Why are guidance counselors seemingly useless?

Pre-College Issues High School Life
1

<p>The guidance counselors at my school don't seem to know anything about college at all beyond what you could find on the first page of a Google search.</p>

<p>They don't have any useful advice and are completely clueless about any other college besides our state flagship. </p>

<p>I feel as though I could do a better job advising students than my counselor. </p>

<p>She doesn't know what the National Merit Scholarship is. She tells me that I should apply to community college just in case I don't get into a 4 year university, and that students should take at maximum, 2 AP classes per year.
She has no idea what I'm talking about when I mention Columbia, Brown or Cornell. </p>

<p>In fact, they're thinking about implementing a limit for AP classes in a few years.</p>

2

<p>I like mine because she actually supports the fact that I’m going out of state unlike the other guidance counselors in my school. The guidance department on the other hand, sucks. The only info they ever give out is for instate students. They won’t leave me alone about not applying for Bright Futures (a scholarship for instate students). They had my first period teacher tell me to fill it out, they sent a letter home and they called. I’m really annoyed by that. </p>

<p>So yeah, I can relate.</p>

3

<p>I would amend your question to why some guidance counselors seem useless. Some are in fact very good at their job - and those that are useless may be performing the job as defined by someone other than you (and me).</p>

<p>National Merit Scholarships are available to only a smalll percentage of students, and your GC may not be familiar for several reasons: your school may never had anyone qualify, either because it is not a particularly strong district, or because the colleges attended by the majority of the students focus more on the ACT over the SAT.</p>

<p>The GC that tells all students to apply to a Community College is covering herself - it’s her version of “make sure you have at least one safety school.” To her, the Community College is the ultimate safety school - and she is right for the majority of the students she advises. The majority of her students would never get into Columbia, Brown, or Cornell - and perhaps your school might be one that would only get 1 or 2 in every decade if the best students did apply.</p>

<p>Notice how the admissions offices in top colleges divide their workload - Each rep covers a certain territory, and gets to know the schools and students from that area. The students change each year, but the schools are the same, and the rep gets to know the schools in his or her area. When you apply, your rep is at least familiar with the region, and the reputation of your school, if not familiar with the school itself if others have applied before. You GC on the other hand could be advising 200 students who are each applying to 20 colleges - and those 20 colleges could be completely different for all 200 students (though they probably are not).</p>

<p>Unless your school is a highly ranked school, nobody really cares about the prestige of the colleges students will attend (HYPS maybe, but for the most part beyond that they’re all the same). Their goal is to get the highest percentage into college (they get graded on that number, not on the qualify of the colleges).</p>

<p>It is her job to show you how to find the colleges, and how to find out how to apply. It is YOUR job to ask for assistance once you’ve found those schools. She can’t do her job, advising the other 199 graduating seniors (or however many it is), if she’s spending all her time on you.</p>

<p>As for the AP classes - I wish more schools would do that. They have gotten out of control. You are in High School. If you want to take college classes, dual enroll in the local community college, or take online classes. Except those top ranked high schools that have the students to fill the AP classes, with some left on the waiting list, they distract from the focus of the high school. It’s not my job as a taxpayer to fund the first 2 years of your college education while you’re still in high school. Instead, school districts should be considering policies that allow students to graduate when they have completed their high school level classes, and allow them to move on to the next step, just as they should be encourage to hold back students who are not ready to move on.</p>

<p>Remember also that college applications are only a small part of their job. Be thankful if you’ve never seen them performing the other parts of their job - dealing with students whose parents are neglectful or abusive, are victims of bullies, or are even suicidal.</p>

4

<p>What’s wrong with wanting to take more AP classes? If they’re available, what’s wrong with taking them?
Not every school allows you to take more college/dual enrollment. How can you just assume that all high school students have the same levels of ability?
Why do you want to inhibit their potential for learning? AP classes hardly cost more for you as a taxpayer, so I don’t see why you’re complaining.</p>

<p>What is the appropriate focus for high school? Isn’t LEARNING the focus?</p>

5

<p>“She tells me that I should apply to community college”</p>

<p>That’s not exactly horrible advice. Maybe not community college, but you definitely need to apply to safeties that you will 100% be accepted to and able to afford. For many people, that’s a community college.</p>

<p>“They don’t have any useful advice and are completely clueless about any other college besides our state flagship.”</p>

<p>Depending on where you live, it’s highly possible that the vast majority of students will be going to in-state schools. Where I live, it’s a huge deal if anyone even goes to Ohio State. The guidance counselors are helpful in the schools that they serve. They don’t know a lot about Ivy League schools because that knowledge generally isn’t necessary. </p>

<p>“AP classes hardly cost more for you as a taxpayer”</p>

<p>I think the idea was that you’re in the public school taking classes that she thinks you should be paying for yourself in college.
(Dual-enrollment is free where I live, as long as the classes are taken during the school year. It actually costs less than AP classes.)</p>

<p>“Instead, school districts should be considering policies that allow students to graduate when they have completed their high school level classes, and allow them to move on to the next step”</p>

<p>I don’t think it’s a wonderful idea to have a lot of students under 18 living alone on college campuses (or out in the world by themselves not going to college at all). Just because they can finish the graduation requirements a couple years early doesn’t mean they’re adults ready to live on their own.</p>

6

<p>Most of my counselors aren’t very proficient, but I met one that I can work with very well. She’s met my 3 older siblings who have all done exceptionally in school, so she no longer says anything about my advanced curriculum. Instead, she actually helps me take more classes that will benefit me in my studies.</p>

7

<p>…well I like my one. She’s great, and apparently she was commended by Yale University, so she must be doing something right.</p>

8

<p>Yea, pretty sure I know more about the proces than mine…</p>

9

<p>Who even needs a guidance counselor when we have college confidential? :)</p>

<p>But yes, mine is terrible. My high school also has 300 kids and is in the middle of Wisconsin, so I guess you can’t expect a ton.</p>