College Edge, LLC

Making College Dreams Come True!

Why Hire a College Admissions Consultant?

What can a College Admissions Consultant do for you?

Let the statistics speak for themselves:

· According the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC, 2004) in 2004 there were 3 million students that graduated from high school and 60 percent of them will be heading off to college.  These numbers are expected to rise until the year 2010 as the students from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s population boom reach college age.  In addition, 67% of the colleges studied reported an increase in the number of applications they

received last year.  Since 1974 enrollment in colleges has increased by 50% and the number of institutions that have become eligible to receive federal financial aid has increased by 40%.  This increase in college population will not only cause an increase in competition, but also an increase in the student to counselor ratio resulting in a decrease in college preparatory guidance.

· According to the U.S. Department of Education (2003), the national ratio of students to counselors in public schools is 485 to 1, which is almost five times the recommended number according to benchmarking studies.  The 2004 NACAC study puts the ratio at 478 to 1.  The NACAC reports that the ratio in Maryland is 389 to 1, which is still almost 4 times the recommended number.  In the NACAC study (2004) the average counselor as a whole reported spending less than half of their time (39%) on college preparation counseling.  However, in public schools the percentage is only 28 and private schools the percentage is 61.  The rest of their time is shared by personal counseling, course selection, test administration, job placement, and administrative duties.  In Maryland, it is estimated that counselors are only devoting up to 2 hours per student on college admissions counseling. Unfortunately, your college guidance counselor is most likely overworked and not able to provide the in-depth, customized, and comprehensive services that College Edge Consultants can.

· NACAC (1990) defines pre-college counseling as helping students “pursue the most challenging curriculum that results in enhanced postsecondary educational options, identify and satisfy attendant requirements for college access, and navigate the maze of financial aid, college choice, and other processes related to college application and admission”.  The report indicates that the most important factor for student success is access to a strong pre-college guidance program that begins early in the student’s education.  NACAC states (1990) that students without this guidance experience greater challenges.  College Edge starts working with students as early as the 8th grade to best position them for acceptance into the college that best suits their needs.

· The NACAC (2004) survey of colleges indicates that the current top three indicators for getting into college are grades in college-prep courses, standardized testing scores, and overall GPA.  Several studies (Perkins et al. 2004), (Astin et al., 2002) have indicated that student GPA’s have continued to increase since the 1960’s.  There is no exact indication of the reason for this but some have speculated that the grade inflation is a result of the expectations of the higher and higher number of students heading off to college.  Based on this speculation, colleges are beginning to focus less and less on overall GPA and more on individual grades received in the actual college-prep curriculum.  Another trend in the factors for admission is that the application essay has been gaining more importance as the class rank has been decreasing in importance (NACAC, 2004).  Our consultants remain abreast of the current trends, and communicate them to you taking the guess work out of what admissions counselors are seeking.

· NACAC (2004) indicated that there has also been a small trend of colleges who have reported raising admissions standards for acceptance.  If this trend continues it will become increasingly more competitive to obtain acceptance into college and it will become imperative for students to receive extra guidance.

· The US Department of Education (2003) indicates that home-schooled children make up almost 20% of current students enrolled in high school.  This is a 15% increase in homes-schooled children from 1999.  This increase has also created an increase in the number of home-schooled students that apply to college and has caused colleges, 83% of them, to adopt formal application procedures for this population.  College Edge can provide the valuable guidance services that home-schooled children need in a group course helping them to be as competitive as private or public schooled children.

· The US Department of Education (2003) indicates a lack of professional development activities reported by high school guidance counselors due to budgetary constraints.  Therefore, many of the trends in admissions counseling are not being heard by guidance counselors and consequently, not being communicated to the students they are assisting.  College Edge consultants have more time to engage in professional development activities as they create their own priorities and can focus primarily on college guidance

· Finally, public school counselors are twice as likely to have completed graduate coursework specifically in the areas of educational counseling and statistics/data analysis as opposed to their private school counterparts.  This is due to state certification requirements of public school counselors.  This is extremely important in marketing The College Edge, LLC services to private school parents in that clients would be receiving services from professional consultants with a master’s degree and direct experience in college admissions.  All College Edge Consultants have master’s degrees and at least 5 years direct experience in either college or admissions counseling.

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                         References

 

Hawkins, David, A. & Lautz, J. (2004) State of College Admission.  National

                         Association of College Admission Counseling

 

National Association for College Admissino Counseling (2004b).  The Admission

                         Process: More Mechanical or More Holistic?  NACAC Bulletin. 

                         March/April 2004, p. 13

 

National Association for College Admission Counseling.  (1990), June).  Statement

                         on Precollege Guidance and the Role of the School Counselor.  Alexandria,

                         VA

 

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. (2004, July).

                         1.1 Million Homeschooled students in the United States in 2003.

                         Washington, DC.