School counselors can play a significant role in guiding students toward their next chapter after high school, especially those planning to attend a four-year university or community college.
Some of their responsibilities include helping students with course selection, writing recommendation letters, organizing information sessions with admissions officers and submitting transcripts to colleges post-acceptance.
“The counselor is really the partner, ally and advocate for the student because they sit at the intersection of the student and the school,” says Lindsay Tanne Howe, founder and CEO of LogicPrep, a global college admissions consultancy. “They are the experts in the school environment and they’re also responsible for managing the really essential administrative tasks that support the student’s submissions.”
Beyond their administrative tasks, counselors often provide emotional support and answer students’ questions about applying to college and the financial aid process.
“We have a really good understanding of the context of our school environment, but as much as we are a resource, we also have access to resources,” says Candice Mackey, college counselor at Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies in California. “We have relationships with college admissions counselors and representatives. We can hopefully direct and provide scholarship opportunities and resources for students and their families.”
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Benefits of Building Rapport With Your Counselor
Since counselors often work with many students, especially at public schools, it can be difficult for them to write a personalized recommendation letter. Therefore, students may be asked to fill out and submit an information sheet about themselves, providing details about their interests, strengths and goals.
Students who are proactive and build relationships with their counselor may receive a stronger letter, since the counselor would then have details beyond what’s written in a resume.
“Your counselor has to write a letter for all of the kids they have,” says Brie Jeweler-Bentz, director of college counseling at The School Counseling Group, an educational consulting organization. “You want your letter to be better than their letters. You want them to have specific things to say about you that distinguish you from your peers. It could be the leadership that you’ve displayed. It could be your kindness. … If (you’ve) started to develop that relationship from day one, the counselor is going to have their own stories to tell.”
Appreciation also goes a long way, experts say.
“Counselors have a lot on their plate. They’re often very busy and very stressed out,” Jeweler-Bentz says. “Even if you don’t love your counselor … recognize you don’t want to burn a bridge. If you can respect their time and appreciate them and if they’re writing a letter, maybe get them a Starbucks gift card or something like that. It can be a really nice thing to do.”
When Should You Connect With Your Counselor?
Some high schools have both guidance counselors and designated college and career counselors. However, if you have the same counselor throughout the entirety of high school, initiate that first conversation early, experts say. That often means reaching out in ninth or tenth grade.
“Don’t be afraid,” Mackey says. “Students sometimes may feel a little bit intimidated or feel like, ‘Oh, well, they’re busy. I’ll put it off and I’ll talk to them later.’ Or, ‘I’ll talk to them as I get closer to this process.’ But part of managing some of the stress and the feelings of being overwhelmed at times is having those conversations early on so that it can make things a little bit easier with getting, as I call it, advanced knowledge and preparation when the stakes are lower.”
School counselors may have different communication preferences, but a good rule of thumb is reaching out via email to make an appointment or dropping in during set office hours before or after classes.
[Read: What to Do for College During Each Summer of High School]
However, be mindful about how — and how often — you communicate with your counselor, experts say.
Students should know “how to contact their counselor,” Mackey says. “There’s that fine line with being persistent and then also just being rude.”
Examples of Questions to Ask Your High School Counselor
Given counselors’ time constraints, students should come to their appointment with a list of questions. Here are some examples.
What Are All of my Options?
Some students aren’t always sure if college is the right pathway. But counselors can help, such as by making introductions to students who have pursued other options, Howe says.
“If a student is sitting there in the fall of senior year saying, ‘I’m not sure which path to pursue, I have multiple forks in the road,’ the counselor can certainly share their perspective based on the academic record, based on the goals the student is articulating,” she says. “But they can also make helpful introductions to students and families who have a more longitudinal view. I wouldn’t hesitate to ask, ‘Do you have a resource that you’ve worked with in the past who can share their experience and their perspective?'”
?Does my College List Look Balanced?
There are many types of colleges, and their acceptance rates and requirements vary.
“So often, students are coming back to school having spent the summer researching schools, maybe visiting, starting to work on applications,” Howe says. “It’s great to have the counselor take another look at the list to evaluate whether there are enough schools on it and whether the student has options across different admissions probabilities that they can be really excited about.”
[Read: How to Recover from a High School Sophomore Slump]
The list should be assessed from both a “probability and financial aid perspective,” she adds. “It’s more of a global conversation to say, ‘These are the factors I’m considering. I’m looking at this potential major, geography, affordability is a factor as well. Can you weigh in across all of those different areas?'”
Would my Test Scores Be a Positive Addition to my Application?
The standardized testing landscape is constantly changing, so students can ask their counselors about whether submitting their SAT or ACT score at a test-optional school would benefit their overall application. ? “Let’s say I’m a student and I have a 1200 on my SAT and I’m applying to a college that’s test optional — meaning it’s up to me whether I want to submit it or not,” Jeweler-Bentz says. “If I go to my counselor and say, ‘Hey, can you tell me what the average SAT score is for our high school?’ If I find out it’s 1100, my 1200 is going to seem really good. If the average is 1400, my 1200 is not going to seem so good, and that’s really helpful information that the counselors have.”
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How High School Counselors Support Students Applying to College originally appeared on usnews.com
