In January, high school seniors across the country hit submit on their final college applications, wrapping up months of essays and looming deadlines. As a result of the stressful process, private college counseling has become increasingly common, especially at college preparatory schools like Urban.
Students can utilize private college counselors’ services in various ways. Many students focus on getting feedback on their application essays. Colleges typically require applicants to submit at least one school-specific essay in addition to a personal statement, which almost all colleges receive.
Because college applications require a large quantity of writing, some students look for additional support beyond what Urban’s college counseling provides. “I feel like I have gotten more help writing-wise [and] organizationally,” said Laia Trachtenberg ’26, who co-leads the Financial Aid and Socio-Economic Status (FASES) affinity space and worked with a private college counselor in the fall of 2025. “It’s helpful to have someone to be able to check in with and not have to schedule a meeting.”
As deadlines grow closer, Urban’s counselors are less likely to be able to accommodate same-day meeting requests. However, they still hold various office hours and workshops. “We meet with students individually, we hold a college counseling U Period class [and] we hold open office hours during T Periods. We offer summer work hours, after-school work hours and various workshops throughout the process,” said College Counseling Associate Leslie Schaffer. “Counselors are always available to answer emails, read writing, help with list-crafting, create action plans or address any other need a student may have during the process.”
Aside from offering feedback on essays, private counselors can also help students prepare for standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT. Avi Katzman ’26 discussed his experience working with a private college advisor in his junior year. “We met for an hour every week. … In between our meeting times, I would take a full practice SAT on Bluebook, and then we would talk about it together,” he said. “The ability to have someone who can look at the specific questions I got wrong and guide me through them [was] really useful.”
While useful, counselors’ fees can range from $180 to $1000 per hour. Some counselors charge more for full-service packages, which include test prep and helping students choose where to apply. These services may total more than $10,000 throughout the college process.
Lily Mitchiner ’26 believes some students may be undervaluing Urban’s resources when they turn to private counselors. “[There are] a lot of people going, ‘Urban college counseling is so bad, you have to have a private counselor,’ and the private college counselors are like $500 an hour. I’m like, ‘No, not happening,’” said Mitchiner, who worked with a family friend in addition to Urban’s counselors to review her college applications. “It doesn’t really seem like the greatest investment in the long run. … My mom would rather spend the money on actually paying for tuition than paying for a private college counselor.”
Schaffer raised concerns about the effectiveness of private counselors’ services. “I do know that some [private] counselors make our counselors’ jobs harder. Families are often paying quite a bit for mediocre advice and promises of admissions that no one could make,” she said. “I’ve seen it confuse [people] and just create more work for students and counselors in the end.”
The college counseling department encourages students to utilize Urban’s resources before seeking outside help. “While we want students and families to have support, we often find that when students have an outside counselor, they end up managing more adults and more deadlines, and the stress is actually heightened,” said Lauren Gersick ’99, director of college counseling.
Unlike private counselors, Urban’s college counselors have the ability to communicate directly with colleges to help clarify and provide context about student applicants. “We have found that independent counselors rarely have much to offer in terms of depth and breadth of experience in the field, professional connections and communications with colleges,” Schaffer said.
The college counseling department currently consists of four staff members, three of whom are paired directly with students to support them in working on their applications. Each senior class — composed of more than 100 students — is divided among these three counselors. “[There are a lot of] students per college counselor; they’re not going to be fully committed to you all the time,” Trachtenberg said.
To FASES co-leader Audrey Thornton ’26, Urban’s smaller student body — as compared to most public high schools — can help with college counseling personalization. “Urban’s a small school. We have four counselors, so they get to meet with a smaller group of people and actually know them,” she said. “A counselor [at a larger school] who’s meeting with 120 students just can’t get to know everybody and can’t get to know what everybody is looking for.”
Some students feel that private college counselors can help them manage their time and keep up with deadlines. “I got an out-of-school college counselor the summer before my senior year, and so I was forced to start [my applications] early, which really, really helped me,” Trachtenberg said. “I know a lot of people who started [their applications] late, and they were like, ‘Oh my god, I’m so stressed. I’m finishing my entire personal statement in three weeks.’”
Students who started their applications later also found it difficult to manage deadlines and applications while juggling Urban classes. “I had my personal statement mostly done, but I would have loved to actually [have] had some supplemental essays done over the summer,” Mitchiner said. “It was really hard to balance homework and essays. Most of the time, Sunday would be college day, and I got all my homework done before that. I kind of figured [that] out for myself. No one told me to do that.”
Schaffer emphasized how Urban’s college counseling department works closely with students as a part of the school’s required college process. “Urban counselors are experts in their field. They stay on top of policies and trends, [and] they are in communication with college admissions professionals,” Schaffer said. “They have worked with hundreds upon hundreds of Urban students over the years and are best positioned to shepherd Urban students through this process. There are certain things about Urban in particular that only Urban counselors understand.”