Top 10 Warning Signs You Need an Independent College Counselor

As college admissions becomes increasingly more competitive and the number of applicants for each college continues to rise, many parents and students are turning to Independent College Consultants for a lifeline in navigating the stressful process of preparing, researching, and applying to colleges.

How do you know, as a parent or student, that you might need help with the application process? What are the warning signs that your family might need one of these private counselors? Most families that use a Independent College Counselor know that their ICC is someone that helps to alleviate the stress for students and parents by providing information, helping them find the best fit colleges, and then guiding them through the college admission process.

Here are our top 10 reasons to use Parros College Planning, in no particular order:

1. Every time you mention “college” to your student they get a glassy look to their eyes and walk away from you, usually staring at their phone.
2. You are starting to hear your friends talk about campus visits and your child has not even mentioned the word ‘college’ yet.
3. Your heart starts to beat and you get panicky about the mystique surrounding today’s college admission process: who gets in and why? Or you begin to hear stories about your friend’s kids not getting into the college that they really wanted.
4. The realization that applying to college today is nothing like it was when you applied.
5. Your student’s school counselor is suggesting colleges that you are not interested in your child attending and they promise to help your student, along with the hundred(s) of other kids in the class.
6. You forgot all about registering them for the ACT or SAT and do not understand which test would be better for them to take.
7. Your student has no idea what field or college might interest them and they don’t seem to interested in finding out.
8. You don’t want to start at ground zero in the college process and you feel that an expert could direct you better.
9. You know that you can’t keep nagging your student and you need someone else to do it for you, nudging them when they need it.
10. You have not thought about paying for college and have no idea what colleges will offer the most financial aid to your family.

We know that most of our clients have experienced some, or even all of the 10 points listed above. Today’s students really do have a plethora of options and in some cases unreliable assistance from the high school so it can make the idea of planning for college very stressful. Particularly as the college search process is starting earlier and earlier in the lives of high school students, we continue to start working with our clients as early as 8th grade.

“One of the things that we stress to our families is that their child will do well wherever they go. We work on finding the perfect fit for our students and keep it balanced with the idea that it’s not always where you went to college but what you did there,” said Timothy Parros, owner of Parros College Planning.

We find that most students and families can benefit from the assistance of an experienced consultant, someone that helps to clarify their options along with providing deep insight into the right college selection for the student. We also know from our families that many students need more individualized attention than their high school counselor can give them. The college search, selection, and application process requires organization and a sound strategy.

Curious to see our action process at work? Check out a Blog from Ryan, a Parros student graduating this spring here. He gives insight into our process from the student/family perspective and discusses how where he’s ending up in college is completely different than where he thought he would.