But I don't think it's the fault of the people who are providing the services. It's the system. There's this anxiety that hangs in the air. The consultants, of course, can fuel that angst, creating an environment in which students and their parents are only seeking the same advantages others are taking. It kind of builds into a frenzy.
Some consultants blame the schools themselves for ratcheting up the tension.
Gore Marcus has been in the college counseling field for 23 years and has two children attending Stanford. Gore Marcus believes a good private counselor can actually put students on a more equal footing. Nothing widens the gap between the haves and have-nots more than elite college preparatory schools, she says. So a private counselor can be particularly valuable to public school students, who make up the majority of her clients. But most of us provide a very helpful service at a time of transition.