Admission consultants

[Cayetana]

I'm thinking of hiring an admission consultant.
Any recommendations as to what agency is best to use for PhD in Clinical/Counseling Psychology?
Anyone know of a way to compare them side by side, or get a review of each? Anyone have experience with these companies, and any advice in choosing one?
Thank you!

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[irish80122]

I am not 100% sure what you mean by admissions consultant but I think I know, correct me if I am wrong though. When I was in high school I hired a private college counselor type person to help me through the process, revise my essays and things of that nature. Is that what you mean?

If it is, then my personal recommendation is I wouldn't do it. I still am angry that I hired the person I hired just because I got little out of it. If you are on this board you have access to most of the information they would be able to give you anyway, and once you understand the process and what the schools are looking for it isn't that confusing of a process...you just know that match is everything (or close to it).

As for your essay, if your school has a writing center schedule an appointment and take it over there. I went over it with a freshman, which really was kind of pathetic when you think about it, but it still helped. I also had it go through revisions by four different professors before I came up with my final draft. These options are available to you for free, and I think professors would know what schools are looking for better than a generic college counselor.

Lastly, assuming you have a mentor of sorts at your current school, be sure to ask them lots of questions and find out what they look for in a student. Again, they are closer to the process and they will not lead you wrong whereas someone who is generic and isn't as focused on psych might. Also, if you still don't know, feel free to bounce it off us on the board. We at least will give you our $.02, though as my subname says, take it with a grain of salt .

 

[JockNerd]

If you're still in university, try checking out your school's counseling and career centre (or whatever they call it at your institution). The people who staff the office at my UG institution are VERY knowledgable, and I know that they've helped a lot of poeple with everything from what to say in personal statements to fitting the PS into word limits to formatting CVs. They can even set up mock interview and at my school you can give them background info (one can pretend to be the POI and ask about how your research interests intersect, one can pretend to be a more indifferent prof wanting to know about that C in botony from first year, etc.). I don't know if they're that awesome at every school but something to look at!

Writing Centres are awesome too! I'm biased, bacause I was a writing tutor for a few years in UG

Irish, you have some solid tips too!

 

[Psychbar]

Irish/Jocknerd's advice will only do if you are still in UG and your UG has the strong resources that were mentioned.
I would not dismiss the idea of a consultant just because some people have had bad experiences. It all depends on what resources you have access to without getting a consultant. I was able to "consult" free of charge with a professor of mine for help with my personal statement etc. I also found the Insider's guide extremely helpful. I would say that if you still feel lost after going through the insider's guide a consultant wouldn't be the worst idea. the application process can be very overwhelming without help. As far as which ones are best, I have no idea. I imagine that most of them probably relay the same info, but I really don't know. try googling reviews for consultants.

 

[irish80122]

Agreed. I would say though that you should try to get someone in the field if possible, it is always better to have someone who knows psych specifically then someone who is just a generalist.

Also, it wasn't a bad experience, I just didn't get much out of it for the money I spent. If you don't have the resources and you think it would help, by all means, do it! If you have the resources though I don't think you will find it to be all that helpful.