CounselMore

Pros: As an independent educational consultant, I initially chose CounselMore several years ago as the college planning software to power my business. After evaluating several tools, I selected it for its incredible open integration with Google Drive and because it seemed to cover “all the bases” like an automated college list builder to help me curate college lists for families and an organized student portal for keeping track of assignments and communicating with families. It literally saves me hours and hours each week. But what I could never have fully understood at the time was just how powerful it is for these three main reasons:

* Scalability - CounselMore was immensely valuable when I used it for five families. But as my business has grown exponentially, I’ve watched this platform increase my productivity every step of the way as we’ve grown to dozens of students at a time, to multiple employees, etc. It truly is a platform that easily scales as your business grows (and their pricing model scales easily as well!). You will not only find value if you are just getting started with a few students. but CounselMore will scale with you every step of the way.

* Configurable and Customizable - I appreciate that the “out of the box” defaults are an intuitive way to get started. And as you get comfortable with it and learn and iterate on your business processes and how you like to work with clients, CounselMore can be configured to exactly match your processes, helping you to improve your productivity and workflow in a very agile way.

* Collaborative Community – The CounselMore community is seriously the most collaborative group of people I have ever come into contact with. Users are always willing to share their college research, their best practices and show how they are using the product. And the CounselMore Support and Development teams are super responsive. They respond to questions quickly, they take feedback openly and are quick to help users understand best practices.

Cons: Because the tool can be adapted to fit so many ways that consultants like to work, it might seem a bit overwhelming to get started. But because each element of the platform adds value on its own, I learned to take it one step at a time and adopt more functionality as I went. And the help files, support team, and community are there to help you, so don't be afraid to jump in.

Overall: The power behind the CounselMore tool and the community help you efficiently and effectively organize your student interactions and your business processes. I absolutely recommend it!

Pros: As an independent education consultant, I’m impressed by CounselMore’s modern, customizable platform, which saves hours through automation features like the College List Builder and seamless Google Drive Integration. The Application Tracker and Admissions Calculator empower data-driven decisions that I can help the families I work with, and the Student Portal empowers the student to become more organized and motivated to finish their applications well ahead of schedule. The free tools in Settings > Toolbox, such as ready-to-use college lists, are a great bonus for streamlining planning.

Cons: Because it is feature-rich, the platform may initially overwhelm new users, especially solo consultants navigating its extensive integrations. But the weekly community of other real users and plethora of training videos really help to discover all the ways it can help my business.

Overall: I've tried other counseling tools, and CounselMore is the best. It's fantastic college planning software that blends cutting-edge automation, thoughtful integrations, and community-building tools, makes it a great partner for counselors dedicated to guiding students efficiently and effectively.

Pros: Modern and customizable college planning software with excellent tools like the College List Builder, Campus Fit Report, Admissions Calculator, Google Drive integration, and a clear, student-friendly portal. Huge time-saver.

Cons: Takes a bit of time to learn, but the free tools in Settings > Toolbox and helpful community make it easier.

Overall: CounselMore brings clarity and automation to my advising process. With smart integrations and time-saving features, it’s an essential tool for IECs.

Pros: What do we love best?
The repeatable process. From the List Builder to the App Tracker (my personal favorite), we’re able to deliver consistent, high-quality advising with a click. It’s customizable, intuitive, and actually built for how families and consultants work today.

The benefits are real.
CounselMore helps us counsel more students, without burnout. The Google Drive integration, college readiness curriculum, student portal, and built-in messaging make it easy to stay connected with students and parents. Everything lives in one place—assignments, deadlines, supplemental essays, transcripts, and more. It’s modern college planning software that actually works.

We also love how easy it is to plug in our own materials—like the College Sharks Essay Video Series—into the platform. Automation and integrations make it simple to support families on their own schedule.

Bonus win?
The free tools in Settings > Toolbox are gold. Little things like that show the team behind CounselMore truly understands what we need to do our job well.
—
Lee Norwood
Founder, College Sharks
Annapolis College Consulting

Cons: If I had to name a downside?
Nothing major—though it’s worth noting that students and parents have the info at their fingertips…and still don’t always use it! But that's human nature, not software.

Overall: As a college consultant leading a modern, fast-growing practice, CounselMore has truly become the heartbeat of our systems. At College Sharks and Annapolis College Consulting, we use it daily to simplify, streamline, and scale our work across four IECs—and it delivers.
Bottom line: CounselMore helps us stay focused on what we do best—coaching families through the college admissions journey with clarity and confidence. We feel part of a community of professionals who get it, and we’re proud to be part of the CounselMore ecosystem.