Needed to Search for Budget-Friendly Colleges on My Own

My daughter connected well with her counselor, who was supportive and easy to approach. However, as her parent, I sometimes felt my concerns weren’t fully acknowledged. I raised issues about some colleges being beyond our budget and requested more affordable options, but nothing changed. The Collegewise representative assured me that any counselor we chose would identify colleges that fit our financial situation, but that proved untrue. Instead, we were advised to hire a financial counselor for an additional fee. It seems the ‘Admissions’ and ‘Financial’ services at Collegewise aren’t as integrated as they should be, leaving customers to do much of the work themselves. The essay assistance was the most beneficial part of our experience, but we ended up building most of the college list on our own.