College Admissions Process

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the input. Parents of older kids at our school rave about the college application process. The guidance counselors meet regularly with kids and have really helped a number of friends' kids identify some out of the ordinary good fits. They have been really good at working with kids to get some amazing merit aid packages for several years running. More than half the class was accepted to one public university in Virginia. Several kids have been accepted into some pretty competitive schools since we have been there. Obviously, the kids do the coursework and, yes, their families are involved in the process with their kids as I expect to be. However, the guidance office certainly has demonstrated that the counselors have a heck of a lot more info than I could ever learn and I feel like they are a good counterpoint to parents. Sometimes your kid will listen to someone else's advice more than yours. I'd like to have some confidence in that advice and I'd like to have some sense that my counterpart knows our family a bit. That is probably way too much to expect in public school is what my gut feeling is.

One of the things I have valued the most at the school is its college guidance process. Part of our decision to stay or go will be deciding if we can handle the college app process as a family and do as thorough a job.

Why? Because you don't have time to help your kid or you think GC has some secret magic tricks you don't know about? You looking for "hands-on" help?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the input. Parents of older kids at our school rave about the college application process. The guidance counselors meet regularly with kids and have really helped a number of friends' kids identify some out of the ordinary good fits. They have been really good at working with kids to get some amazing merit aid packages for several years running. More than half the class was accepted to one public university in Virginia. Several kids have been accepted into some pretty competitive schools since we have been there. Obviously, the kids do the coursework and, yes, their families are involved in the process with their kids as I expect to be. However, the guidance office certainly has demonstrated that the counselors have a heck of a lot more info than I could ever learn and I feel like they are a good counterpoint to parents. Sometimes your kid will listen to someone else's advice more than yours. I'd like to have some confidence in that advice and I'd like to have some sense that my counterpart knows our family a bit. That is probably way too much to expect in public school is what my gut feeling is.

One of the things I have valued the most at the school is its college guidance process. Part of our decision to stay or go will be deciding if we can handle the college app process as a family and do as thorough a job.

Why? Because you don't have time to help your kid or you think GC has some secret magic tricks you don't know about? You looking for "hands-on" help?

Seriously...

Public school guidance counselors have more work to do than to make sure that each snowflake is hand-guided through the college admissions process. They are probably far more qualified to work than any private school "guidance counselors".

I'd suggest that you stay with your private school if those are your expectations - why are you even considering leaving?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the input. Parents of older kids at our school rave about the college application process. The guidance counselors meet regularly with kids and have really helped a number of friends' kids identify some out of the ordinary good fits. They have been really good at working with kids to get some amazing merit aid packages for several years running. More than half the class was accepted to one public university in Virginia. Several kids have been accepted into some pretty competitive schools since we have been there. Obviously, the kids do the coursework and, yes, their families are involved in the process with their kids as I expect to be. However, the guidance office certainly has demonstrated that the counselors have a heck of a lot more info than I could ever learn and I feel like they are a good counterpoint to parents. Sometimes your kid will listen to someone else's advice more than yours. I'd like to have some confidence in that advice and I'd like to have some sense that my counterpart knows our family a bit. That is probably way too much to expect in public school is what my gut feeling is.

One of the things I have valued the most at the school is its college guidance process. Part of our decision to stay or go will be deciding if we can handle the college app process as a family and do as thorough a job.

Why? Because you don't have time to help your kid or you think GC has some secret magic tricks you don't know about? You looking for "hands-on" help?

Seriously...

Public school guidance counselors have more work to do than to make sure that each snowflake is hand-guided through the college admissions process. They are probably far more qualified to work than any private school "guidance counselors".

I'd suggest that you stay with your private school if those are your expectations - why are you even considering leaving?

I'm showing my privilege here, but what else do guidance counselors do? isn't their job to guide students to reach their highest post-graduation achievement? why wouldn't their focus be on maximizing college admissions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Thanks for all the input. Parents of older kids at our school rave about the college application process. The guidance counselors meet regularly with kids and have really helped a number of friends' kids identify some out of the ordinary good fits. They have been really good at working with kids to get some amazing merit aid packages for several years running. More than half the class was accepted to one public university in Virginia. Several kids have been accepted into some pretty competitive schools since we have been there. Obviously, the kids do the coursework and, yes, their families are involved in the process with their kids as I expect to be. However, the guidance office certainly has demonstrated that the counselors have a heck of a lot more info than I could ever learn and I feel like they are a good counterpoint to parents. Sometimes your kid will listen to someone else's advice more than yours. I'd like to have some confidence in that advice and I'd like to have some sense that my counterpart knows our family a bit. That is probably way too much to expect in public school is what my gut feeling is.

One of the things I have valued the most at the school is its college guidance process. Part of our decision to stay or go will be deciding if we can handle the college app process as a family and do as thorough a job.

Why? Because you don't have time to help your kid or you think GC has some secret magic tricks you don't know about? You looking for "hands-on" help?

Seriously...

Public school guidance counselors have more work to do than to make sure that each snowflake is hand-guided through the college admissions process. They are probably far more qualified to work than any private school "guidance counselors".

I'd suggest that you stay with your private school if those are your expectations - why are you even considering leaving?

I'm showing my privilege here, but what else do guidance counselors do? isn't their job to guide students to reach their highest post-graduation achievement? why wouldn't their focus be on maximizing college admissions?

You really ARE showing your privilege here. In theory there is nothing wrong with what you said. In reality, a single GC in public is responsible for hundreds of kids (imagine 5 GC staff with 2000 kids school). Keep in mind, it's not just seniors they have to deal with. They can help students with general process questions but you can't expect "hands-on" help. For example, rather than GC telling you which schools to consider, GC may ask your kid to come up with the list of schools so GC can look it over. They just don't have the time.

[Anonymous]

in public schools guidance counselors are also responsible for dealing with issues such as, alternative curriculum for excused long absences; identifying, reporting and monitoring suspected abuse; counseling children with teen issues as needed. They also deal with the logistics of disciplinary actions

with public school graduating classes being so BIG, the above tasks take up alot more time than many parents would think.

However, FCPS counselors ARE available for more than just retreiving transcripts. If you ask they will guide your child on obtaining letters of recommendations, provide information on colleges that will fit your child's desire course of study, academic record, and budget. Most parents don't ask because they feel they can do better on their own. That is fine, but the option IS there if you your child wants it. All be it, some are better at this than others, and some will try to avoid this type of actual work at all costs. BUT, they should be providing it, if not, you can ask that your child's councelor be switched.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:in public schools guidance counselors are also responsible for dealing with issues such as, alternative curriculum for excused long absences; identifying, reporting and monitoring suspected abuse; counseling children with teen issues as needed. They also deal with the logistics of disciplinary actions

with public school graduating classes being so BIG, the above tasks take up alot more time than many parents would think.

However, FCPS counselors ARE available for more than just retreiving transcripts. If you ask they will guide your child on obtaining letters of recommendations, provide information on colleges that will fit your child's desire course of study, academic record, and budget. Most parents don't ask because they feel they can do better on their own. That is fine, but the option IS there if you your child wants it. All be it, some are better at this than others, and some will try to avoid this type of actual work at all costs. BUT, they should be providing it, if not, you can ask that your child's councelor be switched.

I also remember my (public school) guidance counselors facilitating Q&A sessions with various college recruitment reps to visit the school, and answer questions from students.

[Anonymous]

How many students is each counselor responsible for and is that just college counseling or college and personal counseling? If they have no more than 40-50 students for college counseling, without being responsible for personal counseling, they should have time to do a great job on the recommendations and application packages by Nov 1. That is usually the goal since most students apply somewhere early decision or to a college with rolling admissions.