A few thoughts.
I would not hire a college counselor until the beginning of junior year at the earliest. It's quite easy before then to prepare for college, choose the hardest classes and do very well, choose extracurriculars that interest you and dedicate yourself to them.
The summer before junior year I would do a test prep course and take the August SAT/ACT for a baseline.
Reasons to hire a counselor to me would be 1) you are an immigrant or did not attend college and need help understanding the system 2) you have zero time to spend some time researching colleges on your own 3) your child has a particular skill set or desires to study a particular subject that is outside of the ordinary 4) your child excels in a sport and is interested in recruiting - this would be the only case in which I might hire a counselor before junior year. 5) your child needs someone besides you to help edit their essays, review their lists, practice interviews etc.
I have spent far far too much time on College Confidential in the last few years as all of my children have been applying to colleges (last one this fall-yay!). One thing that I have learned is that there are counselors out there that are great, there are also counselors that take advantage of people, especially immigrant families and first generation families, there are counselors that mean well but rely on things like personality tests to recommend majors and colleges, tests that anyone could find online.
Finally, I would be careful not to make your child's high school experience about college. Outside of whether or not that's a good idea for your child, college admissions officers are not looking for robots, they're looking for good kids who are bright, interested in academics, and interested in other things too. During a recent admissions presentation the presenter mentioned that they are seeing more and more "internships" "shadowing" and "research" in high schoolers, she said that there's nothing wrong with that necessarily but lifeguarding or being a camp counselor can be just as valuable in the admissions process.
Good luck to you!
I would not hire a college counselor until the beginning of junior year at the earliest. It's quite easy before then to prepare for college, choose the hardest classes and do very well, choose extracurriculars that interest you and dedicate yourself to them.
The summer before junior year I would do a test prep course and take the August SAT/ACT for a baseline.
Reasons to hire a counselor to me would be 1) you are an immigrant or did not attend college and need help understanding the system 2) you have zero time to spend some time researching colleges on your own 3) your child has a particular skill set or desires to study a particular subject that is outside of the ordinary 4) your child excels in a sport and is interested in recruiting - this would be the only case in which I might hire a counselor before junior year. 5) your child needs someone besides you to help edit their essays, review their lists, practice interviews etc.
I have spent far far too much time on College Confidential in the last few years as all of my children have been applying to colleges (last one this fall-yay!). One thing that I have learned is that there are counselors out there that are great, there are also counselors that take advantage of people, especially immigrant families and first generation families, there are counselors that mean well but rely on things like personality tests to recommend majors and colleges, tests that anyone could find online.
Finally, I would be careful not to make your child's high school experience about college. Outside of whether or not that's a good idea for your child, college admissions officers are not looking for robots, they're looking for good kids who are bright, interested in academics, and interested in other things too. During a recent admissions presentation the presenter mentioned that they are seeing more and more "internships" "shadowing" and "research" in high schoolers, she said that there's nothing wrong with that necessarily but lifeguarding or being a camp counselor can be just as valuable in the admissions process.
Good luck to you!
Statistics: Posted by Isabelle77 — Fri Jul 26, 2024 12:31 pm — Replies 94 — Views 7371