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What are the Benefits of a College Admissions Consultant?
There is no question that working with a college admissions consultant will help your child become more competitive in the college admissions process. With that said, there are so many additional reasons to work with a private college admissions counselor. One of our clients recently emailed us to thank us for our help and identified copious ways in which we were able to support the student and their family that may be less obvious skills that are helpful for a college admissions consultant to have during this process. “Upon further experience, and with your indulgence, here are some of your talents we’ve appreciated, admired, and benefited from while working with you:
- Booster/Cheerleader/Supporter
- Confidant
- Connector/Networker
- Data Analyst
- Database Administrator
- Diplomat
- Editor
- Industry Analyst
- Industry Intelligence Gatherer
- Listener
- Marketer
- Matchmaker
- Mentor
- Negotiator
- Project Planner
- Role Model
- Strategist
- Teacher
- Therapist: Adolescent
- Therapist: Family
- Therapist: Parent”
As you can see, there is a lot to be gained from working with a college admissions consultant beyond what might meet your initial expectations.
What is a college admissions consultant?
Quite simply, a good college admissions consultant should help students to become more competitive candidates in the college admissions process, while also helping them to find and get into the right-fit college for them. We want students to be happy and successful in their college environments, which means that they find a college where they can shine both academically and socially.
Please read here for more information about what a college admission consultant is.
What are the top benefits of a college admissions consultant?
There are many benefits to working with a college admissions consultant, including some of those most common advantages below. A good college admissions consultant can:
1. Improve chances of acceptance into highly competitive schools
Whether you are interested in Ivy League schools or Top 100 schools, the world of college admissions has become incredibly competitive. The primary goal of a college admissions consultant is to help you to become a more competitive candidate for admission to the schools you are most interested in attending. A top college admissions counselor should have an up-to-the-minute understanding of what it takes for a high school student to gain admission to schools your child is aiming for and how to guide them to reach their fullest potential. This will include providing guidance on academics, extracurricular activities, summer planning, expanding your child’s interests, developing leadership and communication skills and so much more.
2. Lessen unnecessary stress around the college admissions process
There is a lot of stress in the college admissions process. It has become extremely complicated due the highly competitive environment, pressure from parents, students’ expectations and peers alike, and the vast amount of work the college essay and college application process entails. While there is no way that a college admissions consultant can eliminate all of the stress surrounding the process, the goal is for the consultant to be an ally during the process. They can provide reliable advice to ensure that students and families are making the best decisions about where to apply, where to apply early, how a student should present themselves in their college essays, to which academic programs they should apply and more. Most of our students feel like their consultant is their confidant during this process along with being a trusted advisor in decision making. An experienced college admissions consultant will lessen the stress of the process, but no one can completely remove the stress of this process.
3. Provide personalized help in choosing the right school and area of study
One of the first things that we help students work on is to think about what they might want to study in college. We recognize that for some students they have no clue and for other students they may have a strong idea about what they want to study. In either case, we are here to support the process of either figuring out what major they want to apply to college as or in helping students bolster their experiences and knowledge about what they want to study and why.
One of the most common questions that many schools will ask in their essays is: “What do you want to study and why?” This can be a very hard question for many students to answer, even if they have an academic passion. A good college consultant will work with students on helping them develop an answer (realizing that many students will change majors in college) and to build out their experiences to support their candidacy in their academic area of interest.
4. Provide expert guidance around the college admissions process
The college admissions process itself is likely the largest project a student has ever encountered. Since there are so many competitive applicants for admission to US colleges, one of the most valuable things a college admissions consultant can do is to guide students on what they need to do to prepare their resumes and experiences for the college admissions process. Students have a finite amount of time during high school during which they can develop themselves. Every parent with whom we work always starts their second child earlier in the process than their first, as they understand that the earlier a student starts, the more a student will be prepared for the college admissions process.
Additionally, no matter how talented a student is, they usually have not had to figure out how to present themselves and sell themselves. Further, college essays are very different from high school essays. The type of writing that students do in high school is mostly analytical writing, whereas the writing that college essays require is introspective, personal and more creative—all things that high school writing does not prepare a student to do. Therefore, a college admissions consultant should provide a great deal of support in the brainstorming and editing process for college essays so that students understand what they should be writing about and how to best showcase who they are.
5. Help your student manage priorities and deadlines
Whether it relates to how a student should be spending their time during high school or how to organize the tremendous amount of work involved in the college application and college essay process, a good college admissions consultant will help a student organize their time most effectively. We try to get students to work on the college essay process throughout the summer before senior year. Since early applications are due at the beginning of November, it is crucial to have the time during summer to work on this difficult and time-consuming process.
While everyone knows about the Common Application essay, there is a lot more involved in the college admissions process. Many schools have several school-specific essays and if students are applying to ten highly-ranked colleges, a student may have as many as 30 essays to complete. In addition, students will need to prepare for interviews, get all of the recommendations needed, complete the voluntary Additional Information section on the Common Application, some colleges will want video submissions, many schools will want a traditional resume, and there is so much more. A college admissions counselor will provide guidance in each of these areas as well as keep a student on track so they are not running into any deadlines or missing any of these important steps in the application and admissions process!
Spark Admissions College Consulting
At Spark Admissions, all of our consultants are full-time, dedicated, passionate college admissions consultants. They work with students during high school to help them grow both intellectually and interpersonally. We have a proven methodology that continues to get us the best results in the country.
Each of our college consultants are ready to help along every step of this process. We can help guide your child as they develop and improve their academic narratives, navigate extracurricular opportunities, and assist them with the intensive application and college essay process. We are extremely responsive and empathetic, and we pride ourselves on providing nothing less than an impeccable level of service to each student and family we serve. If you are curious to hear more about our process or admissions counseling services, please feel free to contact us here to schedule a free initial consultation with one of our expert college consultant advisors.
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