Your School College Counselor vs Independent College Admissions Consultant: Who’s Better?

College admissions is now such a standard part of American secondary educational culture that every high school student, whether at a private school or public school, can expect to have a high school counselor assigned to them by their Junior year to help with applying to college. The nature of this counselor may differ, of course – most private schools have dedicated college counselors, while public high schools have their guidance counselors pull double duty – but all are ultimately provided with support. Why, then, do so many families decide to engage the services of independent admissions specialists to advise their families? When is your student’s college counselor not enough?

A High Student Load

School counselors inherently work with large numbers of students every year. Because of this, they do not necessarily get the chance to know each individual student very well, relying on rote advice and generally metrics to govern their approach to college counseling. Independent counselors, however, can spend the time to really delve into their student’s lives and assist them in the way that will prove most beneficial to them individually.

Assistance, Not Advice

Another side effect of high numbers of students is that school counselors are most interested in assisting students to pick their schools and complete their applications, not transform themselves and fight for a chance at their dream school. In other words, a school counselor might show a family their student’s metrics and admissions data and recommend they pick schools from a certain range of performance. An independent counselor, however, will guide a family in exactly what a student needs to do over the course of the next three months to have a real chance at the next level of schools above the school counselor’s recommendations.

It’s Not Just About the Ivies

These days, independent college admissions counselors are not just for students looking to apply to the most selective universities in America. Ambitious students who want to work towards a better version of themselves; families with special circumstances that want more than just average levels of advice and support; weak writers who need extra coaching in what makes good expository writing; all these and more can find great value in looking beyond the halls of their schools for additional support when it comes time to begin thinking about college applications.

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Tags: Higher Education, College, College Counseling, College Admissions, College Applications, Athletics, Athletes, Student-Athletes, Athletic Recruitment, College Test Prep, SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, Summer Planning, Sports, Sports Recruitment, Stress Reduction