Guidance Counselor

For better or worse, guidance counselors are likely to play a crucial part in your college search and application process. They will write recommendations for you that, come April of your senior year, will help determine whether you receive fat envelopes full of enrollment materials or skinny ones with rejection letters.

A guidance counselor can monitor phone calls from admissions officers with questions about a low grade on your transcript or a discipline problem. And if you wind up getting rejected everywhere you applied, a sympathetic counselor might even plead your case to admissions officials at schools that still have open slots. These are professionals you definitely want in your corner, so don’t be shy about making the first move. It’s also advantageous to include someone whose primary perspective is academic.

Learn Your Way Around The Office

While your guidance counselor is getting to know you, get to know your counselor’s resources. Ask for a tour of the guidance office and have the counselor recommend college guidebooks, videos, and web sites. Find out whether your high school hosts workshops on college admissions and attend every session possible.

Use Your Counselor’s Connections

Your best college resource may be your counselor’s connections. If your counselor visits a lot of campuses and invites many admissions officers to your school, she probably plugged into the college admissions scene. Admissions officers who know and trust your counselor may ask for the inside scoop on you. Your counselor will know which schools are most likely to accept you, which ones should be considered as “safeties” and which ones are long shots. We’re stating the obvious here, but, take advantage of this professional’s knowledge.

Provide Good (and Bad) Information

If your counselor is too swamped for frequent personal chats with you, drop off a resume that lists your recent accomplishments. Create a portfolio of your best papers and creative projects, and don’t be shy about disclosing any family situations that may affect your academic performance. For instance, if one of your parents gets seriously ill and your grades slip as a result, tell your counselor so she can explain your situation. Once you establish a personal rapport with your counselor, e-mail may be a more acceptable way to stay in touch on routine matters.

Regular Meetings

Your counselor should meet with you and your parents at least once in your junior year and again early in your senior year. Topics can include your academic strengths and weaknesses, sports, test scores, whether you should take a prep class, and college suggestions to consider. You should also drop by the office at least once a month from your junior year through graduation.

Your counselor can confirm if you are in compliance with NCAA eligibility requirements, explore potential career opportunities, identify colleges that specialize in your area of interest, and discuss the pros and cons of each school on your Target List.

Although most counselors are conscientious and knowledgeable, occasionally they may make an honest mistake, which could cost you a scholarship.

Help Developing a Plan and Timetable

Many counselors believe their job is not to tell students where to apply, but to advise them how to go about the process. Doing the legwork for students, counselors say, won’t teach them the survival skills they need for college. A good counselor will direct you toward books and online resources. We will direct you to Chapter 4 where we tell you how to identify appropriate colleges for you and develop your Target List.

Use History to Help You

Generally, high schools keep lists of where previous students have and haven’t been accepted. Schools with more sophisticated programs also maintain a database on the records of students who were accepted and rejected at various colleges. Counselors should analyze the data to track athletic admissions trends and use them to guide applicants. Organized feedback from high school graduates about what they like and dislike about their colleges, and about how prepared they felt academically, is also useful information for you.

Be Vigilant

If you are put on a waiting list at your first-choice college, your counselor can call the college to promote you and let the admissions department know you really want to go there. If the outlook is dim, your counselor can provide suggestions about alternatives. If a qualified student strikes out everywhere (a high school’s worst nightmare), a dedicated counselor will call around to find out which colleges have space available.

Find a Counselor Who Will Help

While it may be tempting to avoid your counselor, that’s almost always a mistake. If your counselor resist all advances or simply doesn’t know enough about colleges to be helpful, make an appointment with another counselor at your school. If asked, tell your assigned counselor that you are gathering additional information. You can also consider going outside the school for college advice. But be warned that your high school counselor can’t be avoided entirely. He or she will still write your recommendation, and colleges will not contact the independent advisor if they want to know more about you. Never fear, though. College admissions committees know that, for a variety of reasons, not everyone receives adequate counseling—or a fair recommendation.

Counselors-For-Hire

You could hire an educational consultant to help you develop a list of schools and prepare applications. A consultant’s services usually cost from $700 to several thousand dollars (ouch!). Princeton Review and Kaplan Test Prep and Admissions also offer one-on-one counseling. Less personalized counseling is also available in seminars or online packages. If you are truly needy, you can turn to groups such as Bottom Line, which counsels students for free. Many pricey consultants also offer free counseling; so don’t be afraid to ask.

Red Flags

No matter which independent counselor you hire, be sure to first check out her qualifications. Reputable counselors belong to either the Independent Educational Consultants Association (703-591-4850) or the National Association for College Admission Counseling (800-822-6285).

Ask prospective counselors for professional references and call them. A few things to avoid: inexperienced consultants who claim their Ivy League degrees give them special insight into the admission process; independent counselors who have poor relationships with guidance offices (you can’t afford to alienate your high school counselor!); and consultants who promise entrance into prestigious schools before viewing your academic record. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.