@evergreen5 - this was hugely helpful to me - the search function gave me the school profile page, which gave me a matriculation list, the SAT avg scores, the middle 50, the percentage of kids going in-state, private, OOS, the percentage of NMS, AP exam outcomes. It was a wealth of information. Thanks so much!!!
I would come ready with the following:
- a brag sheet that lists ECs, awards, interests, potential majors, work experience, etc. etc. You can find a template and some typical questions through the link below and/or by googling “brag sheet for college counselors” or something of the sort:
https://www.fastweb.com/college-search/articles/building-your-brag-sheet
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a list of potential schools (if you have one), otherwise, criteria that you have in selecting reaches, matches, and safeties, including whether you are applying EA, ED, SCEA, etc. and when applications will be due (note that some schools will have earlier deadlines for merit consideration).
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if there are any outside or institutional scholarships your kid would like to or is planning to apply for, let the GC know now. You may need to be nominated for some of these scholarships. Know that in advance and ask how the school decides whom to nominate.
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if your kid is planning to apply for any fly-in programs (generally geared towards URMs), the applications will be due over the summer. You’ll need to provide information about these.
Plus everything else that everyone said (e.g., how you as a family can help, how best to communicate, how to get access to Naviance, how the school determines course rigor and how the GC would describe your kid’s program. whether college reps will visit and if there is a procedure to sign up for the meeting the reps, how teacher recs, transcripts, etc. are handled).
In general, I would not expect much hand-holding, and I would anticipate that CC will be your best friend. I also would let the GC take the lead starting off, and apologize from the get-co for seeming over-anxious by bombarding him/her with all of the questions and everything you have prepared; assure him/her that you are prepared to help as much or as little as the GC needs or wants you to.
If your school has a website, you can usually find the school profile in the college counseling section. There’s often a link to Naviance, although you’ll need a password.
@LoveTheBard Thank you!! I was wondering if I should quickly put together a brag sheet for the first meeting or if I should wait until they asked. The meeting is tomorrow so I need to get on that and get my entire question list in order tonight!
Our school has a website but the college section does not have much on it.
Make sure to let us know how your counselor meeting went!
Oops - I wrote this then forgot to post it!
We had our meeting this morning, it went OK. When D got home from school I asked her what she thought and she said it was kind of a waste of time. :-S
D got there a few minutes before me, she went in and CC pulled up her grades and schedule. Basically just told her she has good grades (3.9something UW) and a good schedule. I asked if her schedule was considered most rigorous and she said yes, so that is good to know. She also gave me the school description letter that goes with the application.
She asked D what she wanted to study and of course D said she wasn’t sure but she knew it wouldn’t be math related and she leans towards things like English, Psychology and Sociology. The counselor talked for a while about how it is OK to be undecided and also told her not to let anyone discourage her about liberal arts and how beneficial LA can be.
She told D to look at all sorts of schools and to aim high. She said to look for schools you love first and look at money next. I was trying to be extra nice because this lady has to write a letter for D next year but I had to interrupt at this point. I said, “Oh, we are looking at money first then trying to find schools that fit after that.” She said, “Oh no, don’t worry about that, nobody really pays the price they post!” :o I said we are full pay and I told her I had already checked the EFC and the Net Price Calculators. Her face changed and she said, “oh, you are ahead of the game, that is good!” This was my favorite part because D said, “Yes, I am really lucky she has been doing so much research that really helps” Yay - she notices!! 
I am so glad I found CC before I went to our counselor otherwise I might have wasted tons of time looking at unrealistic schools. I feel bad for the parents that see her before doing their own research.
After that she asked if we had questions so I pulled out my list from you guys. First question - do we have Naviance. Answer, no, it is too expensive. 
I asked how often we would meet and she said I could always call or email with questions but we didn’t need to meet again until the spring. And that would be our last meeting because she is retiring!! Ugh - one of the reasons I wanted to meet early was for her to get to know D so she could write a good letter.
Overall the meeting was fine. The only problem I really had was her suggesting to look at schools without looking at your budget. Also, even after I told her we would not be paying for the super expensive schools she kept suggesting places like Wake Forest and Amherst. Amherst has no scholarships and Wake has very few and as of now we would not be competitive for them. Luckily D and I have talked a lot about schools and money so she knew those weren’t really in the running anyway.