WOULDN'T IT BE EASIER IF i COUNSELed MY STUDENT MYSELF?

Parents are welcome to provide college counseling to their own student. How involved each parent wants to be in the college process is a very personal decision. Below are aspects to consider about the value of hiring outside support:

---

1. professional development

There are a multitude of free resources to understand the college process, including books, podcasts, websites, etc. The amount of available information is ENDLESS, which can feel overwhelming to sift through. 

• As an IEC, Yvonne Espinoza spends a minimum of $15,000 and 100 hours EACH YEAR learning about colleges and opportunities for her students. Each year requires the same investment in order to be updated on changes in the college admissions profession and to also maintain communication with college representatives.​
• Mrs. Espinoza's high levels of expertise also assist in completing the process more efficiently. Her familiarity with applications and required materials helps her clients to save both time and energy.

2. project management

Planning for and applying to college is very time-intensive! Students will need to invest time regularly to complete steps, explore careers and interests, and eventually apply to college. By the end of the process, most families noted that it required significantly more time than they had estimated.

• Mrs. Yvonne Espinoza invests an average of 20 hours per year with her Freshmen and Sophomores, 30-40 hours with Juniors, and 40-60 hours with her Senior students. 
• Even if parents have the extensive amount of extra time (and patience) in their schedule to invest in guiding their adolescents through the process, not all teenagers are open to spending such a large amount of time talking with their parents about college. Especially in the case of a more independent teenager, forcing that interaction can cause friction in other areas of your relationship with them when you aren't working on college steps.
• Allowing Mrs. Espinoza to guide your student through the process will free up PRECIOUS time for you and your student to instead spend building your relationship before your student goes off to college. 

4. Objective professionalism

When it comes to the people we love, it can be difficult (or even impossible) to provide objective guidance and to also have that guidance received objectively. 

• ​Mrs. Yvonne Espinoza has spent decades receiving training to work effectively with adolescents. 
• Yvonne's goal is for her students to be less dependent on their parents during this process and more empowered to manage the process independently (with professional support).
• Yvonne is also supporting parents through the process with communication and meetings to demystify the process and take that burden off of the student-parent relationship.​
• Of the Seniors Mrs. Espinoza has worked with who have younger siblings, 86% have hired her in the subsequent years to also extend support to other children in the family.