APS HS counselor college knowledge

[Anonymous]

Do the counselors at APS high schools meet with each family to discuss each student's unique situation with regard to applying to colleges? Can you sit down with them for an hour and talk through all the details, and do they know enough to be able to fully guide us through the process? Or do people hire private counselors for this?

[Anonymous]

No, we hired our ow private college counselor. I am sure that many of them are qualified to advise on college admissions, but geez Louise they are under water like you won’t believe. My son’s counselor is pinch hitting with the regular counselors to handle teen self harm and even suicide issues. She gets the transcripts and recommendations in (has never missed a deadline!!), but the woman is out there saving lives.

[Anonymous]

The college counselors will send your counselor recommendation and transcript to schools and will maybe hold some group meetings for the kids. That’s it.

[Anonymous]

Thanks the laugh OP. An HOUR??? Each counselor has like 400 kids. ROFL.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thanks the laugh OP. An HOUR??? Each counselor has like 400 kids. ROFL.

On the websites, it looks like they have under 200 students per counselor. I thought that might give them time to see people more, no?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the counselors at APS high schools meet with each family to discuss each student's unique situation with regard to applying to colleges? Can you sit down with them for an hour and talk through all the details, and do they know enough to be able to fully guide us through the process? Or do people hire private counselors for this?

I would reach out to your child’s counselor and ask these specific questions. Don’t be afraid to contact them via email. Our counselor at W-L is fantastic and will gladly answer answer any questions we may have - about classes or how college planning works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Do the counselors at APS high schools meet with each family to discuss each student's unique situation with regard to applying to colleges? Can you sit down with them for an hour and talk through all the details, and do they know enough to be able to fully guide us through the process? Or do people hire private counselors for this?

I would reach out to your child’s counselor and ask these specific questions. Don’t be afraid to contact them via email. Our counselor at W-L is fantastic and will gladly answer answer any questions we may have - about classes or how college planning works.

I think emailing questions is different than expecting a counselor to sit with families for an hour to discuss the college application process.

[Anonymous]

An hour is a long time to talk to your school counselor. My kid is at a private, and even though we have dedicated college counselors they are really not there to do a ton of hand holding. This is what private college counselors are for.

Just start reading threads on the college/university forum. There is a wealth of information and you will learn more about the admissions process than you ever wanted to know. If you are still anxious (or your kid is not self-motivated and you have the cash) then hire an independent college counselor. I think for most families they are a waste of time.

I'd post a new thread with your kids current w/uw gpa, PSAT/SAT score-if you have one, tell folks they are at a public Arlington co. high school and ask for advice. You don't need to start your own thread, but, it will be specific to your kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do the counselors at APS high schools meet with each family to discuss each student's unique situation with regard to applying to colleges? Can you sit down with them for an hour and talk through all the details, and do they know enough to be able to fully guide us through the process? Or do people hire private counselors for this?

They’re not college counselors. This is not their job. They’re HS counselors that have to deal with all of the other stuff that HS kids are going through. You need to hire hire someone if you need handholding.

The HS counselors are pretty worthless. I have 2 kids that recently graduated from W-L

[Anonymous]

OP again--Thanks to those of you who provided some good insight here! I'll keep checking in case anyone else adds something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks the laugh OP. An HOUR??? Each counselor has like 400 kids. ROFL.

On the websites, it looks like they have under 200 students per counselor. I thought that might give them time to see people more, no?

They should have around 200 and that's split across two grade levels so should only have about.100 seniors.

The counselor will meet with your student for "academic planning" every year. The junior year meeting will include a discussion of college plans but it's not an in-depth thing. They also do presentations to students about the process, how to use Naviance, will ask you to fill out a detailed "brag sheet" to help them write recommendations. They do a parent presentation too.

If you need more help figuring out how to get started, you could reach out to the schools College & Career Counselor. If you need more help than that you should hire a private counselor.

We did not use a private counselor but I did spend a lot of time educating myself about the process and my kids are pretty clear on their preferences which helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks the laugh OP. An HOUR??? Each counselor has like 400 kids. ROFL.

On the websites, it looks like they have under 200 students per counselor. I thought that might give them time to see people more, no?

They should have around 200 and that's split across two grade levels so should only have about.100 seniors.

The counselor will meet with your student for "academic planning" every year. The junior year meeting will include a discussion of college plans but it's not an in-depth thing. They also do presentations to students about the process, how to use Naviance, will ask you to fill out a detailed "brag sheet" to help them write recommendations. They do a parent presentation too.

If you need more help figuring out how to get started, you could reach out to the schools College & Career Counselor. If you need more help than that you should hire a private counselor.

We did not use a private counselor but I did spend a lot of time educating myself about the process and my kids are pretty clear on their preferences which helps.

Thanks, that's very helpful!

[Anonymous]

My child is at Wakefield and the main counselor who deals with college gives just a lot of info that I don't personally find to be the best especially considering the audience.

For example, they were talking about the cost of college during a meeting and touted student loans as a good way to pay for college. Yes, student loans are usually needed but there needs to be more guidance provided to parents and students who might not have much experience with taking out large loans. You don't want to leave parents with the impression sure take out that $90 - 120K loan for a private liberal arts school. It's fine. They will get a job. They can pay it back. Or what happens to parents who get sucked into taking out the loans themselves but have no reasonable way of paying back.

[Anonymous]

When is a good time to get a private counselor? Junior year?

[Anonymous]

Speaking outside the beltway, so FCPS. Ours listened and we thought was on-board with our plan, what schools when. Some rolling, some EA. And yet was clueless re: "the plan" once we needed tasks in a timely (though a bit unconventional) manner.

We got the impression all that HS counselor knew to do was assist kids w/the Virginia colleges. Those timelines. That's it.