<p>the entire GC department at my midwestern public high school is one of the best out there. they keep huge binders of stats of kids from past years, class rank, where they applied, where they were accepted, and SATs, and there's a binder organized each way. they have a college application workshop at the beginning of every summer for up to 40 kids to get everyone started, last year it was lead by our school's college counselor and the admissions officer from yale that reads for my area. they have forms that are actually helpful and have personal contacts with all the top universities. i'm so lucky!</p>
<p>might as well have my lunch lady as my counselor...she's REEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYY bad. ask her a question, and she repeats the question and stares at me. she's a nice lady though, just should've taken another career path.</p>
<p>I told my counselor I wanted to take a self-study AP test, and he looked at me dumbfounded. He didn't even know you could do it. He then had to ask the counselor in the next room, whom said that you can. And then I told him about these colleges I've seen, and I was talking to him about state schools in the mid-west (where im from) and he didn't know anything about them. The only ones he knew, was the ones in my home state, Missouri.</p>
<p>I have one of the worst program I think, at least for college. I go to public high school in florida and most kids end up going to USF, 30 min away from my school or go to community college. Out of state is not encouraged. The best school people go to is UF. It's so pathetic that I'm actaully scared to ask my counseler, about any out of state schools. My school is so bad, we don't even have college counselers...dude..than again onlike like 25% of my grade will go to college....</p>
<p>well, i answered the question based on my college counselor...shes good and knows what shes doing and has plenty of books to help and forces scholarships down our throats...</p>
<p>but when it comes to guidance counselors, then mines not so good. i had one for 10th and 11th which was clueless, and now in 12th it changed, and this lady's nice and wrote a good recc, so i guess shes ok</p>
<p>At my school (1000+ student public school), we have one counselor for each grade level for a total of four, and one "college counselor" whose job is the write recs, deal with everything related to AP classes/testing, and do all of the college-related counseling stuff. Although our college counselor is a pretty busy individual, she's been really helpful to me.</p>
<p>my counselors were AMAZING...my school though, to be fair, was apublic, yet one of the wealthier in the entrie city/county of St. Louis, and we only had about 800-900 students...we had two to three counselors per grade, split up by last name...</p>
<p>Awesome yall. My counselour (head of department) moved to take a higher position in the middle of my senior year. Abandoned me! RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF COLLEGE APPS!!!! The other guidance counselours know nothing and they also gave me blank stare when I asked to self study.</p>
<p>i am giving you a blank stare</p>
<p>We have only 4 or 5 counselors for 1800 students. I had this idiot until Junior year, then I got reshuffled (because of the dumb biddy, long story...) and got my current counselor, who is ACE. she's not a college counselor but she has a lot of experience so she might as well be one. she did a TWO page letter of recommendation (!) and from what I hear she does this for every student which is cool because she actually cares. Plus she knows my name. :)
and if stuff happens she'll fight for you (provided you're in the right). I once had this issue with my community college registration and before I blinked she was on the phone hanging those people out to dry. I love her.</p>
<p>of course other people at my school aren't so lucky...</p>
<p>I feel your pain we only have 5 for 3600 students, the only reason my counselor knows who I am is because they always screw up my schedule</p>
<p>There are two guidance counselors in my school, for about 500 students. They don't help, at all. The only time that guidance counselors get involved is if it's a "problem child". They know nothing about college. Heck, I know more than them. I have been to the guidance office 2 times, and both times it was just to get a transcript that I had requested (because my school only gives out transcripts by requests). All the counselors do is spend their days in their respective offices and write notes to the students (because in order to even get in touch with the guidance counselor, we must fill out a guidance request form first, then they will say if they want to see us or not). It's really, really, really, really poor.</p>
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<blockquote> <p>5 (counselors) for 3600 students</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Xbisoubisoux, that's amazing. That ratio makes just about everyone else's school look like an elite prep. :) Glad you found CC.</p>
<p>The counseling staff at my school is rather pathetic. They know nothing beyond the SUNYs, which is nice if you're the majority of the kids in my school and have no aspirations for going anywhere better than a SUNY. However, for those of us that are better than a SUNY... no help whatsoever. nothing. they tell us we can't get in anywhere and just apply to binghamton and be done with it.</p>
<p>In my d's freshman year the close to retirement, burned out counselor told her not to take more than one honors class because it would be too hard. I stepped in and made her sign up for every honors class available. She got straight A's and never complained about course load. </p>
<p>Then that counselor retired and a young lady, fresh out of college stepped in. She's a very nice person, smiles a lot, has no experience. The extent of her help was to tell d that girls like her should probably be in Harvard (yeah, her and half the people here in CC). </p>
<p>We've gotten much more out of CC than we ever did out of the counselor's office. We requested another counselor but the school has an absolute policy that counselors can not be changed. The secretary seems to be the only one who knows what's going on around there.</p>
<p>My public high school counseling office in the san diego area is pathetic. our school district does not put enough dollars into the counseling program, and it shows! the turnover in the department is astounding. this will give you a clue why: each counselor has a caseload of over FIVE HUNDRED students! what a joke. As a senior, i am on my third counselor in four years. The saddest aspect of this situation is that the very best counselors always leave. I know this is so, because for my college counseling i went to a private counselor, who left our school because she got so tired of the high stress situation. she, like all the other best counselors, is not willing to slight any students, so because she had so many of us, she worked all day, all night, and every weekend. the Principal was not supportive of what the counselors were going through. The parents and students are always so frustrated, it is just a negative atmosphere. At the semester I had to drop one class and add another. I had to wait TWO WEEKS to do so, because the lines were so long!</p>
<p>i rated my school fair..
Freshman year a class met with the counselor at mandatory sessions..
but from then on the student had to do everything by themselves..
the counselor was only available during the day during certain periods...
also, there was always a huge line, and the counselors did not always follow through on what they told you..
only if you were somehoe extremely close to the counselor - be in one of their classes could you get things done on time..</p>
<p>Our counselors have been somewhere between useless and detrimental for college. I keep thinking there must be SOMETHING they're good at, and my kids just don't use that service. We have 4 for 1600 kids.</p>
<p>When one daughter went seeking the letter from NMSC about her commended status, after a couple of days they found the letter and gave it to her with the caution that "they're probably just trying to get money out of you."</p>
<p>some of our counselors are very unhelpful... mine, for example, suggested me to take courses that i detest. and when it comes to college stuff, they are only knowledgable about the local community college.</p>
<p>We have a basically good guidance office, that is except for one counselor- mine. There have been several instances in which she has sent a student's application to the wrong college!!!!!!!! who does that??? I've been warned by many seniors that if I don't constantly breathe down her neck, that i can forget about going to college anywhere let alone the top schools. But hey, I can't complain........</p>