Walls Counselor sharing students' college apps

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older, but when they were seniors they were specifically told not to discuss with their classmates where they were applying.

The idea of a counselor doing it is boggling.

My kids are younger and not yet applying, but why would it be bad to discuss with classmates? Other than embarrassment if they don't get in, seems fine to me.

The counselor naming names rather than rough numbers of kids is obviously a bad idea.

Because it unnecessarily personalizes a competitive situation, adding to the stress. And a bunch of people discussing it puts pressure to respond on kid less inclined to engage. And some kids don't understand the potential downsides of the having those conversations until it is too late, because they haven't been through something like that before, which is why the best advice is "Don't discuss it." If some kids choose to, oh well.

But NEVER should the college counselor decide that it's okay to share this information.

I hope Walls sees this thread because parents and students are unlikely to directly complain because of they need the counselor's help right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older, but when they were seniors they were specifically told not to discuss with their classmates where they were applying.

The idea of a counselor doing it is boggling.

My kids are younger and not yet applying, but why would it be bad to discuss with classmates? Other than embarrassment if they don't get in, seems fine to me.

The counselor naming names rather than rough numbers of kids is obviously a bad idea.

It didn’t used to be. It used to be that your classmates were your friends, and supported you. Now college admissions is a cut-throat sport, and your classmates are the competition.

The counselors at Walls only do college apps once every 4 years, correct? So this counselor hasn’t had these in-person meetings since fall of 2016. This norm has probably moved in that time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kids are older, but when they were seniors they were specifically told not to discuss with their classmates where they were applying.

The idea of a counselor doing it is boggling.

My kids are younger and not yet applying, but why would it be bad to discuss with classmates? Other than embarrassment if they don't get in, seems fine to me.

The counselor naming names rather than rough numbers of kids is obviously a bad idea.

It didn’t used to be. It used to be that your classmates were your friends, and supported you. Now college admissions is a cut-throat sport, and your classmates are the competition.

The counselors at Walls only do college apps once every 4 years, correct? So this counselor hasn’t had these in-person meetings since fall of 2016. This norm has probably moved in that time.

dp: It has always been a sensitive subject. I went to a strong public school decades ago, and while we discussed who was applying where among friends, we knew not to pry and to respect people's confidences.

It's like discussing salaries. Unless you are at a company which has a policy of transparency, or work for the government with well-known pay scales, it's a delicate subject and you tread carefully. You don't decide for someone else that the topic is fair game for discussion.

[Anonymous]

OP, this is almost certainly a violation of FERPA. Wall's information on your child's ED school is almost certainly considered an "educational record" and should not have been disclosed to another student.

[Anonymous]

It’s also against NACAC’s Best Practices, and should be reported to a supervisor.

-College Counselor

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, this is almost certainly a violation of FERPA. Wall's information on your child's ED school is almost certainly considered an "educational record" and should not have been disclosed to another student.

Privacy lawyer here. Definitely a FERPA violation. Report to the principal.

[Anonymous]

I'm PP whose daughter is also a senior at SWW. I asked her about this today. She said she hadn't heard of Ms. Pace telling other kids about specific applications--but she *does* have a list hanging on the wall of her office of all the schools kids are applying to early, and who is doing so. So that does seem like a violation, probably one of carelessness.

[Anonymous]

Sure it's a violation of privacy and a sign of how things have changed(or parenting has changed). I attended a magnet high school and we were super supportive of each other and pushed hard for the top schools. My kid is a junior at Walls and not sure she would care much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sure it's a violation of privacy and a sign of how things have changed(or parenting has changed). I attended a magnet high school and we were super supportive of each other and pushed hard for the top schools. My kid is a junior at Walls and not sure she would care much.

You're one of those annoying and self-righteous parents of younger children who knows not of what you speak. Come back this time next year and tell me the same thing...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure it's a violation of privacy and a sign of how things have changed(or parenting has changed). I attended a magnet high school and we were super supportive of each other and pushed hard for the top schools. My kid is a junior at Walls and not sure she would care much.

You're one of those annoying and self-righteous parents of younger children who knows not of what you speak. Come back this time next year and tell me the same thing...

Not to be annoying, but different people are different. My senior at Walls shrugged it off as not a big deal for her--but she also understands that not everyone feels that way and thinks it's pretty bad that their early applications are public without their permission. She also said she might feel a whole lot worse about it once she hears back from her early decision school...

[Anonymous]

My daughter and friends are super private about this (also seniors but not at Walls) and I kind of wonder why. It's not like someone is going to switch their ED choice TO a school because a friend/classmate is also applying there. They may switch their ED choice FROM a school if they like another school just as much (which is a good thing!).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter and friends are super private about this (also seniors but not at Walls) and I kind of wonder why. It's not like someone is going to switch their ED choice TO a school because a friend/classmate is also applying there. They may switch their ED choice FROM a school if they like another school just as much (which is a good thing!).

There are a lot of reasons why a student might not want this information public- for example, they may not want anyone to know where they are applying in general so that they don’t need to reveal if/when they get rejected from somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter and friends are super private about this (also seniors but not at Walls) and I kind of wonder why. It's not like someone is going to switch their ED choice TO a school because a friend/classmate is also applying there. They may switch their ED choice FROM a school if they like another school just as much (which is a good thing!).

There are a lot of reasons why a student might not want this information public- for example, they may not want anyone to know where they are applying in general so that they don’t need to reveal if/when they get rejected from somewhere.

+1

If you share your ED school and you don’t go to that school everyone knows you didn’t get in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter and friends are super private about this (also seniors but not at Walls) and I kind of wonder why. It's not like someone is going to switch their ED choice TO a school because a friend/classmate is also applying there. They may switch their ED choice FROM a school if they like another school just as much (which is a good thing!).

There are a lot of reasons why a student might not want this information public- for example, they may not want anyone to know where they are applying in general so that they don’t need to reveal if/when they get rejected from somewhere.

+1

If you share your ED school and you don’t go to that school everyone knows you didn’t get in.

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sure it's a violation of privacy and a sign of how things have changed(or parenting has changed). I attended a magnet high school and we were super supportive of each other and pushed hard for the top schools. My kid is a junior at Walls and not sure she would care much.

You're one of those annoying and self-righteous parents of younger children who knows not of what you speak. Come back this time next year and tell me the same thing...

I guess you missed the part about the kid being a junior at Walls.....It's parents like you that give kids anxiety and make them have breakdowns.