Tutor or College coaches
For this, I am talking about standardized test tutors/classes.
We have been very fortunate in terms of the education opportunities that our daughters have been given in the public school. They were both part of different magnet programs that really benefited their strengths. For our younger daughter she has been in an accelerated G&T program since 4th grade, and she was accepted into a specialized STEM program for high school - all of which have given her amazing opportunities. But, the downside has been that she sometimes struggles with self-confidence - because, as smart as she is - she compares herself to her peers, who are also very smart, and she often sells herself short. I mention this, only because it played a big part in how we approached the college application process, including the standardized tests. We felt it was very important that she found a college that felt like home for her, but also that she felt like she earned on her own - i.e. she does not have to second guess if she belongs.
So, with that in mind, we never considered getting a tutor to prepare for the ACT. Our school district pays for all sophomores and juniors to take the ACT in March each year. To prepare for the first ACT, we bought a test prep book, with practice tests, and that was it. She did very well, and scored a 34 - but she was particularly low on her math score - because she had not finished the test. At that point, we knew the 34 was in the wheelhouse of the schools she was considering, and when it came time to re-take the test as a junior, we got another book, and she only focused on the math test - just to work on the timing and rhythm. This time she finished the test, and got the 36.
If your student struggles with standardized tests, and you can afford it, I would recommend a tutor/class. For a lot of kids, getting past the test anxiety can be a real issue that masks their ability. So, having a tutor who can share some strategies and techniques to ease that anxiety is worth it imo. I don't think test grades are a critical part of the application - but as schools go back to requiring them, I think they do act as confirmation of the high school transcript. So, trying to raise a score to at least the median scores of a particular college is probably the right target.
As for college coaches, many of our daughters peers used one - and I think it is fairly typical for (wealthier) students looking to get into a T20 school. We just never saw the value. First, we felt like we had a good idea of what colleges were looking for in applications. Second, as noted above, it was really important to us that our daughter felt like she earned whatever opportunity she go on her own. And, Third, we put a lot of faith into the college admissions counselors - and by that I mean, I think they know hat they are looking for in a student who will be successful on their campus - and if that meant our daughter did not get into a particular school - it was because she was not a good fit, and would not have enjoyed the experience. We had the luxury of knowing that our daughter would have many options - but we also felt that her application would reflect exactly who she is - and colleges were either looking for that, or not. And we wanted her to be where she saw herself, and where someone else thought that she would fit in.
Our concern with a college coach was that they could potentially guide our daughter to a "better" application/essays, etc. but, that might not end up being a true reflection of who she is - and if she got into a school that was not a good fit, well we worried about those consequences from a social and academic perspective.
Last topic
ED v. RD
When we started the process for our younger daughter (Older daughter did not apply to any schools with ED, but she did apply to all of her schools Early Action - meaning she got accepted but it was not binding) we anticipated that she would apply to schools either for Regular Decision or Early Action decision. Part of this was simply indecisiveness - she could not choose a "top" school. Part of it was a recommendation from her school counselor. About mid-November daughter was getting anxious and we sat down with her, and helped her talk through her top choices - and it was clear that she had a top choice, though she was afraid to commit. We've seen the same data about acceptance rates for ED v. RD, I also ran the cost calculator at Vanderbilt to ensure we could afford it if she got in, and ultimately we allowed her to switch her application to ED2 (Vanderbilt is among a few schools who have two separate early decision windows).
After the dust settled - I am not sure it mattered from an admissions decision standpoint. I can share the admissions data - and at Vanderbilt the ED acceptance rate this year was 15.2% across both ED windows, and the regular decision acceptance rate is expected to be about 4%. Two years ago, they accidentally released data for ED1 (24%) and ED2 (10%) - and I suspect that are holds. A couple of years ago they did start to defer some students to the regular decision cycle, and they expect about 20% will get admitted. A little over half the class of 2028 will come from Early Decision.
But, what nobody sees in that data is what the applicant pool looked like for ED or RD. My impression is that the school is looking for the same student whether it is in Early Decision or Regular decision. Some leeway for the legacy, donor, athlete class - but for the typical student - I think your chances of acceptance are the roughly the same - or close enough that you should only use Early Decision on a college where it is the absolute top choice, and you know you can afford it.