Soon after her sophomore year, Walt Whitman High School senior Justine Cummins-Oman began receiving letters from colleges. Lots of letters — from lots of colleges.
‘‘I could have filled three [recycling bins] with all the stuff we got,” said her mother, Susan Cummins. ‘‘It was unbelievable.”
Navigating the college admissions process, like navigating the sea of mail at their door, loomed as a daunting challenge.
So they called Eliot Applestein — a paid, independent college admissions consultant.
Thirty years ago, private educational counseling was virtually nonexistent. But today, more and more parents are seeking out consultants, paying thousands of dollars for their time and expertise.
The profession has gone through ‘‘incredible growth,” said Mark Sklarow, executive director of the Fairfax-based Independent Educational Consultants Association.
Membership in the association, which sets national standards for private educational counselors, has more than doubled in the past five years, he said, adding that the number of students using private counselors has also increased from about 1 percent in 2000 to about 6 percent today.
Association members must meet several requirements, including a master’s degree, 50 visits to college campuses and reference checks, but virtually anyone can call themselves an independent educational consultant regardless of their background, Sklarow said.
For eight years, Applestein, an AP Psychology teacher with two English degrees, has worked with high school students, helping them to find and gain acceptance to colleges that best meet their needs.
At a fee of more than $2,000, families hire Applestein to work with their high school students, often from the 10th grade to senior year.
Fees for independent educational consultants vary as widely as their credentials, but $3,000 is considered average.
Just as pregnant women take childbirth classes and brides-to-be hire wedding planners, Applestein said he helps students through a major life transition, from living at home to going off to college.
‘‘In essence, I work like an adjunct high school counselor,” he said.
Applestein helps students through the application process, giving advice on who to ask for recommendations and how to list extracurricular activities, as well as providing brainstorming and editing help on essays.
But even beyond the traditional college application, Applestein helps students pick high school class schedules and encourages them to participate in extracurricular activities. A large part of his job is also matching students and their desires to appropriate colleges.
Private counseling ‘‘can’t get you into Harvard, Yale or Penn, but it does give a kid more opportunities,” Sklarow said. ‘‘It will give you another group of colleges to think about that you might not have pondered before.”
Parents and students hire private consultants for a variety of reasons, according to Gail Ross, a lawyer-turned-counselor who has worked with students out of her Bethesda home for seven years.
Some students have a 2.0 grade point average. Some worry that no college will accept them. Some have learning disabilities. Some have no idea about the colleges that might be appropriate for them.
In every case, Ross said she tries to support the students and help them get into colleges that will fit them.
By visiting hundreds of colleges, taking photos, going on tours and speaking with admissions officials, consultants stay up to speed with the variety of colleges available to students.
Indeed, Sklarow said, there are thousands of colleges, but only about 100 are highly selective.
So sometimes, independent counselors serve by ‘‘really helping kids find the colleges that are not necessarily in that highly selective group,” he said.
As a 4.0 student and National Merit Scholar, Justine could have easily gained acceptance to a number of colleges on her own.
But with Applestein’s help in everything from creating a resume to reviewing college programs, Justine was able to earn a full tuition scholarship to Brandeis University in Waltham, Mass. — and keep the sanity in her home.
College applications would have been a ‘‘major struggle,” if it hadn’t been for Applestein’s services, Cummins said.
‘‘I would hate to think of what would have happened,” Justine added. ‘‘My mom and I would probably still not be speaking right now.”
Bethesda residents Karen and Alan Rosenthal also hired Applestein for their son, Jason, who graduated from Walter Johnson High School Tuesday.
By working with Applestein, Jason not only packaged his college applications in the best way possible, but he also determined his goal of studying in a sports management program, Alan Rosenthal said.
After gaining acceptance to eight of the 10 schools he applied to, Jason made a ‘‘tough choice” to attend the University of Michigan because all of the schools suited him, he said.
Although Applestein provided an advantage, he is not the sole reason why Jason got college acceptances, Rosenthal said.
‘‘At the end of the day it’s obviously my son’s doing,” he said. ‘‘He got into Michigan because of how he performed in high school. But having someone like Eliot helped us navigate through that.”