College consulting is a field that has taken off in the last few years. As admissions to top schools have become more competitive, parents and students are looking for resources to give them an edge.

This week, I’ve asked a professional educational consultant, Dr. Cynthia Crespin, Ph.D., a few basic questions about these services.

What does a college consultant do?

You wouldn’t get behind the wheel of a car and attempt to drive it without getting some lessons first, right? And when you buy a house, you use a Realtor. The college admissions process is highly complex and the financial investment is enormous. Working with an expert will educate you about the process of college admission- the do’s and don’ts. They can help you with every step of the process from beginning to end, including essay review and college selection. Bottom line: Given the competition, it is probably the most important investment you can make in your child’s future.

What advantages do students who utilize college consulting services gain over students who do not?

Students who use this service maximize their chance to get into the college of their choice, to find the college that is right for them and the peace of mind that they are doing everything possible to help their child meet their goals. Stress is taken out of the equation, as much as possible, when you partner with an expert who serves as your informed guide.

When looking for a college consultant, what should parents look for and watch out for?

Ask for their credentials. Did they go to an Ivy League school if that’s where you child wants to go? Do they have a Master’s in Education or Psychology. Ideally, they would have a Ph.D. in Education or Psychology and be versed in career testing to help your child choose a major and thus tailor their college search. They should have several years of experience in a college/higher education capacity as some type of counselor/adviser. Just because an individual has attended college does not make them qualified to advise others on how to get into college. Beware of anyone lacking a graduate degree in either Psychology or Education; at best they’re simply unqualified and at worst, they could do your child’s college application real harm.

Many thanks to Dr. Crespin, an independent educational and career consultant, for taking time out of her busy schedule to field these questions. Dr. Crespin has over 15 years of career and college counseling, teaching and consulting experience. She earned her undergraduate degree, with honors, from Harvard University and also holds a Master’s degree in Education with specialization in Teaching and Curriculum Design from Harvard University.

Dr. Crespin also holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology. She has advised and assisted students at numerous instiutions of higher education including The Colorado College Career Center, Northeastern University’s Departments of Psychology and Co-operative Education and the Dean’s Office at Harvard College.

Written by: Dr. Tara J. Palmatier, Psy.D.

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Not to be confused with the previous fracas over College Board scoring the October SAT test incorrectly, universities have reported widespread declines in the SAT scores of their current applicant pool. Some public universities are reporting 12 to 15 point drops in scores even though class rank and academic coursework have been just as strong as in previous years. College Board’s email response to concerned admissions directors during the last month indicated that there was a 4 to 5 point drop in the average national scores for the critical reading and math sections compared to the same sections on last year’s test. They have also assured that the new test format for this year was closely equated with the old test so that scoring differences would not be noticed. Obviously, this has not been the case. Average scores on the ACT, a rival exam also used for college admission, were similar to last year.

While educators find this decline puzzling, perhaps College Board should consider the following factors while they analyze the scoring data for the next few months (their final report on this year’s test scores is due by August): 1) test fatigue, as this year’s test is 45 minutes longer; 2) the new test costs $41.50 vs. $24, so there may be less repeat test takers; 3) the testing format is different than previous years with a new writing section.

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Are high schools that refuse to rank their seniors actually hurting their chances for admission at various colleges? Guidance counselors and college admissions officers probably differ on their views. Until recently, class rank was a major factor in deciding so that admissions directors knew how one student compared to another. Last year, up to 40 percent of high schools did not rank their seniors nor give that information to colleges, as reported by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Jim Bock, dean of admissions and financial aid at Swarthmore College said, ‘If we’re looking at your son or daughter and you want us to know that they are among the best in their school, without rank we don’t necessarily know that.’ If high schools do not provide enough general information about what their grades mean, many admissions directors may have to weight SAT scores more heavily. Colleges would most likely come up with their own student ranking if high schools only provide a distribution of their grade averages across the senior class. A recent internal review at Vanderbilt revealed that their admission rate was highest for students with a class rank and lowest for those from schools without general data about grades or a rank. Kenyon College reported that 60 percent of their enrolled freshmen of last Fall applied without a rank. Kenyon’s dean of admission, Jennifer Delahunty Britz believes, ‘It allows you to tailor your admission process to what your institution strives for.’ I suspect at other colleges, grades without a context probably means that admission officials are making estimations and possibly not the most informed decisions.

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This is not comedy.
The College Board apologized to high school students and college admissions offices this week after acknowledging that more students received mistakenly low scores on the October SAT exam. The board disclosed yesterday that 27,000 of 495,000 college entrance tests taken in October were not fully re-scanned for errors after scoring problems surfaced. When they were, an additional 375 students were found to have incorrectly low marks. The announcement brings to 4,411 the number of students who received incorrectly low scores. It is the latest in a string of embarrassing revelations for the College Board, the nonprofit organization that owns the exam, which said after discovering the 1,600 exams last week that it believed there would be no more problems.

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Good news for the 4,000 test takers whose October SAT scores were reported incorrectly due to moisture content problems on their paper answer grids. They will now receive higher marks. Hopefully, any changes in their admission status to the college(s) of their choice will occur quickly. Currently, 731 higher education institutions do not use the SAT nor ACT as part of the application packet for incoming students. They believe this one test taken on one certain day does not accurately measure probable success at their schools. Rather, they evaluate prior academic performance, the rigors of coursework, personal essays, letters of recommendation, leadership, interviews, and community service records to gauge future academic success. Test scores do not equal merit.

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