中文(English version follows below)

孩子大学申请上岸，总结几个用过的物美价廉的服务

抛砖引玉，希望大家还可以分享其他的信息。祝福今年申请的孩子旗开得胜，马到成功。 需要下面信息的联系我：华人网的smile1234, 或者wellnessstacking@gmail.com。

1.大学咨询。我没用过几千几万的，家里没这个底、也觉得没有必要，因为觉得我孩子需要的只是指点和提高一些。如果每一步都要人牵手着走和彻底地包装，孩子去了大学估计也撑不住。

几年前我村有个父母用了一个Matriculate Student Advising: https://matriculate.org/, 我才知道这是个和T25大学合作的项目，选出来的大学生经过系统培训后，开始给全国的高中生升学做咨询。如果你家年收入大概再9万以下就属于他们的低收入家庭的范围，那你孩子申请他们被批准后，他们会指定一个大学生跟踪你孩子1-2年，手把手教孩子如何选课、选学校、申请奖学金、写essay，鼓励学习等等，全免费。

学习好的穷孩子真是有很多机会，这几年去的都是免费或几乎免费的好大学。你孩子上大学后，如果有兴趣，也可以去申请做他们的student advisor，写在简历上好看的。

和多数华人家庭一样，我家条件不符合低收入家庭的范围。我用的那个ABC大学生也是这个组织培训出来的，收费是75/小时。 这个ABC是我村一个父母用过后微信群里推荐给大家的， 他ACT阅读满分，写作很棒。我孩子咨询过的话题包括高中选课（提前了解避免到时走弯路），选校（哪些学校合适还一般给钱多，及文科生的出路）， 他只指导如何写essay (不会直接帮改写, 估计组织有规定吧），等等。

我们因为不在这读的本科，很多东西不了解，我看了一本书还似懂非懂，所以咨询效果不错。有一次我还让我孩子咨询了如果管理她失控的手机，三更半夜不睡觉，已经根本不听父母的了，和同龄人倾述一下效果好了很多。

2.Common App Essay。 我孩子的各项硬指标还不错，我们不希望essay拖后腿，所以让一个Research 1的写作教授改了。教授收费自然会贵点，要小几百，但结构和文采会细改，会要一些细节根据孩子的整体水平和essay底稿水平来做调整，避免被AO看出这essay不符合这个孩子的实际水平，值得。她发过写Essay的技巧一个贴：https://huaren.us/showtopic.html?topicid=3135586

3.AP课辅导。我孩子有一年选了5门AP课，加上其他的事，忙到不行，所以统计课就没花很多心思，烦躁得不行。我联系了我当地大学数学系的Math Center， 拿到了一份自愿辅导人员的名单，有各种报价，有校内校外的，有数学的有工程的，试了2个效果并不好，估计从数学和工程到统计之间的教学，表达还不能直白地一步到位。于是我想着如何找个真正教统计的教授，我联系上一个经济系教统计的教授，他推荐了一个他教统计的博士生Graudate Teaching Assistsant (GTA)，又专业又比教授便宜多了。我孩子一个星期上1-2次课，进步神速，终于赶上来了，焦虑也减少了。

所以大家可以参考用本地大学的GTA。我孩子的乐器也是从一个教授转到了一个负责又便宜的博士生。

English Version

College Application Resources: Ones I have used and liked

I hope these tips serve as a starting point, and I invite others to share their wisdom as well. Best of luck to all the students applying this year—may you achieve great success! For more information, feel free to reach out to me: smile1234 on Huaren.us, or via email at wellnessstacking@gmail.com.

1. College Consulting: Finding High-Value Guidance

I never hired those consultants that cost tens of thousands of dollars. We didn't have the budget, and honestly, I didn't think it was necessary. I believe a student just needs guidance and refinement; if they need to be "hand-held" or "packaged" every step of the way, they may struggle to keep up once they actually get to university.

• For Lower-Income Families: A few years ago, a parent in my town mentioned Matriculate Student Advising (https://matriculate.org/). This organization partners with Top 25 universities to train college students as advisors. If your household income is roughly below $90k, your child can apply for their free program. They provide 1-2 years of one-on-one coaching on course selection, college lists, scholarship applications, and essays. It’s an incredible opportunity for high-achieving students from humble backgrounds. Later, your child can even apply to be a student advisor themselves—it looks great on a resume!
  
  

• For Typical Families: Since we didn't qualify for the free program, we worked with a tutor who was actually trained by that same organization. He was a high-achieving student with a perfect ACT reading score and excellent writing skills. He charged $75/hour. He advised my child on high school course selection (to avoid mistakes early on), finding "generous" schools that fit a liberal arts major, and essay guidance (he provided direction rather than rewriting for them).
  
  

• Bonus Tip: Since we didn't attend undergrad in the U.S., many things were confusing. My child even consulted him on "phone addiction" and late-night habits—sometimes advice from a peer is much more effective than a lecture from a parent!
  
  

2. The Common App Essay

My child had strong stats, so we wanted to ensure the essay didn't hold them back. We hired a writing professor from a Research 1 university to review it. While professors are more expensive (a few hundred dollars), she provided deep structural and stylistic edits. She made sure the essay reflected my child’s true level and voice so that Admissions Officers (AO) wouldn't feel the essay was "over-processed" or artificial.

• Note: She previously shared a post on essay-writing tips here: Huaren Link
  
  

3. AP Course Tutoring: Utilizing Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTA)

One year, my child took 5 AP classes and was overwhelmed. AP Statistics was causing a lot of stress. I initially contacted the Math Center at our local university and tried a few tutors from their list, but the results weren't great—the math/engineering tutors couldn't quite explain statistics in a way that clicked.

I eventually contacted a Statistics professor in the Economics department, and he recommended one of his Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs). This was a game-changer. The GTA was highly professional and significantly cheaper than a professor. After 1-2 sessions a week, my child caught up quickly, and the anxiety vanished.

• Pro-Tip: Don't overlook local university GTAs! They are subject-matter experts and usually very affordable. We even found a fantastic, responsible PhD student for music lessons this way.