COLLEGE PLANNING vate Counselor, College Coach, College Advisor, Admission Consultant, Independent Educational Consultant (IEC), and/or a Certified Educational Planner (CEP). It’s important to investigate further to determine exactly what the consultant offers, in order to ascertain whether their services fit your needs.
The Do’s & Don’ts
By Laurie Kopp Weingarten, CEP Co-Founder & President, One-Stop College Counseling
OF HIRING A COLLEGE CONSULTANT
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s the peaceful days of summer end, students return to their busy lives balancing school classes, homework, tests, and extra-curricular activities. Parents of teenagers begin to hear talk of college applications, launching a new cycle of stress and uncertainly. Often their friends, neighbors, or relatives will contemplate hiring a college consultant. And then they anxiously wonder whether they should
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be engaging with someone to help them navigate this complicated world of college admissions. Should they hire a consultant for their child?
LET’S DISCUSS THE “WHO” AND THE “WHY,” FOLLOWED BY A PRACTICAL LIST OF “DO’S AND DON’TS.” Who? When beginning your search, you’ll notice that the terminology varies. Professionals can call themselves a Pri-
Magazine • Fall 2021 • www.nextstepu.com
Why? The National Association of College Counseling (NACAC) releases their annual State of College Admission Report, and their latest (2019) version indicates that the student-to-college counselor ratio for secondary schools is a whopping 319:1 (public) and 244:1 (private). Their research also reveals that public and private school counselors only devote, 19% and 31% of their time, respectively, to college advising, since they have numerous other job responsibilities. School counselors simply don’t have the ability to offer unlimited hours to students who seek advice on: standardized test options, developing a strategic college list, preparing for admission interviews, choosing extra-curricular activities, finding summer jobs/internships, navigating a college visit, narrowing down their essay topics, selecting Early Decision/Early Action options, and managing their application progress. With so many facets of the admission process, it’s no wonder families feel overwhelmed. So, one reason parents hire independent educational consultants is to make sure their child receives timely and effective advising. College is one of the most expensive investments parents will make. Children often benefit from more one-on-one attention than their high school can provide. But there are other reasons parents seek college counseling services: • Parents understand that college admission is different today than when they applied decades ago, and they would like someone with experience to guide them. • It’s difficult for parents to invest the time to learn the process themselves. Instead, they hire a professional to strategically guide them.
