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Joan Bress
is a Certified Educational Planner and Director of College Resource
Associates.
Marjorie A. Goode
Educational Consultant
"Start Early: College & Career Planning Service"
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Counselor's Corner
By Joan Bress and Marjorie A. Goode |
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YOUR GUIDANCE COUNSELOR: YOUR SCHOOL'S BEST RESOURCE
Although Woody Allen is no expert on college admissions,
he is a keen observer on how people get things done.
"Seventy percent of success is showing up," he said.
That's certainly a good starting point for working successfully with your guidance counselor.
The more your counselor knows about you,
the better she will be able to help you make good decisions about your college future.
Do not be afraid to make an appointment with your guidance counselor
if you have questions about course options or your progress in academic or extracurricular activities.
Take this opportunity to become familiar with the resources
that will help you once your college search shifts into high gear.
Keep an eye out for scholarship opportunities or summer study and internships
that may be available to underclassmen.
Most guidance counselors meet with students in their junior year to begin the college search.
Be prepared for this meeting.
Think about what type of student you are and what learning environments are most likely to work for you.
Are you a high achiever?
Do you work best in a cooperative, collaborative classroom?
Does competition make you work harder?
Are relationships with teachers important to you?
Bring notes you have taken on colleges you have thought about
or that your parents want you to consider.
If you show your counselor that you are serious about working with her,
you may be surprised at how hard she will work for you.
Talk with your guidance counselor about special interests or talents
you want to develop in college or challenges that college might present to you.
Understand that nobody knows everything.
If your counselor does not have adequate information about something
that is important to you, ask her to recommend someone who might help you make good decisions.
If your parents have decided that it would be beneficial
for you to work with an independent educational consultant,
talk with your consultant about how she typically
works with school-based counselors.
Most consultants have experience collaborating with guidance counselors.
Their shared expertise can surely work to your advantage.
Know how your counselor will communicate with you.
E-mail? Newsletter? School-wide announcements?
Is there a special place where you will find scholarship notices?
Respect deadlines so that your counselor can meet her deadlines.
If you don't do your job, your counselor can't do hers.
Stay in touch with your counselor and complete all of her assignments thoughtfully.
If she has asked you or your parents to complete information sheets,
take this assignment seriously.
Be specific and offer details to support your statements.
Many counselors draw heavily on this information as they write your recommendation letter.
Know that your guidance counselor is working hard on your behalf.
She understands that you are new to the college application experience
and she is eager to help you manage the process.
Let her know that you appreciate her efforts.
A special thank-you note when it's all over would be nice.
Joan Bress
Do you know your counselor?
This is a question I frequently pose to students
when I conduct college planning programs at my school and it's one
of the questions I pose to new clients in my practice.
As a school counselor for twenty-six years, one of my priorities
has always been to see my counselees regularly (3-4 times) each year.
Is it easy? Absolutely not, so I count on them to help.
I tell them to schedule an appointment to see me
if time has lapsed over two months since our last meeting.
Suppose your counselor hasn't met you.
Then schedule an appointment to introduce or "re-introduce" yourself to him/her.
Simply say, "It's been a while since we've chatted
and I'd like to update you on what I've been doing."
Another approach is, "I've been thinking about colleges
and careers and I'd like to talk to you about it."
It's easier for us to write letters of recommendation
when we know more about you than just your GPA and test scores.
Colleges will find this information on your school secondary report,
so help us share information about you that will not be redundant,
but impressive.
Marjorie A. Goode
The views expressed herein are those of their authors alone, and do not necessarily represent the views of Hundreds of Heads or of IECA.
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KNOW WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR instead of going in blind and thinking,
"Oh, that school sounds nice."
I applied to a lot of schools I wouldn't have wanted to go to.
The counselors at my school tried to make it seem you had to go
to a school they thought was good.
I was trying to apply to swanky schools even though
they didn't offer programs I wanted or were too far away.
-- ASHLEY LITTLE
MARQUETTE UNIVERSITY
THE WORST PART was that I felt as if I was by myself in the search process.
At my high school, if you weren't interested in the stereotypical big state school,
you were pretty much on your own. Our guidance counselors tried to be helpful,
but they were pretty clueless.
I had to figure out a lot by word of mouth and the Internet.
-- A.M.
AGNES SCOTT COLLEGE
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Your high school guidance counselor is not there to make decisions for you.
He provides resources and helps you find outlets to information,
but the choices you make are for you, not for anyone else.
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