<p>Thinking of toledo’s comment (^^^), it occurred to me that our GC would more likely undershoot the possibility of getting in than overshoot it. That is, she’d rather suggest easier targets than higher ones.</p>
<p>Last year, she strongly urged my son to add many more safeties and warned him and us that his ED choice was “a big stretch”. He got in. </p>
<p>In the end, yes, he got in but it’s still a stretch. So, it’s not just about the acceptance, but about the fit and I suppose that’s most important.</p>
<p>Between Naviance and the internet, I think that GC’s role in helping students develop a college list may be going the way of the travel agent. I got all the information I needed myself, and my kids did not apply to a single school that our GC recommended. Our GC department is well-meaning, but they really only know the schools they know.</p>
<p>Our individual GCs aren’t always the greatest, but the guy in charge is fantastic. He’s given the department the tools (such as Naviance, a well-run College Night for juniors, a financial aid seminar, a questionnaire/brag sheet for parents and kids to fill out etc) that even the worst GCs do a pretty decent job.</p>
<p>My school guidance counselors are poor. I’ve met mine only a couple times, and each time I felt that I knew more than he did about OOS privates- though that makes sense, as most people here go to in-state publics. They’ve offered a College Night junior year, but it gave only vague and useless advice. Some schools visited, but many had nobody attending, because the student body had no input as to which schools they were most interested in hearing from. As of second semester junior year, I had my list largely planned, while my guidance counselor remained oblivious that I (in the top 2% of my class, with the scores to match) would be seeking out 4-year schools.
Oh yeah, and this is a small, wealthy, suburban public, with most students going on to 4-year schools and plenty of guidance counselors, so workload is probably not the issue here.</p>
<p>I think that some of you might have some pretty high expectations of your counselors. I am a middle school counselor, so I am not involved in college applications. However, most high school couselors, as has been noted, have large and varied case loads. There are also a huge number of colleges and college programs. How is any counselor supposed to know the engineering program that would be best for your 3.5 student, the performing arts programs the talented violinist next door should apply to, and what programs would be best for the kid who wants to be an auto mechanic? We know what we are familiar with. Usually that means we know a lot about local schools, state schools and the schools that the vast majority of our students apply to. You want to apply to schools outside my sphere? That is great, I will help you all I can but don’t expect me to know all that much. </p>
<p>I am also sometimes hesitant to suggest private schools to parents because I don’t have a clue what the financial situation is. Should counselors encourage kids to apply to high priced privates when they have no idea if the parents can afford them or are willing to pay for them?</p>
<p>When my oldest was applying to music performance programs his counselor was very upfront that she wouldn’t be able to help us much. It wasn’t something that she knew much about. She had much more knowledge with our younger son who took a more traditional route. </p>
<p>As far as the counselor recommendation goes, I think that it is mostly for the college to learn about how your high school works, how the school thinks your child compares to others in the school statistically, and chance for the counselor to mention any circumstances that might have affected GPA or test scores. It is a way to have someone from a more administrative area verify the application.</p>
<p>When did parents surrender their jobs to overworked and detached guidance counselors? No one knows my student better than I do. Sure the GC provided signatures, dates, and some input but she had a couple of hundred students with varying parental involvement in their kid’s application process. We could not afford a private GC so I made it my part time job for a few months.</p>
<p>sybbie, in an ideal world they would provide guidance. But budgets are being cut everywhere and teachers are losing jobs. Thus GCs are rarely dedicated to guiding seniors into their lives outside of HS.</p>
<p>In our school the same GCs were responsible for alphabet of incoming freshman scheduling and adivising, the scheduling of the rest of the student body, AND advice and counsel of graduating students. That in addition to discipline problems. There was a social worker on staff to handle personal problems. </p>
<p>Clearly, a person taxed like that cannot give 100% attention and personalized advice to every student who walks through their door. And they are not expected to at our school. The school provides college clinics and all sorts of seminars and meetings designed to help PARENTS do the work themselves. The GCs are there to oversee the paperwork trail and make sure that deadlines are met as well as offer advice on where to find answers to questions on the school website or elsewhere. They also provide letters of recommendation or help obtain them from other faculty.</p>
<p>With that said, I felt our GC involvement was very good. If a parent did not have information or their child deeply involved in the college search process by senior year it was because they CHOSE not to participate and not because there was not assistance in the process.</p>
<p>Agent Provocateur … new role for you Sybbie? How exciting!</p>
<p>All through Elementary, Middle, and High school parents are told that the school district knows what’s best for students. Parental input? Don’t need it … don’t want it. Then all of a sudden … around the end of Junior Year … the school district washes it’s hands of the student’s future … “It’s the parents’ job!” Why yes, there is a Guidance department … and Guidance Counselors too. But please don’t expect any guidance. They try to get supporting documents sent out on time and endeavor to make them reasonably accurate. But you know, they’re only human.</p>