What should families look for when choosing a professional college admissions consultant? Here are some things to consider as you venture out to find the right consultant for your student and family.
The purpose of hiring a consultant is to minimize stress and anxiety of not only the student, but the family as well, not to increase it. The Professional College Admissions Consultants understands that college planning can be stressful at times, and they should strive to reduce that anxiety for both students and parents. Professional consultants strive to work as a team with families, high school counselors, college admissions staff, and financial aid consultants. They respectfully and skillfully guide students through the application process, offering feedback on resumes, essays and entire application review, not to mention assist in the appeal process.
A professional college admissions consultant should be knowledgeable about a wide range of colleges and universities, not to mention perhaps visiting several of them to have personal knowledge on a one to one basis for the benefit of the student, as well as current admissions trends. They should also have experience helping students from the start of mapping out their goals and the college search through the application process to the acceptances. Effective consultants will also be committed to on-going professional development.
Every student is unique, and subsequently, so are their college planning needs. When you interview the counselor, consider your child’s personality; their academic background, and their college dreams. Also consider is they have no clue as to where to start also. The person you hire should be a good match not only for your child’s personality, but your family and have experience with students with similar admissions profiles, not to mention being supportive of your child’s college aspirations.
The consultant should clearly explain their services and associated costs. The services to be provided and the fees the consultant will charge should be clearly established up front. Fees may be structured on an hourly rate, an inclusive package, or by session.
Consultants should be committed to maintaining high ethical standards in their practice. Ethical consultants do not guarantee admission into specific colleges or promise financial awards. They do not suggest that they have “special pull” with certain college admissions professionals, nor do not write essays or other application materials for students.
You need to make sure that they practice ethical admissions.
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