<p>My son is a ninth grader in Seattle public schools (north end). I’m pretty worried about the lack of resources available to him (budget cuts, etc etc).
In considering local private college counseling services, it’s impossible to get even a basic idea of rate structures without having direct conversations with the businesses. I have no idea if we are talking about hourly rate structures (and if so, how much), or full packages - and what range of costs we’re talking about. If I wanted someone to walk alongside to help from the junior year search through apps through the decision, are we talking about $1000? $5000? $20000?
I’m just not even sure if this is an option for our family. Any insights would be much appreciated.</p>
<p>I think the cost of hiring a private college counselor varies even within the same private college counseling practice, depending on the amount of hand-holding the student is going to need. You might start thinking about that answer for your student by:
- visiting the college counseling office of your son’s high school, picking up a school profile and asking about access to Naviance
- reading through a book like “Admission Matters” for a general overview of the admissions process
- running some sample net price calculators to understand whether financial aid/merit aid considerations will be important in his search (available for free on each college’s financial aid website).</p>
<p>“it’s impossible to get even a basic idea of rate structures without having direct conversations with the businesses.”</p>
<p>Why not have a direct conversation with the business? There shouldn’t be any charge for discussing their fee structure with you. Anyone who isn’t eager to accommodate your questions is not a good fit.</p>
<p>Also, you don’t necessarily need to use someone in your own region. Many clients work with counselors remotely nowadays. You just need to find a person you trust.</p>
<p>Spend plenty of time on College Confidential, ask lots of questions, and pocket the money you save to use toward tuition.</p>
<p>I agree – start asking the various ones for their fees.</p>
<p>One caveat. Be very wary of the financial ones. I’m sure some are legitimate, but a lot of them are really fronts for insurance companies that after you have signed up will find a way to sell you whole life insurance or annuities… and not sure the counseling they provide is that good.</p>
<p>You might get some contacts for good local face-to-face consultants at a college fair in your area. They usually have some seminars led by local consultants. I’m in the Portland area, and we paid $150 per hour to a good person… and others I talked to wanted about $4000.00 flat fee for Jr./Sr. year hand holding… but that was a lot more intensive. I’d estimate 2-5K overall… but definitely start asking around.</p>
<p>Be warned…a lot of these counselors are nothing but charlatans and snake oil salesmen. They promise the moon…and deliver maybe 50% of the time on admissions…UNLESS they have inside help from the admissions officers at elite schools like the Ivy League and Stanford…etc who all deny that happens, but it does. </p>
<p>The BEST thing you can do for your kid is make sure they are well grounded, mature and self determined…getting a high gpa from hard work and then developing EC’s of interest (pick one or two and not more). Be yourself and then focus in the college search on schools that match personality, financial resources you have and SAT scores. ITs not rocket science. </p>
<p>yes, SOME counselors have “friends inside elite schools” that help them. But its rare and most often done at elite college prep schools, many of whom are in the northeast.</p>
<p>Since he is only in 9th grade, I suggest lurking on these boards, especially the Parents forum, for a while before deciding to hire a Counselor. Many things you can do yourself with the info on this board. </p>
<p>First, decide what you want for your child. Are you aiming for Ivy or a specific school? Specific career path? Merit? Deciding these things yourself first will help you determine what you want out of a counselor or the college search in general. You child will change a lot throughout the high school years, but your overall goals will probably remain consistent.</p>
<p>These boards are great at helping you find small schools and merit. I believe these boards are better at recommending schools than most counselors.</p>
<p>Leadership and ECs may become very important for merit. As local school districts cut budgets, you may want to get your child involved in non-school ECs.</p>
<p>Agree with Hanna: ask these “advisers” directly about their fee structure. Total up what they’ll charge you from this point until your son first walks through the gates of state/private U.</p>
<p>Then, take that amount and invest it in a good 529 while thanking the “adviser” for their time. You’ll come out ahead, although the “adviser” will likely say something like “drat.”</p>
<p>Thanks, all, for your thoughts. I am certainly skeptical of promises and am not interested in guarantees of money or admission offers. I think my interest in private help is more focused on 1) third party management of tasks, and 2) insight into how things have changed dramatically since my wife and I did this. My son is the oldest of his group of cousins, so he’s sort of the first in our little world to enter back into the higher ed sphere.
Knowing $2-5K for the full run of services is helpful. $2K seems like the high-end of being worth it; $5K, not so much. If someone can take task management and provide some peace of mind at $100 month through the process, that’s worth it to me. (Provided they’re good people, obviously.)</p>
<p>^^^^ I get that. Sure. But…the process is not that bad and its really rather fun…and in the end, you still have to visit the colleges with your son anyway. </p>
<p>Start the search early…but don’t get wedded to any ONE school…kiss of death. Just be casual observers and gather information, likes and dislikes. Its way too soon to be making any decisions. Ideally you want a list of 25 schools to start. Wide array of choices. Then start the whittling down process…over time. </p>
<p>99% of people do this on their own without using a counselor. I get your concerns…public school guidance is really babysitting and paper shuffling and not a lot of personal care. But that is where you step in. Take Spring Break and Summer Breaks and visit schools. Some on a lark, some on design. Start locally. Expand regionally and then go from there.</p>
<p>Its fun. Good luck.</p>
<p>Also, I would determine what exactly you intend to shoot for. For example, I can’t say that I could justify spending a lot of cash for a counselor if my child was intent on restricting his/her selection to local state colleges, where stats are more important to the admissions office than a personal essay or after-school activities. This is particularly true in Washington. The best service that very good guidance counselors, public or private, provide is to recommend a college that might be ordinarily overlooked by the applicant but has the promise of being an excellent match.</p>
The going rate for private admissions counseling in Seattle ranges from $125-175 or so, with many offering flat fees of $2k-5k for junior and senior year assistance. Be wary of anyone who makes promises to get your kid into their top college, and obviously don’t choose someone who claims to do unethical things like writing your child’s essays. Also, be sure to really research the consultant’s background and be sure they have admissions experience. A lot of counselors enter the field after helping their own child gain admission, but they don’t necessarily have the skills or qualifications to work with other people’s children. Hopefully this is helpful - feel free to PM me with any other questions.