First, two disclaimers:
1) I am not a high school counselor, and I'm not related to one.
2 The vast majority of the students admitted to college every year do so without the aid of a private counselor like us. This is not a post arguing that you need outside help to get into college. In fact, I'm actually arguing the opposite.
I often hear students and parents say that they don't feel well-supported by their high school counselors.
"My high school counselor doesn't even know me."
"The counselors don't tell us anything."
"My counselor doesn't know about college admissions."
I don't think that's fair to most counselors.
In a lot of those cases, I think there's an unusual dichotomy at work–those parents and students have unrealistic expectations about what their counselor should be doing for them, yet at the same time, they are under utilizing what could be a great resource in their counselor.
What a shame.
If you want a good relationship with your high school counselor that will translate into college admissions support, here are five things parents and students can do.
1. Develop realistic expectations about how much your counselor can help you.
Most high school counselors don't have the luxury of spending all day, every day, advising college-bound students. They meet with the kid who's failing geometry and might not graduate, talk with the student who has an eating disorder, get involved when a teacher suspects a student is being abused, mediate parent-teacher conflicts, counsel the student with emotional problems, talk to the police when a student brings a knife on campus–you see where I'm going with this.
Somewhere in between all of those things, they have to keep up with the constantly-changing landscape of college admissions and try to disseminate that information to students and parents.
If you attend a very expensive private school that has paid "college advisors" on staff who work with a small band of 25-40 students each, then you have every reason to expect that your assigned advisor should walk you through every step of the college process, help you with your college essays, review your applications, etc. But if you're at a school, even a private school, where counselors work with 100 or 300 or even 800 students each, you need to adjust your expectations. I'm not saying you shouldn't rely on your counselor for assistance, but you'll need to take some responsibility for driving the process forward.
2. Students should initiate regular college planning meetings with your counselor.
If you know you want to go to college, ask your counselor if you can schedule a meeting to discuss your plans. You don't need to make this a weekly habit–once or twice a semester can be enough for many students. Talk about the classes you're taking, the tests you'll need to take, and what some reasonable college choices might be. And don't wait until your senior year to do it. Starting early will also help you establish a relationship with your counselor so she can get to know you and give you even better advice.
3. Attend your school's college-related events.
I can't tell you how many times I've been invited by good high schools to speak to students and parents about college admissions and had an audience of 30 from a student population of several hundred. I hear the same thing from counselors when they do college planning evenings for families. I often wonder how many of those students and parents who don't attend will later claim that the school didn't help them at all.
I know that high school students' schedules, and by extension their parents' schedules, are stretched thin these days. But if your school does 1 or 3 or even 5 college-related events in a year, isn't it worth it to go? Even if you only learned one or two good pieces of information at each (you'll likely learn much more than that), it would still be worth it if you really want to go to college and would like some guidance to help you get there.
4. Read what the counselors write for you.
I've met counselors who spend a great deal of time adding college information to the school's website where any student or parent can access it. Some schools even print this information up into bound packets and distribute them to students and parents. A lot of that information goes unread.
College admissions is complicated; your high school counselor can eliminate some confusion for you, but she can't make it simple because it's not a simple process. It might be intimidating to face all the information counselors cull together for you, but trust me, it's a lot easier than having to first locate all of that information yourself.
5. Give your counselor the opportunity to do a good job for you.
Are their some bad high school counselors? I'm sure there are (just like there are some bad doctors, lawyers, accountants, etc). But the vast majority of counselors I've met are good people who want to do what they can to see kids succeed. Following the advice I've given you above will help give your counselor the opportunity to do that for you.
landscape design phoenix says
I personally never found high school counselors to be all that helpful. College ones, totally, yes, and in high demand. High school…I just never saw the need, like so many others.