College planning consultant - anyone used them?

[GrnMtnMan]

A consultant can be helpful if your child aspires to a highly competitive/top 25 school. If you're thinking about state or regionally known schools that have less competitive admissions, the consultant is probably not necessary.

 

[lurkernj]

I didn't even know there was a college consultant. We have a guidance counseler at school (one for each grade). Maybe that is what all of these letters we get are for...most have 1-800 #s to call. Along with that and the letters from colleges we receive are overwhelming. DD is only a junior and hasn't heard of some of these colleges and isn't interested in them, but the letters keep coming. She went to college day and college night (with us) but we didn't sign up for anything! We even got one from Citadel (I'm thinking that is military?).

It gets worse before it gets better. They have finally slowed down now that the deadlines have passed for many schools. They get your info from sats and collegeboard.org. We hardly got anything from schools he was actually looking at some of them send large magazine things that must cost a fortune.

 

[imsayin]

It's really the financials that are stressing me out more than anything! !

Every college is required to have a financial calculator on their website. Put in your financial info & it will tell you what you will be expected to pay at that particular college.

For scholarship opportunities, search the schools' websites. Some have specific criteria listed with their scholarships (i.e. an ACT of 32 gets you $10,000/year). Your best chance for a scholarship is at a school where you are in the upper 25% of the students they admit. You can find out the average ACT/SAT score of admitted students at a particular school (search their website for "freshman profile", or check college prowler). They list them as the middle 50%, so if you are above you have a better chance at a scholarship if the school offers them.