<p>My daughter also has a sweet and caring guidance counselor...who doesn't seem to recognize most of the schools on my daughter's college list because they're outside of our state. </p>
<p>No problem, I've learned enough here on CC and through my own research to be able to recognize which schools are probably a good fit for my daughter. But, we have maintained a very, very positive relationship with the guidance counselor who will, after all, be writing my daughter's school recommendation. It seems to be working: the GC and my daughter have a warm friendship, the GC is becomming more enthusiastic about my daughter's college list now that daughter has "educated" her (politely) about why she likes the schools on her list, and, based on the recommendation for a summer program that she shared with my daughter, I believe that the GC will write her a nice college recommendation and make sure all of her application materials go out on time and in correct form. The rest is up to my daughter and I, and frankly, probably would be at 98% of the schools in the country.</p>
<p>Since your son is only in 9th grade, I can assure you that you have plenty of time to learn the in's and out's of college applications and various colleges as they relate to your son's needs and desires much better than any guidance counselor will. </p>
<p>If you feel more is called for, and don't mind spending some money, you might think about hiring a private college counselor as your son nears his junior year. If you need help finding one, let me know and I can point you in the direction of some resources to help you find one in your area.</p>