We don’t offer college admissions consulting at ArborBridge. But in our work with the high school students we tutor, we have front row seats for our students’ college selection, application, and admissions process. And after watching over 1,000 students go through this process over the past decade, I can say with confidence:
A great college counselor is really, really important.
Working with a reputable, experienced college admissions consultant—whether it be the counselor at the high school or an independent professional—is absolutely critical for students. Here’s why:
What the college admissions process boils down to is matchmaking. Somewhere out there for each student are one or a few colleges that are a perfect match.
And a perfect student-college match means two things:
1) The college is a terrific fit for the student
2) The student is a terrific fit for the college
It sounds simple, but the fact is, students tend to be woefully ill-equipped to self-matchmake. Let’s talk about both of these criteria:
Criterion 1: The college is a terrific fit for the student.
Problem: Students and parents usually know almost nothing about most colleges.
There are hundreds of great colleges in the US, and like students, each is unique, each has strengths, and each has flaws. Every college has its own specific “thing” going on, its own vibe, its own culture. But since families typically haven’t even heard of many colleges, let alone possess a naunced understanding of each, they end up relying on US News’s crude rankings and the broadest stereotypes about the more famous colleges to inform their opinions on what the right match may be.
The great thing about working with an experienced college counselor is that they know a ton about a ton of colleges. A great college counselor pays multiple visits to hundreds of campuses, follows colleges and their evolution through the years, and they have relationships with students and staff who have lived there. They really know their stuff.
A great college counselor will spend the early sessions with a student learning all about her—everything from her career and extracurricular interests to the things that make her anxious to the type of person she tends to make friends with. A college counselor’s list of target schools, reaches, and safeties for a student takes into account so much more than broad stereotypes and US News rankings—it’s a reflection of the counselor’s years of expertise.
Criterion 2: The student is a terrific fit for the college
Problem: Students tend to be bad at communicating who they are to the colleges that want them.
A student may be perfect for a college, but colleges don’t get to know a student—they get to know a student’s application. A well-done college application successfully communicates a complex person and his or her subtleties to a very busy admissions staff. Not an easy task.
A great college counselor is not only an expert on colleges—he or she is an expert on students. One of the key skills of a college counselor is helping students tell their story—their whole, unique story—in a small handful of forms, essays, and maybe an interview.
A college admissions staff might reject a student that’s an ideal fit if it never successfully learns the student’s story.
In summary:
A college counselor is, when it comes down to it, a yenta who identifies a student and college that should be together and helps them get to know each other.
This is important. College isn’t just four years of life—it’s the place where people make their lifelong friends, learn things about themselves that determine the path of their career, and it forms a portion of a student’s lifelong identity. And without the help of a professional in what is otherwise a frantic and hazy process, students are relying on luck in picking the right place for them and taking the risk of selling themselves short to the places to which they apply.
Learn more about how we work with college counselors.
ArborBridge Co-Founder
