Planning for College: It's never too early!

Today's announcement by the Princeton Review that they are entering the educational consulting field is a terrific addition to the college planning landscape. I know that this view from an educational consultant like me may seem odd, but let me explain. I believe that the more information available to students and their families, the better prepared they are to make wise choices in the process.

What are the different ways in which families can get information about the process and how do they differ? Keep in mind that this process is primarily the student's but it is important to teach the student  how to do the proper research. It is not just looking through college guides or making random visits to colleges whose names everyone knows. The college landscape is broad and there are many wonderful schools which might provide a better social, emotional, and academic fit for the student than the more well-known institutions. In some ways, this is comparable to randomly reading the multiple listing service lists of houses for sale and focusing only on one neighborhood in a city thereby losing the better deal on a more suitable home that is just around the corner. This is where independent educational consultants can provide more individualized services than can the more impersonal class that focuses on process which are offered by large firms.

The independent educational consultant takes the time to get to know the student and the family. S/he really listens to what both the parents and student want included in the consideration of a college. It is usual for consultants to have the student take one or more career assessments and to explain the results in an effort to increase the student's self-awareness which will lead to the ability to make better choices in the long term. Even if you, as a parent, are having difficulty recognizing that your student has the ability to develop self-awareness, I am sure you can see the benefit of exposing him or her to doing so.

Managing the process is also a part of what the educational consultant does with the student. It is often easier to have an adult other than the parent do this because the relationship is less emotionally laden than the parent/child relationship at this stage in the family's life. Most educational consultants have at least some background in family psychology and, although we are not therapists, we do know how to see all sides of an issue and to maximize the relationship.

Finally, and this is the most valuable part of the process which the independent educational consultant offers, knowledge of a wide range of colleges which might provide a good fit or match for the student. We get this knowledge by visiting colleges, attending professional conferences, and keeping our fingers on the pulse of the changes in higher education. All this comes at a price and it is this expertise for which you pay when you hire an educational consultant. In much the same way as a concierge doctor caters to the needs of individual patients, the educational consultant caters to the needs of a small group of clients at any one time. In the former scenario, the patient pays more for this service than does the patient who has an HMO; in the educational consulting world, individual service comes at a higher price than that offered by anonymous large companies. In the past, the high school counselor had the time to do some college counseling but that is becoming more difficult as counselor caseloads become increasingly more unmanageable as school districts continue to cut budgets. In addition, it is a rare Masters in School Counseling program that offers even one course in college counseling. The independent educational consultant has a variety of ways to learn how to effectively deliver services to families and the motivation to do so.

The bottom line is that you should find the help you need at whatever price point you can afford to help your student make informed choices. There is no need to spend tens of thousands of dollars to do this. Most independent educational consultants charge relatively modest fees and do a great deal of pro bono or sliding scale work in their practices. You never know until you ask.