Looking for a College Advisor in NYC
June 4, 2010 2:02 PM   Subscribe

Looking for a college admissions advisor in New York City

My son is finishing his junior year in a special high school because of a diagnosis of ADHD, distractible type, which makes it difficult for him to organize, focus, and concentrate on his work. Also, he has some emotional issues, mainly anxiety.

In his special school, however, he does very well, almost straight A's (probably heavily curved). He just took his SATs and he got 660 math, 690 reading, and 720 writing. This is with accomodations (extra time, small number of kids in classroom).

So -- we want to find a small college for him, one with small classes and support (like tutoring) when needed. This is something we're able to research ourselves.

But I also think it might be helpful to hire a private advisor, mainly because he probably will need help with the application essays. We're told that, if you want to get into a "good" college, the essay has to really reflect your story, and he and we his parents are not going to know how to frame and phrase such a "story."

SO - I was directed (by another parent in my son's class) to someone who is an expert in this field (college advisement for kids with "issues") and I called her. She sounded very nice and knowledgeable. However, she charges SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. She says this is for unlimited time with her as we go through college searches, visits, figuring out which standardized tests to take (some of the kids are also taking the ACT; there is also a question of whether my son will need to take the SAT II (what we used to call the "achievement tests")), and, mostly, her walking my son through draft after draft of an essay (or essays) designed to be forthright about what he has gone through, where he is, and to display his strengths.

I do think, as I said above, that there is a lot of potential value in getting expert help with these essays. However we are certainly not going to pay SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS for this help (the lady pointed out that if we're going to pay for private college we should get him into the right private college and this is a small percentage of that money, but STILL).

Anyway, this is all a ridiculously long-winded way of asking:

Does anyone have any recommendations for a college advisor who has experience with special issues like ADHD etc. and who charges A HELL OF LOT LESS than SEVEN THOUSAND DOLLARS?

Thank you.

[By the way, telling me to chill out and/or send my son to a community college will *not* be a helpful response, thanks. He is going to apply to some state colleges, but I think they require essays too - or not - but he is going to. This is to apply to such schools as Goucher and several others that seem to offer what we're looking for -- a stimulating academic environment with relatively small classes, some special help if needed, and a nice college community with a variety of activities (and where the majority of the kids don't run home on the weekends)]
posted by DMelanogaster to Education (11 answers total)
 
This may not directly answer your question, so flag and delete if needed, but is there any particular reason why you feel you need to hire a specialist? Admissions essays aren't written in secret code. I am willing to bet that with a combination of your input, your sons writing instructors at school, and any other smart people you know would be able to offer plenty of valuable input for free. Even with a story of special-needs, I think it should still be possible to accomplish without a "certified expert".

Are you worried about not knowing which standardized tests to take? Because each college your son is interested in will be happy to explain the admissions requirements very easily.
posted by Think_Long at 2:46 PM on June 4, 2010 [2 favorites]


Yeah, this kind of private help in NYC is generally priced for, well, NYC. I recently saw my middle school tutoring bills in a pile of old papers my mum had on file for me and the total is staggering in 2010 money, let alone 1986 money.

This is, again, not really answering your question but if you can't get an affordable suggestion, I would look for a professional, experienced tutor who tutors highschool seniors. Such a person would have a lot of experience helping kids write college essays, and a half dozen sessions with said person might be a way to effectively hack your goal.
posted by DarlingBri at 4:00 PM on June 4, 2010


Response by poster: I am worried about the information I've gotten that colleges want something in the essay that we don't know about, particularly as regards to a special ed student. There is a college advisor at my son's school, but from what I've heard she is of little use in this regard. Plus, she was supposed to schedule a meeting with me and she has not returned my three phone calls, which I think is awful.

Basically they are very limited in his school, particularly because my son is one of the highest functioning kids there (e.g. they have a list of special ed -type college-ish programs that would not be right for my son).

But you may be right. Maybe there are other resources I can get together besides one of these advisors.

I just want him to maximize his chances of getting into a school where he'll be happy. I also feel kind of emotional about this, because he recently told me, "Mom, I want to go to a college I can be proud of."

He's always felt stigmatized about being in a "special" school and has not wanted to tell people where he goes to school. It's sad. We were ambivalent about sending him there in the first place, but his social adjustment problems four years ago were way way way worse than they are now, so (1) we had to, and (2) the school has done a very good job of increasing both his confidence, both socially and academically - so I guess it was the right decision. However, now he wants to go "mainstream" and we want to support him in that to the best of our ability, including getting whatever help we need to help him get into a good college.

[I'm writing WAY too much tonight. Sorry for the logorrhea]
posted by DMelanogaster at 4:01 PM on June 4, 2010


I understand that you/he want to be proud of where he goes to school, but how will he feel if he DOESN'T succeed at a particular school? The most important thing for him to do is to be successful, and that means finding a school that works for him regardless of the "prestige." I understand that he feels stigmatized, but he needs to work on that himself, not try to address it by going to a school with a "name." He can be proud of himself for many things.

As I was looking up Colleges That Change Lives, which is a book that outlines some of the advantages of smaller liberal arts schools like you're looking at, I found this book, which looks very well regarded. Go to your local giant bookstore and compare it with this one and this one. A book like this will also be invaluable as you go through the process, as you can get a sense of where you might want to look outside of your area. Even if you get all of them, those should give you a good start for less than $150.

As for the essay, one of the best ways to work on that (and one that I recently did with a friend) is to do it orally, conducting an "interview" to first break the ice and then let him say what means most to him in his own words. Type it all out and then work with him to edit it and add more if necessary.

My advice from your previous question still stands. I was glad that I went to a smaller school (one of the CTCL from above) for my first two years, but I disliked it for many other reasons. Sure, smaller schools have closer attention to some things, but a larger school may have a more comprehensive disability services program, including things like notetaking services, peer tutors and one-on-one counseling throughout his career. If you choose a larger school carefully, he may be able to take advantage of all of the social aspects of college while getting better services than might be available at a small school. And, again, even though you say you don't want to hear that he should go to a community college, he can build confidence and then go to a more prestigious school.

There is nothing not to be proud of when you work hard and succeed, regardless of where you go.
posted by Madamina at 4:31 PM on June 4, 2010


A good place to ask may be College Confidential. There's a lot of people on there with good advice.

I also believe that you might save a lot of money if you go out and do the research yourself. That's essentially what these college advisors get paid to do, and if you familiarize yourself enough with a given range of colleges, you can replace them. Good luck.
posted by movicont at 5:16 PM on June 4, 2010


Response by poster: Thanks, all.

Madamina, I'm very aware of the Colleges That Change Lives book. Thanks for the other references.

Also interesting thoughts about large colleges vs. small.
posted by DMelanogaster at 5:59 PM on June 4, 2010


We had to do our college admissions essays in my senior English class in high school, with several rounds of editing by our teachers -- you may want to check to see if they do this before you pay someone $7000 for the same thing.

Also, listen to NPR's perspectives series for... inspiration? on what these sort of "my story" things are supposed to sound like (they're online somewhere, easily googleable I'm sure). It's not written, of course but it might help you get the idea of what "my story" means.
posted by brainmouse at 9:25 PM on June 4, 2010 [1 favorite]


There are actually some good people in NYC who do this for free, on a volunteer basis. You could try contacting Carla Shere, director of the
College Planning program at Learning Leaders
: 646-519-8362 or cshere@learningleaders.org. Some of her volunteers have experience advising essays, and some are accessible at community centers outside of school hours. (They may not be very accessible during the summer break, though.)

Don't be discouraged by the pricey consultants. They're only hired by anxious prep-schoolers, and it's a racket.

There isn't really a magic formula for essays, but there is good advice to be had if you look for it. Help him learn a few things and practice a few times, and then his confidence will do all the work.
posted by greenland at 3:32 PM on June 6, 2010 [1 favorite]


If you don't know why your kid has anxiety issues, re-read your own post. Writing "don't tell me to chill out" is a pretty solid indicator that You Need to Chill Out, and let your son take control of his life. Getting advice is a good first step, but you want somebody who can nudge him in the right direction -- not hold his hand the entire way.

Avoid College Confidential. Avoid it like the plague. If you read it, you will almost certainly lose sight of what's actually important -- that your son gets a good education, and enjoys the next 4 years of his life. There's much, much more to life than the "prestige" of the college that you attended.

It sounds like he desperately wants to be independent, and to slip back in with the mainstream. In this case, I wouldn't even mention his "struggle" in the essay. Surely your son has some other interesting facet of his personality that he can write about? You want to make him feel like he's in control during this process, and also make him aware of the fact that he's really not all that different.

You will need to figure out a way to explain why he's in a special high school for ADD. I wouldn't do it in the essay, but I've never heard of a student being taken out of the mainstream for all 4 years of HS for ADD, especially while receiving all As. This will presumably raise a 'WTF' flag at the admissions office.

He also needs to know that there's absolutely no shame in attending a state or community college for 2 years, and transferring to a "better" school to complete the degree. If nothing else, you'll end up with the same qualification, and spending a whole lot less. If he keeps his grades up, transferring to a state college will be virtually effortless, and they'll be a whole lot less likely to care about his rather strange High School record.
posted by schmod at 1:17 PM on June 7, 2010


Response by poster: Thank you, brainmouse and greenland, Your responses were helpful.
posted by DMelanogaster at 2:30 PM on June 7, 2010


Dr. Frank Leana, a lot of money, but pretty good.
posted by SarahWriter at 2:07 PM on June 14, 2010


« Older Ball goes bouncy bouncy bouncy   |   Help me figure out how speak insuranceeze. Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.