it wasn’t so much about whether or not the school could get my son into his dream school but that he was well-prepared in a myriad of ways when he got there.</p>
<p>“A few years back, a well known private school in NYC wasn’t getting students into a HYPS schools, the headmaster (not a counselor) made a point of visiting the school, and that year more students were admitted. Maybe the headmaster was worried about his/her job and thought he/she should do something about it before he is booted out by the board.”</p>
<p>Ha, this may have been my kids’ ex NYC private school, and that guy WAS booted out by the board!!! But not for those reasons. And he always took kids personally to visit colleges.</p>
<p>justmytwocents…thank you for your very insightful post which I had not seen the first time you had posted it on CC. There is a lot of wisdom in what you wrote. I agree with much of it (though of course am not sitting at your end of the perspective). </p>
<p>Two comments…</p>
<p>Regarding private school counselors and their communications and relationships with adcoms…I was not implying that they wheel and deal so much but I truly believe that they discuss the candidates and that these folks have ongoing relationships. I feel that the types of things going on are what I read in The Gatekeepers. I don’t think it was gaming or dealing but they were very much discussing the various candidates a great deal and surely that does not go on for all college applicants from all types of high schools. You are stating that discussions like this take place AFTER admissions decisions have been made. I really believe that discussions about students is going on throughout the admissions process between private school counselors and AOs. I would not call it “bargaining” and so I agree about that. But they are discussing candidates for sure. Even The Gatekeepers was published in 2002 and so that is a current look at elite college admissions and the kind of thing I am talking about is VERY prevalent in that book. And others here have known of their private school counselors having much contact with adcoms regarding current students. You are saying that AOs don’t discuss the students prior to decisions…you said “most definitely not.” However, earlier in your post, you wrote: “…But I’ve had guidance counselors tell me that XYZ child is using a private counselor.” That sounds to me that GC’s are discussing specific children with AO’s during the admission process as your wording is “using” and not “used.”</p>
<p>You wrote:
</p>
<p>I agree with this and have seen it as a marketing ploy for some counselors. As an independent counselor myself, I can’t even imagine doing this. And this feeds into parents whose rationale of hiring a college counselor is to get their kid into college…to have an “edge” or to get in where he/she may not have otherwise been able to do so. I don’t see that as my role. A counselor can help guide the student but can’t get him into college. I have never thought of my own success being related to where my students are admitted. Once (and only once), I had a prospective parent ask me my “success rate” and I just never even thought in those terms. I don’t measure my success by where the students got in. I consider myself 100% successful in that every student was admitted to college and was going to one that they were happy to attend. Do most get into their first choice? No. I happen to deal with students, in many cases, who are applying to extremely competitive programs or colleges. Sometimes, a student gets into a first choice or one of their favorites but some students do not. I can’t control who does and who doesn’t. Some candidates are more qualified than others and so if I were to share with prospective parents that Susie got into X college whereas Johnny got into Y, this was due to both having very different qualifications and I deal with kids from a wide spectrum of qualifications. I can’t imagine giving a prospective family a “success rate” or list of where my students were admitted. I don’t even THINK in those terms. Each student had an appropriate college list for them (that’s one thing I help them to do) and each student got in some place and many students had a number of options. Where they got in differs greatly and how many schools they got into also differs. That’s because the kids differ! In my view, rather than stating “success rates” or “where my students were admitted,” I’d much prefer for families to talk to other families to discern if they felt the assistance was helpful to them in navigating the college process. What should be considered is if the guidance was beneficial and not which schools the counselor “got the student into.” I don’t get my students in…they get themselves in. I help them with the steps of the process which can be overwhelming for many families. I don’t have any “stats” to present to my families but rather have feedback from other families to share and references. And I totally agree that a counselor who posts their “first choice stats” or “success rates” or which top schools their students got into, could skew the process with their students to ensure that the counselor’s stats come out lookin’ good.</p>
<p>“And this feeds into parents whose rationale of hiring a college counselor is to get their kid into college…to have an “edge” or to get in where he/she may not have otherwise been able to do so. I don’t see that as my role.”</p>
<p>Counselors that work with kids only as the college application process is commencing are not in a great position to be able to have much influence on the kid’s portfolio of qualifications, such that the kid is particularly highly likely to get in where he/she may not have otherwise been able to do so. Even if they did see that as their role, it is simply too late at that point to influence what the kid’s qualifications are. At that point, their influence is necessarily limited to helping best present the qualifications, as they are, and helping choose appropriate schools given these qualifications.</p>
<p>By contrast, my friends engaged a counselor for their son during his sophomore year of high school. That counselor is influencing what the kid’s qualifications will actually, in the end, be. In matters such as course selection, tests to take or retake, extracurricular pursuits, the need to study hard to achieve certain grade levels -along the way starting sophomore year. By the time he is considering making applications to colleges his actual qualifications will be different than had the counselor not been engaged. They are thinking this may make some difference, in the end, beyond what engaging someone only just prior to the point of application would accomplish.</p>