<p>My son has been in contact with his Counselor at the Academy a few times during the application process. However, neither my son or I really know the roles and responsibilities the Counselors have. What are their roles and responsibilities? What influence, if any, do they have with the selection board? Do they provide specific input based on the applicant’s record?</p>
<p>Dan</p>
<p>Hmm....</p>
<p>Lot's to answer here. Okay...first; the counselor is there to make certain the "i's" are dotted and the "t's" are crossed. They're also there to be the main points of contact for the candidate; they're the "shell answer" expert. </p>
<p>Selections...they're not really involved other than to make certain a file is ready to meet the board. If it's not, they won't submit it HOWEVER...there are a LOT of other's involved in that process.</p>
<p>The counselor will know more about a candidate that pretty much anyone else at USAFA ASIDE from the ALO; the ALO should know the most. Realize this: counselors have ALL the candidates applying...they're divided up alphabetically. And...there's only about 10 of them...so they're VERY busy!</p>
<p>To fully define their roles...would take a LOT more space than you really want here. </p>
<p>Suffice it to say: a candidate should know their counselor (speak to them or e-mail with any questions) but REALLY get to know your ALO!</p>
<p>Steve
USAFA ALO</p>
<p>my "counselor" was extremely rude and unhelpful when i applied. she didn't seem to be concerned with helping me make sure i had my application complete and ready to go. i think they were missing something for a while, which she was supposed to inform me, but i learned nothing until i took the initiative.</p>
<p>now i'm sure she was a rare exception and most are good, but make sure you follow up your application on your own to make sure you've submitted what you need to and meet deadlines.</p>
<p>my counselor was awesome...</p>
<p>Eagle36...I'm hoping your counselor was having a bad day. That's definitely NOT the norm. I would hope a candidate would relay something like that to me (their ALO) because I would take the next step with the counselor and the RR folks.</p>
<p>Steve
USAFA ALO</p>
<p>i wasn't impressed with her when i met her in person either, but who knows. i'm sure that's not normal, but as in all places you won't have a good experience.</p>
<p>then again, i didn't rly talk to my ALO at all either. i think i saw him three times: intro/meeting, an interview for his recommendation, and when my school presented my acceptance.</p>
<p>so part of it was probably my lack of outreaching to them for info. i'm sure most counselors go out of their way to help people out. but having a not so great counselor doesn't hurt your application</p>
<p>Steve, eagle, thanks for the replies.</p>
<p>I would hope a Counselor is an advocate for their candidates, not just someone administering the applications for their area. Perhaps even more so an advocate for those that keep in contact throughout the application process.</p>
<p>My son had a similar issue with his ALO; not really being available to him. Rarely returned phone calls and e-mails, lack of clear communication. This is surprising as they didn't have many candidates under their wing this year.</p>
<p>So, we are waiting like many others and calling the Counselor at least weekly for more info or ideas on how to bolster his current app.</p>
<p>Thanks again,
Dan</p>
<p>shadocontrol, where in san diego are you from?
i wonder if you have the same alo i did.</p>
<p>My counselor is fairly helpful. He did take much time to help me clear up a transcript problem with my HS. And he actually called me in December sometime telling me that unless I got some sort of varsity sport on my application, my application would remain not competitive for an appointment (I did not join any varisty sport since I was unable to at the time).</p>
<p>But received my appointment in February. So they have seen many applications, know what "type" of candidates get in, and can help you out, but they are wrong occasionally. As Flieger said though, my ALO was the one who had the most direct impact on my application (Very very helpful BTW, always had time to answer my questions... Although, he worked at my school so that may have helped out). But, I made it a point to keep a good relationship with anyone who was/is trying to help me out. :D It worked!</p>