​3. You’re not sure which schools you’re likely to get into.
 
I spend a lot of time emphasizing the importance of a balanced college list with my families. A good college list is between 8 and 12 schools, most of which are schools you are likely or very likely to get accepted to. A balanced college list means you’ll get more yes’s than no’s, and applying to a smaller number of colleges enables you to submit the strongest possible application to each of your schools.
 
Most families would agree with this in theory, but when it comes to finalizing the college list, it often leans heavily toward the reaches. But applying to college is not like playing the lottery. Applying to lots of reach schools does not increase your chances of getting into one of them, and spreading yourself across too many applications diminishes the quality of your work. Choose two or three reach schools, and do the very best job you can on those applications, so that whatever decision they make you can walk away knowing you did everything you could. 
 
The counter to this is finding more schools you are likely to get into. I rarely have to help a student come up with reach schools, but many students struggle to find schools they can get into that they also genuinely like. Applying to a school just because you think you can get in is never a great idea; it’s always better to have options to choose from than to end up somewhere by default. An independent counselor can make thoughtful recommendations and guide your student through the research process to help them identify the academic, personal, and social qualities that are essential to them in a college. Then they can use a range of resources, like Naviance scattergrams and previous years’ admissions decisions, to identify the schools where your student is likely to get accepted.

Next: Reason #4 - You're worried about paying for college 

​2. Your child doesn’t know what to write his essay about.

I give a lot of free seminars about writing great college essays. I come from a writing background, so the essay is my favorite part of this process. I love being able to spend an hour with a group of students, knowing they’re going to leave feeling more confident and prepared to go off and write their first drafts. But sometimes I get a question I can’t answer: what should I write my essay about? I honestly don’t know; I just met you. But once I’ve spent an hour with a kid, once I’ve read through his responses to our brainstorm questions, I know what he should write his essay about. I can tell by the way his face lights up when he starts describing it, or how I can’t type fast enough to catch all the great phrases he’s using, or how I’ve never heard anyone tell a story quite like that before. Independent counselors know what colleges are looking for in the essay, and how a student should share his story to be a stronger applicant. A good counselor can help you see an exceptional story you didn’t even know was there. 

Next: Reason #3 - You're not sure which schools are "safety schools"

Saying the phrase “independent counselor” to a group of parents is a bit like a Rorschach test. Some people are completely unfamiliar with the concept and how it’s different from their high school guidance counselor. Some people used one for their older child, or when they were going through the process, and can’t imagine not working with one. And most people fall somewhere in the middle. There’s no question that the college application process has gotten more complex, demanding, and stressful in recent years. Even so, not every family needs an independent counselor to help them navigate this process successfully. But here are 5 reasons you might.
 
1. You don’t want to be the bad guy.
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Think about your child doing homework every night. Is it a relatively calm experience where she takes the reins and comes to you only when she needs help? Or are you the project manager, asking about deadlines and assignments, nagging your child to follow up with their teacher, and doing a daily review of SchoolLoop to keep track of their grades?
 
Applying to college is like one big homework assignment, with a dozen different deadlines, big and small pieces, and occasionally very little instruction. For some parents, this sounds like a fun activity to sink their teeth into for a few years. But for many others, they can already feel the strain this will introduce into every family dinner and every car ride home from school. An independent counselor is just that, independent of you and your family. They can be the one making sure things are getting done (and explaining the consequences when they don’t). They can be the one pushing your child, so you can encourage them, console them, and ultimately celebrate with them. Independent counselors do this job full-time, so you don’t have to.
 
Next: Reason #2 - Your child doesn't know what to write his essay about