College admission (Plano, Southlake: buy, best school, university)

[Pinkett]

Has anyone used a company, consultant or private counselor for top tier college admission for their kid? I am not looking for any other advice! No… “if the student does well….” advice please. My child is an A student so we already know grade are important and they play multiple sports. But because we’ve not had an example in our family of someone going to Ivy League or other top colleges, we would like help! School counselors are good but we are looking for some 1-1 private help.

[widespreadfan]

If your school counselor doesn't have experience working with Ivy League schools and your child is Ivy League caliber you might want to switch schools. All of the better private schools and some of the public schools have experience getting students into Ivy League schools. Paying a "private" counselor, who cannot guarantee anything, is potentially throwing money down the drain.

[numbersguy100]

Originally Posted by widespreadfan

If your school counselor doesn't have experience working with Ivy League schools and your child is Ivy League caliber you might want to switch schools. All of the better private schools and some of the public schools have experience getting students into Ivy League schools. Paying a "private" counselor, who cannot guarantee anything, is potentially throwing money down the drain.

That's not necessarily true. I'd guess that most kids from HP, Plano, Southlake, and other huge schools are paying for supplemental counseling, particularly if they are targeting Ivy league and similar. Probably true even at private schools like Jesuit and Ursuline that are on the larger side. Reality is that bigger schools just don't/can't dedicate the resources on a per student basis to college counseling and giving many families as much personal attention as they'd want to navigate that process. It's going to be better at HP or Jesuit than at similarly sized but lesser resourced and less competitive public or private schools. But an HP or Jesuit won't be anywhere close to the college guidance departments at, say, St Marks or Hockaday.

But yes, be careful about slimy private counselors who make promises, whether explicit or implicit. You're paying for advice to help make the process more productive, less stressful, with an outcome that is right for your kid and family. Not paying someone who promises to get your kid into Harvard or Stanford.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

I work in a tangential industry (test prep), and while I'm not an expert by any means on the college admissions counseling side of things, I think there are two categories of consultants you can consider. The first are the big name Cadillac-of-counselors outfits like IvyWise, Spark and Solomon. You can buy a couple Cadillacs for what some of them charge, but they certainly know what they're doing. My company has collaborated with Solomon on some projects, and we've enjoyed working with them.

The second category, and the one that I think is a good option for a lot of people, is finding an independent consultant that is a good fit for you. You can start with a geographical and profile search here: https://www.iecaonline.com/quick-lin...ber-directory/

You will need to dig some on your own to vet the candidates, but I'm absolutely certain that some of those people will be as knowledgeable and good at what they do as the consultants working for the big boys. You just need to figure out which consultants those are out of all of the available options.

Good luck!

[Pinkett]

With these counselors, they advertise everywhere so unless someone has worked with them or has knowledge about who are the best in the industry, it’s kind of hard to trust them and give away the money. Simple google search shows all kind of Tom, Dick and Harrys.

When you say that I’ll need to search on my own. How do I go about doing that? I don’t know anyone who has used such services or at least they don’t tell or share that info with anyone.

[tcualum]

I'm using one for my older son because he's intellectually gifted but has special needs. His high school counselor will be of no help. Our private college counselor focuses on finding the right fit for your kid though, not aiming for specific schools.

[Pinkett]

I will appreciate names of any that specializes in medical school admissions. DMs are welcomed.

[texstout]

I'd read 'Who Gets in and Why: A Year in College Admissions'. Its fascinating and really opened my eyes to the process. Additionally, join the 'Paying for College 101' FB group. While supposedly focused on paying for college, there is a huge amount of discussion on select college admissions criteria and processes.


As for a consultant, I've seen these names recommended but have no experience:


- Peggy Rounick Amdur
-Deidra Fisher with One Up
- Summit College Advising
- Kyne Page Clarke


I'm not sure if a college advisor is needed (especially as I've heard some of the price tags), but I do like the idea of having a 3rd party to assist with the executive functioning/preparation, essay review, and helping to find a school that is appropriate for each kid. For example with the ivys - they say that if you are applying to all of them - then you are doing it wrong as many are very different than each other.


Additionally, if you are chasing merit - there is a lot to learn about there. I didn't realize that the Ivys (for example) do not give any merit aid at all - only financial needs aid. So while my family would never be able to receive financial aid, I sure would have liked/expected some merit aid to break down the 80K yearly price tags at Ivy league schools.

[texstout]

Originally Posted by Pinkett

I will appreciate names of any that specializes in medical school admissions. DMs are welcomed.

Are you looking for college admissions OR medical school? Those would be two very different types of assistance. I think I've seen you say before that you are not a US graduate.



In the US, for undergraduate university - student do not major in premed. Premed is usually just a term that a student is interested in medical school later on and may get college advisors that are helpful with course selection and the process. They major in basically whatever they want, but make sure to take the science prerequisites. Then, they apply to medical school as a College Senior (or even afterwards) based primarily on GPA and MCAT score. While many students may major in biology in undergrad, medical schools like a diversity of majors and experiences.


https://www.princetonreview.com/med-...-pre-med-major


If your student wants to do premed (and know that the majority of students who start off that way end up not going to med school), then the typical advice is to go to the best school that they can get a good GPA at with nice experiences. Medical school is expensive - so the recommendation is to do undergrad without debt.

[Wittgenstein's Ghost]

Originally Posted by Pinkett

With these counselors, they advertise everywhere so unless someone has worked with them or has knowledge about who are the best in the industry, it’s kind of hard to trust them and give away the money. Simple google search shows all kind of Tom, Dick and Harrys.

When you say that I’ll need to search on my own. How do I go about doing that? I don’t know anyone who has used such services or at least they don’t tell or share that info with anyone.

The link I provided is a good starting point. It's a big list, even if you narrow it down to DFW-based folks. But some have real credentials inside of college admissions and some are 24 year olds who were high school counselors for six months. You'll want to do some leg work and compare credentials as well as "feel" when talking to them.

Medical school admissions is years down the road. You don't need to worry about that yet. The best path to medical school admissions is a college where your kid can thrive and do well. In medical school, success at a pretty good state school goes a lot further than failure at a top-notch university.