The advantage of a counselor-like figure telling you to just apply to a fancy college (i.e. that it is totally within reach) and the advantage of the instructor

The advantage of a counselor-like figure telling you to just apply to a fancy college (i.e. that it is totally within reach) and the advantage of the instructor having the time to teach (instead of just herd the students around) is absolutely enormous from my observations (as both an academic and a K12 outreach volunteer).