Is Private College Counseling Fair?

By Amilia Tejada (Staff Writer) and Natalie Gazzana (Staff Writer)

YES, it is fair

As the college application process begins for Samo’s seniors, stress and anxiety among students is heightened. The application process is overwhelming and foreign, leading some sympathetic parents to invest in private college counselors for their children. Most Samo seniors rely on one of 3 college counselors at the school, due to the fact that private counselors come at a price most students can not afford. Is access to the personalized help some students receive when having private counselors fair? There has been much discussion over the preceding question. However, one thing remains the same: private college counselors provide yet another way that wealthy students gain an advantage in the college admissions process.  

Due to there being only three college counselors available for almost 700 seniors, students at Samo need to make appointments months in advance in order to ask their counselors a question. Anjali Devgan (’23) discussed her difficulty scheduling time to talk with a college counselor.

“When you try to sign up for an appointment it says it’s blocked because there is no availability. My counselor answers my questions by email, it just takes a few days for them to answer,” Devgan said. 

When students do finally gain appointment time they are allotted a quick 45 minute window. Seemingly a long window, student’s questions continue to pop up throughout the application process and 45 minutes is simply not enough. This holds true especially when considering the weekly visits students with private counselors receive. These time restraints mean that Samo students without private counseling are required to depend on themselves to navigate the strenuous college application process. Meanwhile, students with access to private counselors receive one-on-one attention without the fear of other students taking up their appointment time. 

If students wish to receive the treatment that private counselors grant, there is an outlandish price to pay. According to U.S News, some college counselors charge over $200 per hour. Few students at Samo are able to afford this luxury. Not only expensive, college counseling works to strengthen the educational gap. A counselor demographics study done by Zippia concluded that around 70% of private college counselors are white. How are these counselors able to aid BIPOC students, when they can not relate to the experience of navigating the college application process as a person of color? Not to mention that the amount of students that have access to personal college counselors are disproportionately white students. This works to strengthen the white population of students in prestigious universities, creating little diversity on college campuses. 

In addition to private counselors, wealthy students have access to ACT and SAT tutors. These tutors will program equations into your calculator, provide practice tests, and teach you test taking strategies. Although many schools are test-optional today, having an exceptional test score can give you an extra edge in the competitive college application process. According to prepscholar.com, the average ACT or SAT tutor costs $40-200 per session. Compared to a flat cost of $50 for a self guided standardized testing workbook, the latter option is much more attractive for low income and middle class students. 

“Not everyone has enough money for private counselors and tutors. It’s not fair that students that can afford it get more priority just based on the amount they can pay,” Samantha Flores (‘23) said. 

Samo’s counselors work hard to manage all of their students but it does not compare to the private counseling that some students receive. Access to private counselors and tutors should be taken into consideration by college admissions teams in order to understand the different resources students have. This consideration will result in more fair admissions decisions and diverse student bodies. 

NO, it is not fair

At Samo, being one person in a senior class of 700 students can be incredibly difficult. It is important to many students that they use all the resources available to get into the college they want.  During the chaos of college applications, it's important that students use all the resources available. Private counseling can better a student's application. 

 The pressure to get into a good college is so common that many students have a dream college they are determined to attend. Private counselors are able to help these students go exactly where they like, whereas the school counselors help students succeed generally. 

For some students, like Billie Waxler (’23) who has her focus on getting into University of Michigan, private counseling is incredibly beneficial. 

“When you have a private counselor it's a lot more intimate and personal. It's a one on one meeting instead of meeting with a school counselor who also has to meet with 200 other students,” Waxler said. 

Samo’s great music and arts programs guides many students to pursue a study/career path in the arts. The school counselors are not trained specifically on reviewing applications to art schools, trade schools and observatories. Private counselors who have expertise on these schools are the best option when it comes to student specific portfolios. In fact, most art schools require a portfolio in addition to the Common App essay and transcripts. The NYU Tisch School of the Arts requires multiple examples of your specified area of visual art, and the Los Angeles College of Music requires an audition video after they review your transcripts.  It is only right that the artistic students who need advice when crafting their portfolio get the help they deserve.

Georgia Press (’23) who has been working on her collaborative arts portfolio since summer with her counselor, shared how private counseling has improved her application process. 

“My counselor has helped me a lot with guidelines. She’s given me deadlines for when certain recordings and parts of my application are due. I procrastinate a lot so having someone keeping me accountable to deadlines is really helpful,” Press said. 

For Press, as with many other students, private counseling has helped her stay on track with all her creative deadlines, versus the traditional Common App and Naviance deadlines. One benefit of the private counseling experience is that students with a tendency to procrastinate have personalized help all year around.  The consistent access that students have to private counseling outweighs having to wait weeks and weeks for a short meeting.

Since so many students around the world apply for college within the same time frame, many people hold different perspectives when it comes to counseling. One argument is that private counseling can be expensive, which is why some people say it provides an unfair advantage to students who can afford it. Although this provides a good point, there are alternatives offered for students coming from different incomes. Private college counseling ranges in price, depending on the counselor. Plus, many colleges offer free application reviews for prospective students. There are many different solutions available when it comes to the steep pricing of private counseling. 

In general, private counseling is a great option for students looking to apply to specific schools and stay on top of their deadlines. Students who take advantage of private counseling are intelligent and should not be punished for using the opportunities they are given.