College admission counselor (Dallas, Trinity, Amherst: credit, top schools, universities)

[rm7717]

My son will be starting his Junior year in a North Dallas High School. He is highly interested in getting into Pre-med courses locally here in the area. His school did offer a dual credit program at a local community college but unfortunately his Lazy school counselor messed up the enrollment deadline dates and made him miss the sign-up date. She refused to own up to her mistake and we do not expect her to be any useful. I was wondering if hiring an independent College admission counselor worth the money. It appears to be very expensive but wanted to know if anyone had any insights on their services and had a recommendation for a counselor.

[numbersguy100]

Public school counselors have hundreds of students each. Their job actually isn’t to make sure your kid applies to programs of interest in a timely fashion. That’s your job, or by high school, your kid really should be the one staying on top of deadlines like that.

[NoClueWho]

Originally Posted by numbersguy100

Public school counselors have hundreds of students each. Their job actually isn’t to make sure your kid applies to programs of interest in a timely fashion. That’s your job, or by high school, your kid really should be the one staying on top of deadlines like that.

100% Correct. Also, in addition to the facf that public high school counselors have hundreds of students each, their primary job duties in most schools and districts are actually office work (making school schedules, attending and running professional development sessions, preparing and giving presentations for the staff, assisting the principal and the APs with administrative work, etc.).

It's not 1960 anymore, where a public school counselor's only job was just sitting in their office all year long waiting for little Timmy or little Cindy to knock on their door and ask them questions about college. They have a TON of work on their plates these days. It's up to you as a parent to stay on top of your child concerning applications and deadlines and up to the parent and the child to do as much independent research and legwork as they can (all one really has to do these days is use the internet).

[NTXPerson]

Which local program did you look into? Enrollment for dual credit classes through DCCCD is June 12th for the fall semester. Reach out to them for guidance.

https://www.dcccd.edu/apply-reg/hspr...s/default.aspx

Also, every DISD school has a college admissions advisor assigned to them. See the link below. This person works for a college admissions organization. It looks like North Dallas is paired with the organization called Education is Freedom.

https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/32596

Lastly, you can always reach out to the school your child is interested in and request a meeting with an advisor to ask questions. I personally don't think to pay an admissions counselor is worth the money if you know how to research and ask questions.

[rm7717]

Originally Posted by NTXPerson

Which local program did you look into? Enrollment for dual credit classes through DCCCD is June 12th for the fall semester. Reach out to them for guidance.

https://www.dcccd.edu/apply-reg/hspr...s/default.aspx

Also, every DISD school has a college admissions advisor assigned to them. See the link below. This person works for a college admissions organization. It looks like North Dallas is paired with the organization called Education is Freedom.

https://www.dallasisd.org/Page/32596

Lastly, you can always reach out to the school your child is interested in and request a meeting with an advisor to ask questions. I personally don't think to pay an admissions counselor is worth the money if you know how to research and ask questions.

Very helpful! Thank you!

[Taub201]

Do you want your kid to apply to a variety of out of state, competitive colleges but you desire help in choosing the best ones or navigating the admissions process (essays, recs, etc.)?

Take the ACT and SAT 3x each starting next year.
Take a prep course.
Take challenging courses and do well in them.
Be excellent in something besides academics.

[cordata]

Originally Posted by Taub201

Do you want your kid to apply to a variety of out of state, competitive colleges but you desire help in choosing the best ones or navigating the admissions process (essays, recs, etc.)?

Take the ACT and SAT 3x each starting next year.
Take a prep course.
Take challenging courses and do well in them.
Be excellent in something besides academics.

All sounds like good advice. But do colleges see an issue in taking the exam 9 times ?

[calgirlinnc]

Originally Posted by cordata

All sounds like good advice. But do colleges see an issue in taking the exam 9 times ?

Leading colleges across the country are waiving the SAT/ACT requirement for 2021 applicants due to CV. Some schools are waiving the test for the next 3 years.


"But with many high schools closed or teaching remotely for the rest of the academic year, a growing number of colleges and universities are waiving standardized test requirements amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Some went further than that, with leaders of the University of California system voting on May 21 to phase out the SAT and ACT as an admissions requirement over the next four years.

The test will be optional through 2024, when the system’s 10 schools could develop its own admissions test. The system had already eliminated the standardized test requirement because of the outbreak of the virus."

The article then provides further information from top schools and lists the schools that are so far waiving the requirement.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nyt...virus.amp.html

This is an even better article:

"Some of the most selective liberal arts colleges in the country have suspended the testing requirement, including Williams, Amherst, Haverford, Davidson, Pomona, Rhodes, Scripps and Vassar colleges. Davidson, Rhodes and Williams, which routinely ranks as No. 1 in national liberal arts colleges on U.S. News & World Report rankings, are launching three-year pilot programs to test whether the requirement is needed at all. Vassar plans to review the matter next year to see whether to extend it. So is Trinity University, a liberal arts college in Texas."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.was...outputType=amp

Here is a link to a website that updates daily, with a list of non testing schools. (They do not list schools that already did not require an SAT/ACT):

https://2021admissions.org/list-of-a...21-admissions/

This list is incomplete, however. For example, SMU has waived the test and I don't see it on the list.

[Soccernerd]

I concur with NumbersGuy. Good help is so hard to come by these days. It’s best to do things yourself if you want them done correctly or better yet, let your student show some initiative and stay up to date with his deadlines.

[EDS_]

Originally Posted by Soccernerd

I concur with NumbersGuy. Good help is so hard to come by these days. It’s best to do things yourself if you want them done correctly or better yet, let your student show some initiative and stay up to date with his deadlines.

Having seen both my kids go through college admissions and medical school admissions.........even very high achieving 17yos need help navigating the college application waters.