Ten Top Mistakes Parents Make When Choosing a Residential Camp for their Teen
Mistake number 9: Using an educational consultant is a waste of money
There are good and bad educational consultants, and the good ones are rarely cheap! However, it is not a cost effective use of your time to drive across the 52 states looking for the right kind of troubled teen establishment for your teen, let alone interview endless residential admissions directors! If you are very clear about your teens needs and can spend the time doing a lot of research and keep weeding out the bad establishments, until you find the best one, then by all means, do the work yourself.
If, however, you are unsure of what constitutes a good residential center for troubled teens and have a job and family that needs attention, then an educational consultant is a good investment. Firstly, find an accredited educational consultant, not someone who advertises in your local free paper! A good starting point is either The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) or the Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) both of whom have strict industry standards, a code of conduct and offer accredited training for their members.
Questions to ask an educational consultant before hiring them
- Can you guarantee my teen will get into XYZ School? If they say yes, then drop them off the list, there are no guarantees and you are paying for good advice, not "country club connections"
- What professional conferences or workshops have you attended in the last 12 months?
- What professional accreditations do you have?
- How often do you get out and visit schools, and how many have you visited this year? (At least 20 is a good sign)
- How long have you been an educational consultant?
- What did you do before you became an educational consultant, training, and other qualifications?
- What specialized training do you have? E.g. ODD / ADHD, behavior modification schools?
- How much does it cost and do you show ALL your fees up front?
A good educational consultant is worth their weight in gold, they will get to know your family, they will present you with at least three good choices of appropriate schools and they can give you advice on funding sources. They will also save you the time and distress you could experience, traipsing around the country not finding what your teen needs!