A Place for Independent Educational Consulting
On July 18, Jacques Steinberg published an expose in the New York Times entitled, “Before College, Costly Advice Just on Getting In.” The article focused on the growing field of high-priced college planning consultants.
Unrelated, a job posting was circulated a week later by one of the featured firms for a senior level manager. The position description read more like a sales/marketing position involving human chattel than an educationally based enterprise.
It strikes me that the phenomenon of the overpriced-priced college consultant or, should I say, placement agent is further evidence of a process gone awry in some quarters. Families that buy in are clearly subscribing to the notion that destination matters-and at all costs. When that happens, young lives become the currency for a handful of opportunistic individuals who seek to parlay degrees from elite institutions, or brief encounters with college admission at those places, into mega-bucks consulting operations. The inference, of course, is that one’s prior association with a particular institution will make the difference in leveraging the desired outcomes. Lost in the scramble for name-brand destinations, however, is a perspective that is centered on helping young people discover their own direction while making good decisions about their educational futures.
Fortunately, this scenario only touches a small percentage of the college-going population. If you feel left out because you are unable to afford such opportunities (ranging up to $40,000)-or you simply were not aware of them-don’t despair. Your students are not at a disadvantage. These people don’t get kids into selective colleges. Kids compete on their own merit. In fact, college admission officers consistently rate the “authenticity” of the applicant as a valued quality in the selection process.
I mention this because I believe there is a role for private counseling in the college planning process. It is a role, however, that eschews the clamor for fancy destinations and focuses on what is best for the developing young person. And it should be accessible at a fraction of the cost cited by the folks who specialize in packaging kids for college.
Each of us follows a distinctive learning path during our formative academic years and in life. It would seem, then, that a reasonable objective of college counseling would be to help advance young people along their respective paths. This is best accomplished by helping the student develop greater self-awareness within the context of the college admission process. The fundamental questions of “Who am I?” “Why do I want to go college?” “What do I want to achieve?” “Under what conditions do I function best academically?” need to be asked over and over again until the student begins to internalize responses that become his priorities and, ultimately, the filters through which he can process all of the information he receives about colleges.
This is the essence of effective college counseling-helping students become self-aware and more confident as decision-makers. Young people need to be supported in pursuing learning paths that make sense for them and in finding colleges that value them for what they have to offer. They benefit from the personal validation that comes with honest reflection and will often surprise us with the solutions they discover on their own.
I often cite the parable of the hungry man to illustrate this point. If you encounter a hungry man, you can satisfy his hunger for the moment by giving him a fish. Or, you can help make sure he will never have to be hungry by teaching him how to fish.
It is easy to lose track of young people and their learning paths amidst the noise and posturing associated with “getting into the best colleges.” In doing so, we tend to overlook the importance of the student’s own discovery of what is best for himself in favor of our own assumptions about what the “best” must be. We stop teaching and start handing out solutions. In the process, the opportunity to make choices consistent with aptitude and learning style gives way to the obsession for placement in academic environments defined less by good fit and more by brand recognition.
As an author and speaker, I value the opportunity to teach young people “how to fish” so they can be self-reliant in the college-going process. And I know there are scores of private counselors around the country who do the same. You will know them by their broad knowledge of the admission process, their humility (a tacit understanding that they are not bigger than the process), and a personal integrity that is manifest in a genuine interest in helping young people follow their respective learning paths.
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