<p>Yesterday we met with our school’s college counselor. She is not a guidance counselor but is in the “college information department”. I was hoping for some really new and different information.</p>
<p>Here is what I got:</p>
<li><p>She showed us the stats of kids from our school that were accepted or rejected at various colleges. (This info is on Naviance already, but not by year.) I asked her if the SAT scores listed were super scores. She asked me what super scores were. </p></li>
<li><p>Once I explained what super scores were, she said to me, “Well I’m sure they are just one SAT because who would take the time to figure out the highest score by section?” I then explained to her that, once the scores are input into Naviance, our school does it automatically, and that our school’s Naviance shows super scores. She then said, “Oh, well I guess it is the same as what is in Naviance then.” I told her that this made it difficult to assess chances at certain schools because some schools only use single highest sitting and our Naviance doesn’t show that. She then told me that all schools probably use highest scores by section. (Many schools my son is looking at only use single sitting…I explained that to her…she had no idea that some school do and some don’t.)</p></li>
<li><p>She then began to explain the difference between early action and early decision. I did everything I could to just listen and nod without telling her that of course we know the difference already. Ugh…waste of 10 more minutes.</p></li>
<li><p>She also went on to tell us that it was important to apply as early as possible to rolling admissions schools. Again…no kidding.</p></li>
<li><p>I asked her about submitting ACTs vs. SAT scores. My son’s ACT is roughly equal to one sitting of his SAT, but not equal to his super score. She didn’t really understand what I was saying at all. In fact, she told me that since his super score was only 90 points higher than his single sitting score (that’s for the math and verbal only), they were “just about the same”. She also thought that a 28 on the ACT was “just about the same” as a 30.</p></li>
<li><p>Finally, she told me son not to get any professional help with his essay, because the colleges can tell when the kids get help. I have heard this advice so many times but am really not sure I believe it!</p></li>
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<p>I wish there had been one thing that she shared with us that would have been “new and different”. I was so frustrated! The one thing I was hoping to get from her was a list of the stats of students that applied to some of the public schools for fall 2009 and whether they were accepted or rejected…because I think the landscape changed for this past year. However, she said they were not yet available, and then looking at 2008 stats would be fine. (Of course, I don’t agree.)</p>
<p>Are private counselors a lot more knowledgeable…or do they know something extra special? Because I’m beginning to get the feeling that CC has taught me almost everything I need to know already…but of course I don’t know what I may not know and if it’s important!</p>
<p>be happy to have a college conselor.
We just have regular GC’s who don’t know diddly squat about anything
My GC hasn’t heard of half the schools i’m applying to, and has never heard of naviance
He also tried to tell me that no schools will take an ACT score</p>
What’s wrong with that? Best way to have a good acceptance in hand as early as possible. Also, when rolling schools fill, no more people can be accepted, so it behooves one to apply early, no?</p>
<p>Lol…okay fine…I shouldn’t complain. But what I really want to know is what the private counselors do that is special…because both our guidance counselor and this “college expert” didn’t know any more than I did.</p>
<p>I have a feeling a lot of the kids at our HS don’t know the things she told you, so this would be useful information for them. We just got a college information person 2 years ago at our HS, and she convinced them to get Naviance this year, so there is very little data to help us. I agree with oldfort - if you spend much time here, you know more than a lot of the counselors out there!</p>
<p>I think it does point out that those who spend lots of time here on CC know more than your average college applicant/parent/counselor. Lower the expectations there and come back here instead. Also, don’t let your child see you obsessing about all these details because it could make them extra anxious, too. That’s another function of CC–get anxiety out here so you don’t strangle others!</p>
<p>Your original post clearly indicates that you know more than most parents and students do. Many of the points that the counselor made – like about EA versus ED and about rolling admissions – would come as news to a lot of families.</p>
<p>Sounds like she is knowledgeable enough, and so are you, but your case may be pushing her envelope a little bit. IMHO this can set you up for one of the best possible counselor relationships, as long as you treat it as a collaborative process (not an adversarial one). </p>
<p>(Note: When I say “you” in this post, I mean your son with your parental advice and assistance. I’m just too lazy to write it that way. :o)</p>
<p>You can run the show here. Do your homework on the specific colleges, then lay out the application strategy (and deadlines) to her and ask for her input and cooperation. Tell her about the schools you’re interested in and the kind of students they want, and give her some factoids about how you meet those criteria. Ask her who writes the best recommendations, or ask her to pre-screen your recs from various teachers and submit the best ones for you. Turn her into a resource for the best references and paperwork management – a powerful ally in the process you manage. A counselor like that can be terrific to have when the admissions folks call for more information.</p>
<p>It’s ok if she doesn’t know more than you do about the process. She still offers great value in making it run smoothly… and helping to represent you and your high school in the best possible light.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t depend on her for anything. My daughter asked her counselor for a recommendation and she brought the recommendation letter home. There were so many grammatical errors and typos (she stated that my daughter wanted to “join the Peace Core” after college) that I can only imagine what the adcoms must have thought. Most counselors are a detriment to the application process.</p>
<p>“The one thing I was hoping to get from her was a list of the stats of students that applied to some of the public schools for fall 2009 and whether they were accepted or rejected…because I think the landscape changed for this past year. However, she said they were not yet available, and then looking at 2008 stats would be fine. (Of course, I don’t agree.)”
Sheesh, I don’t think it will kill you to have to wait a bit for this information, will it? I know you are chomping at the bit to be able to make all the right decisions[ you are going to let you child have some input, aren’t you?], but given that you are ahead of the game in so many areas, I suggest you relax a little bit and give the college counselor a little slack. There will be plenty of opportunities in the next 6 months to get uptight at things that are out of your control.</p>
<p>ReadyToRoll, is this a public school counselor or a private school counselor? We’ve dealt with both. If you are paying expensive tuition at a private school, then I don’t think your questions and requests are out of line one bit. You are not being a helicopter mom by asking for some basic statistics that they should (and probably already do) have available. On the other hand, if you are visiting with a counselor who manages students with the last names A through K and a 2000+ public school, you should probably take a different approach…accept that you will be managing this process for the next year!</p>
<p>Perhaps she does not yet have the final stats of accepted/ rejected students because there are still students on wait lists? I know the counselors at my son’s private school [ 3 counselors for 135 seniors] did not have those statistics until after August, when the last kids finally found out if they did or did not clear the waitlists.</p>
<p>You experienced a typical GC visit for a big public school (ours has no college counselor, just the GCs), and possibly an even more informed one than is typical. The only thing my kids and I asked of the GCs was that the letter they wrote to colleges was well informed and comprehensive enough to paint an accurate picture of each kid. I was bold enough to ask to see a copy of the letters, since the GCs that both of my kids had for 3 years retired right before senior year, and they wrote letters before they left. There was alot for the new GCs to add, and of course they really didn’t even know my kids. I was glad we got to see the letters before they were sent, since there were a number of inaccuracies- e.g. captain of the wrong sport, incorrect awards, etc. May not seem very important, but who knows what detail tips the balance for admissions.</p>
<p>We became very friendly with our D1’s college counselor. Our GCs have discussions with top schools’ adcom to go over the applicants before results come out. She used to tell us how parents would have huge fights in front of her over where their kid should apply. She said often what parents want isn’t always what a kid wants. One kid got into BC and Harvard. The whole family had gone to Harvard, but the kid really wanted BC. She was advocating for the kid, and the parents yelled at her to stay out. The kid ended up taking a gap year. This GC worked hard for her kids. She got all of them into their WL schools my daughter’s year.</p>
<p>Our large public high school had no idea about extended time for ADHD diagnosis in 2003. They had never done it before. Never.</p>
<p>Also, I do agree that you shouldn’t get professional help on your essay. it’s one thing to have people read it and give feed back on main point, etc, but even though I wasn’t sure my son had written about anything too original, I had to realize that at 18 there are a lot of “new” thoughts to them that aren’t original to those older. We had a great college counselor for our son, truly. And she said to be very wary and careful about looking like a kid is “packaged.” These adcoms have been doing their jobs for a long time and I think if you get too many adult finger prints on an application, it belies any kind of recommendation that might say the kid is self-motivated or ambitious etc etc.</p>
<p>Sounds like a new career opportunity for you.</p>
<p>Anyone who has spent some time on CC would have found the things your college counselor said to be a review. But there are a lot of parents and kids who would have found what she had to say to be new, overwhelming and fresh.</p>