<p>Our large public high school has one college counselor for a student body of over 3000 kids, and she is relatively new to the job. She knows the basics but is definitely not up to speed on many of nuances involved in the college admissions process. </p>
<p>Some parents, like me, who have experience “in the trenches” of the college application process suggested to the counselor that we could help out by pairing up experienced “parent mentors” with parents who were new to the process. She thanked us politely and then never pursued the matter. </p>
<p>Later in the year, some parents on the PTSA list serv suggested that we create a “College Admissions” list serv, which would be a collaboration between parents and the College Counseling Office. The counselor again rebuffed the gesture and expressed concern that parents’ responses to questions posted on the list serv might be “misinformed.” We created the list serv anyway, without the cooperation or participation of the College Counseling Office, and it has generated some very interesting and well-informed discussions. As is true on CC, the wisdom of the masses prevails, and any posting that is inaccurate is quickly corrected by someone with better information.</p>