I’m jealous you’ve had the same GC for all four years! My DD has had a different one each year, same large pubic with 400 kids per GC.
That said, the one this year got everything in on time and is very nice, just completely overworked and new to the state so didn’t know state grad requirements.
You’re right, we were lucky! This year one of our school’s longtime gcs has been out for serious medical (non-Covid) reasons, so the remaining gcs had to pick up extra students of his so they have really had a lot on their plates this year. I don’t know what his seniors have had to deal with in terms of applications and all. 
@OrangeFish -
Good pick up on the correct terminology - they do not go by guidance counselor (GC) anymore.
Public Service Message of the Day: School counselor is the correct terminology. Some schools also have college counselors and career specialists.
School Counselors in public and private schools are taking on the impacts of Covid in ways many will never see. Please give them grace during this time period. They would love to be able to focus just of college fit and college transition supports. But in reality many are doing multiple suicide threat assessments a week on younger and younger kids. One told me she previously did about three in a year and she is now doing three to five a week.
Here is more info - https://www.schoolcounselor.org/About-School-Counseling/School-Counselor-Roles-Ratios
Gotcha!
I echo the large public school counselors not doing individualized counseling for all their students. There’s just no way to do it. What our school does do is a large full-day set of seminars in the fall that the seniors can choose from. It’s done the same day as the PSAT and ASVAB testing. They also call kids out of class in the spring to work on some scholarships. But I’ll admit, course selection throughout the 4 years to meet the requirements of specific schools is left up to the kids and parents.
Deleted
Great news!!
I think my daughter got a summer start option at that same school 
Summer start would just not work for her at all because of our location and various plans already set. It sounds like a cool opportunity though.
I tend to agree with this advice, especially for those who will be flying to the final destination. In fact, after sending two kids to college (and having one suddenly booted due to Covid), I am quite the minimalist as far as outfitting college rooms.
Thats really nice that they gave her that option though I understand if she does not want to go that route.
Not here! Our guidance counselors do not tend to be very knowledgeable about out of state schools, honestly.
Our update: just got back from a week long excursion across the country to attend a scholarship day at one school (small religious non-selective) and an admitted student visit day at another school (medium sized public; I guess it’s probably the flagship for that state, but not super selective). No word on the scholarship yet, but D22 did eliminate the larger school. She is pretty close to a decision, though there are still a few pending decisions out there.
I looked at her college account today and it’s dropped $5000 in the last month. Ouch.
Her college account dropped because of the stock market? That’s scary. Do the age-based funds in 529s convert to bonds in the final year before adulthood? I assumed they did.
If one invests in an age-based 529 program, the investments will almost certainly shift towards bonds/fixed income as a student approaches college age. This doesn’t prevent losses, but can reduce volatility.
But most programs allow the account owner to invest in a wide variety of ways, based on their risk tolerance. It’s entirely possible to have an entire 529 invested in a NASDAQ or SP500 index fund, if desired. Or a more speculative instrument.
They didn’t even ask for any money! Just “fill this out as if you were coming and we’ll sort the rest out later.”
It seems like the different groups could change from year to year, or at least their location might, depending on interest. I think they’re probably using this info to decide how much space to devote to each group and be able to hire appropriate RAs for the different communities. He had to pick his top 3 choices, so the numbers they get now don’t need to be exact. Just close enough to know if they’re talking about an entire floor of a dorm, or just one wing.
Well, that’s good! Glad there was no deposit needed, and it sounds like they are trying to respond to the needs of the students. 
They had the same thing (BB&B booth) in 2019 when my son moved in.
We have 3 counselors which works out to about 1:250. But there’s also a school psychologist, social worker, and “prevention specialist”. I’ve never been able to understand how the roles break down.
I’m here to confess that I’m becoming obsessed with the UC and CSU acceptance timelines. I’ve been hanging out on a couple of threads for schools DS isn’t even going to go to. We had him apply to 13 schools when only two truly mattered. UCSC is putting out acceptances now and DS hasn’t been accepted (yet?). DS also didn’t make the GPA cutoff for CS at SJSU this year due to their record-breaking applications. I find myself feeling like that’s an indicator he won’t get accepted to SLO even though I know the processes are totally different and DS is still strong for SLO. It’s weird to see how much has changed over the years that a 4.29 GPA isn’t enough for many schools in certain majors anymore.
DS already has his acceptance to Cal Poly Pomona and he’s really excited about it. We’re really hoping his honors college application is strong enough to get in because that would negate the few drawbacks for CPP. I still have my fingers crossed for SLO. We’re taking a tour of SLO on Friday. Right now DS is more excited for CPP and their honors college than he is for SLO. I hope I’m not about to take him for a tour of SLO to get his interest and hopes up for a possible rejection in a few weeks.
So given these two factors, my annoyance that UCSC hasn’t accepted him yet, and the SJSU looks like an imminent rejection, why am I even looking at those? Gonna’ remove my “watch” status on those threads.
So he still hasn’t heard from SJSU?
I’ve been following the SLO and UCSC threads in part to check on your son’s progress (D did not apply but many friends did). I wish him the best!
I also am obsessed and this it’s because of my ultra-planning nature and real interest in process. At this point the process is not in the hands of our kids, and getting info feels like you can at least do something.
@CMCMLM - no, which surprises me a bit. If they’ve set the threshold, why not mark the kids below it as not meeting it and be done? I’m not upset about SJSU, just shocked GPA requirements have reached these levels.
@Southoftheriver - LOL! If you’re tracking the SLO thread for my son, no need. If he gets in, I’ll post his SLO results in SLO, but the real discussion will be here until his decision is made. And I agree, obsessively looking is probably the manifestation of wanting some sense of control. I’m not sure why I’m stalking UCSC. Possibly because I think his chances there are better than UCSD, so I’m slightly offended he hasn’t gotten in yet. Lol. I know I shouldn’t feel that way. It’s illogical. I’m also seeing kids get in at UCSC but not SDSU yet, where DS is in at SDSU and not UCSC yet. So clearly each college has its own timelines and requirements and a decision at one doesn’t provide tea leaves for another. I’m just reaching for patterns and logic.
What is his status on the portal? Perhaps, he is on a WL in case yield falls more than expected. The same phenomenon that is driving up the impaction score (people applying to more schools including SJSU) may also lower yield.
He’s still listed as application in progress at SJSU.
Hope SLO comes through next week