The development office might not know what goes on at other schools, but they definitely know what’s going on at their own. Or should.
Getting back to the OP - We are finding that some GCs are just lazy and gave several students the same “list” of target schools.
@Golfgr8 - how many schools are on the list? Do they claim it is a personalized list? Or do they do something like “you say are an LAC kid. here’s a list of LAC’s, come back to us with which ones spark joy and why”?
I ask because kiddo had to come up with some schools before the CC gave him any names, and the eleven he was given were sort of a smorgasbord he was told to research. The list didn’t have any big state schools, and leaned toward stem, but other than that was pretty unsurprising. It was just a starter list to get the juices flowing- I bet she put maybe 5 minutes max into it. I wouldn’t be surprised if lots of students got a similar list. I didn’t think much of it. The expectation is that he has to come up with his own list, probably by mid-summer, but starting now he has to watch some video tours and whatnot.
She said that at this stage the students only have the most superficial sense of what they want - they know someone at school x who they like, so they like that school, too. So the list just gives them something to start with.
The parents received an email telling us to back off. It takes all of my willpower to stay out if it. Thank goodness I can come here and blather on!
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^ This was how our CC worked as well. As it happened, I made the preliminary visit list (ah, pre-covid) of 7 schools in one area that we could visit. Afterwards, DS shared his feedback with her and they filled out the list. At that point, CC had totally worked out what he was looking for and it was a great collaboration.
Totally agree with the point about how they can be influenced by who they know at schools. And I also fully appreciate that while it is so hard as a parent to stay out of this, it is really invaluable for it to be the student’s process.
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Kudos to your kid, @UltimaCroix Croix!
Many years ago, an Ivy trustee (family friend) told me he could help with my application to his school. I was flattered that he liked my chances, but politely turned down the offer. I was eventually accepted on my own merit. However, I am not sure how many kids today (or their parents, for that matter) would turn down such friendly gestures, given the rapid drop in acceptance rates at top schools. Congrats again on teaching your kid right!
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I would like for colleges, college advisors, parents and students in some utopia to actually discuss how college needs to change. Where is the value of college today and what will it be in 5 -10 years? How can we prepare students better for a rapidly changing world that for their lifetime will be dependent on new technologies? What is the relevance of courses in high school to what really is demanded in college?
Interesting opinion piece to read:
@Golfgr8 your daughter is a junior. It is too early for her to have a list of target schools. Unless there is something out of the ordinary with your daughter’s situation, the counselors are wanting kids to spend time now figuring out what they want in a college – the old “rural v. urban” “small v. large” “northeast v. the south” or whatever. Any list will be somewhat generic at this point.
Finally, the counselors can tell you what schools would be a good fit based on your student’s profile. But, although they do spend a fair amount of time with each student, they won’t know your kid as well as you do. So they will throw out some suggested schools that will be great ideas, and some that are not so great. I don’t think that’s a poor reflection on the counselor.
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It’s interesting to read that some CCs are giving students a list of schools, whether generic, tailored or something in between. Our CC helps the student generate a list, based on their interests and preferences. The student comes to the table with those preferences and then the CC offers a couple of schools to research that fit that criteria. Clearly, either approach is valid and the BSs have an excellent track record. But since so much inappropriate expectation is assigned to the school name, I prefer an approach that starts with the interests and backs into the names. It also seems to help parents who might see the list and be shocked by the names.
For athletic recruits, many are committing on Sept 1 of their junior year so they need to have an idea of the type of college and which ones they’re interested in well before then.
In our neck of the woods, Sept 1 is a huge day for kids and parents. Lots of celebration parties for the signing of college contracts.
Our family is just getting to grips with the boarding school application process since she’s 13, but during her interviews over the last few months, daughter did ask AOs about how they help athletic recruits with college applications and was basically told, you’re on your own. Work with your sports coach and if you have questions, we can give you minimal access to a CC on campus.
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@MacJackAttack - Sept 1 of last fall was not great for most kids. This is such a huge issue @ recruiting now. Our dead period has been expanded to May 31. Fewer spots on the bench. Like someone posted above, the GC advising folks at our school has nothing to do with recruiting. Our kiddo’s coach had nothing to do with recruiting and was of little help until it got to the point where college coaches called to verify interest and stats. We were on our own. IMHO it really depends on your sport. But, this year has been tough for recruiting. This could be its own thread for parent-student commiseration.
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What sport commits kids Sept. 1 of their JUNIOR year?? Did you mean senior year? And by “signing of college contracts” do you mean signing an NLI? If yes, that’s in November of senior year.
My youngest son was an athletic recruit, so I am very familiar with the process, although not so familiar with D1.
My take on athletic recruiting and prep school college advisors is this: there are so many sports, and different levels, that no college counselor can really know the ins and outs of say, girls soccer, and boys lacrosse and girls ice hockey and rowing etc etc etc. So you as the parent will have to manage the process at the beginning.
Where prep schools and athletic recruiting come into their own is at the end of the process. Once my son was a junior he kept the CC informed as to where he was with various schools. The CC was a sounding board, suggesting other schools my son might consider, assessing his chances at the schools etc. Once my son accepted an offer from a coach, the CC called his contact in Admissions and verified that my son did have the coach’s support with Admissions and that Admissions had seen no red flags in the preread. As a result I was not nervous at all as we waited for the ED decision. [side note: the colleges are not going to screw over a prep school student as there definitely would be repercussions for that college with that prep school going forward]
The other way the CC was helpful is that my son got an offer from a NESCAC after he had already committed. It is a prestigious school, so although my son did not consider decommitting, I have to admit we parents did. The CC could give us a lot of inside information on the admissions landscape of the school (VERY affected by COVID) as well as hold our hand and give us great advice as to how to proceed and think about the situation. This kind of personalized help is invaluable.
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@cinnamon1212 School target lists seem to be given out to most kids we know during the mid-point of Junior year. For us, the process started a bit earlier due to recruiting hopes and that is in the mix of things. This year has been crazy, confusing and disappointing due to COVID related issues for Juniors hoping to get recruited. Sorry if I did not mention Senior or other class years - due to COVID we are not really seeing each other or talking about to each other as we are not on the sidelines. Even at tournaments we were in the car.
@Altras I agree about the over-importance people put on names. I suspect that is what motivates the cc giving out a list of starter schools - to help them figure out what they like. Students left to their own devices will take a lot longer to get outside of the Top10 list, if they ever do.
@CateCAParent believe me when I tell you, as a golf parent you see many colleges beyond the US News or Forbes top 100-200 
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So true. D19, even after accepted to her ED school, had coaches contacting her and throwing money at her, especially D2 schools. There are so many small schools and/or religious schools seeking golfers…the coaches just kept coming out of the woodwork!
Wow, your post prompted me to look it up and there are close to 900 colleges with competitive golf programs! D2 has over 200 teams and I would have guessed maybe 75 tops. Something new to learn everyday…
EDIT: 1318 including NAIA.
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Happy to help! II have been posting all things golf now for 4 years on CC prep school parents threads. “I am not a snob. I only play one on TV”Honestly if kiddo gets picked for a certain Bronco busting golf team, I will be jumping for joy in the 19th hole!
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The idea of a college list being generated by the CG, at first, struck me as odd. But thinking about it more, it could be a great way to get thinking about colleges. Just doing anything is better than nothing. I have a kid who doesn’t know what they want to study, loves it all from history to physics. So targeting schools is HARD. Normally, I’m a planner and we would have visited a ton of schools Sophomore year and early Junior year mainly to see the size, location and other things that are considerations. Now, we’re on the normal timeline where we’ll be scrambling to figure it all out in 6 months. Not looking forward to that.
Since Covid has killed the idea of going on visits in March, I think my help will be in the checking out lots of school programs department. I don’t want to suggest areas of study so my kids making a list and will look at several type of schools ( LACs, STEM, other).
@CateCAParent Agree it’s hard to stay out of saying anything. I’m happy that the CG really seems great and has already said a few things which seem valid. Hope I can keep up the facade for as long as possible. In the meantime, I’ll be reading the Fiske guide so when the time comes my kid can hit the ground running.
I have had Fiske on my bedside table since last year! Kiddo mocks me for it, thinks the books are antiquated, and refuses to peek inside. I think he is (rightly?) terrified what will eventually happen if he ever asks my opinion about a school. The floodgates will open!
He knows how I was when we went through looking at boarding schools. His concern is valid.
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I can totally relate. My kids had no idea that BS’s even existed until 8th grade when we decided to “just check stuff out”
Kiddo likes visiting colleges with my spouse who often throws in good food places to make it enticing. I’d have a really hard time not commenting on things.