How much help was your DC's HS counselor?

[Anonymous]

Just curious how helpful the guidance counselors are with college prep? As we decide between high schools, I just want to get an idea about how much help (if any?) my son will get, esp since some of the private college counselors seem so pricey. We are deciding between public in NoVA and Catholic.

[Anonymous]

No help at all. Don't count on it.

[Anonymous]

Here's our experience: DD1 went to highly-regarded NOVA high school where, with a 3.5 GPA and 2000 SAT scores, she was about middle of the class and counselor did the bare minimum -- mailed the transcripts in the envelopes we provided pre-addressed, postage paid. DD2, with similar credentials, went to a local Catholic high school where DCUMers wouldn't be paid to send their kids and the counselor actually reached out to DD2 (including during 2 particularly difficult times for DD2, not college related), suggested colleges he thought might be a good fit, and when DD2 zeroed in on a "top choice" for her, the counselor reached out to the college, called the admissions contact, and kept us in the loop. I've heard similar stories from other parents at both schools.

[Anonymous]

Counselor did as much as we asked of him. He wrote a recommendation and made sure everything was sent out in a timely manner. Whenever I have met with him to discuss things, he has also been very helpful. Public HS in Fairfax County.

[Anonymous]

Counselor did virtually nothing. I did all the research. I basically wrote the recommendation for the counselor (they send you a very detailed list of questions about your child and then they just use your answers). Frankly it would be impossible for the counselor to really know enough about your kid to write the recommendation (I mean outside of GPA and test scores).

FCPS public high school (2400 students in grades 9-12)

[Anonymous]

not helpful. don't know why they have a job

[Anonymous]

In public schools, HS counselors are glorified schedulers. They are often busy handling the troubled kids. If you need hand holding, pay a private counselor.

[Anonymous]

Our college counselor was fine for our kid who was a top student, very self-directed about what he wanted. and able to handle most of the deadlines independently. The counselor wasn't as much help with child #2, who has LDs and needed more specialized college recommendations. We went with a private college counselor the second time around for that reason.

[Anonymous]

If your kids is a typical kid, the public HS counselors will tell them about Naviance (which contains prior admissions data for students from the same school applying to different colleges) to identify potential matches, write a recommendation based on input from parents and teachers, and send out transcripts. There are others who notify students of school visits, college fairs, and scholarship opportunities. It is up to students to decide where to apply and to track the status of their applications.

It worked fine for us but we weren't expecting a lot of personalized advice.

[Anonymous]

I agree with the sentiment that at least for public HS, "counselor" is a misnomer. They mostly perform administrative duties: fill out forms, schedule visits, update Naviane and send mass emails to students about college visits and fairs, perhaps give the occasional pep talk. More can't really be expected.

[Anonymous]

If you are in public school, also check your school's Career Center. The person at our DDs school who runs the Carser Center is incredibly helpful with the college process. Once she meets with a kid, she seems to rattle off several schools that end up being the perfect fit. She is also a wealth of knowledge for navigating the entire process. We have found that there is a wide variance in the quality of the actual guidance counselors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you are in public school, also check your school's Career Center. The person at our DDs school who runs the Carser Center is incredibly helpful with the college process. Once she meets with a kid, she seems to rattle off several schools that end up being the perfect fit. She is also a wealth of knowledge for navigating the entire process. We have found that there is a wide variance in the quality of the actual guidance counselors.

+1

[Anonymous]

I think so much depends on the counselor and their experience. 2 kids in 2 public schools- one big and one smaller magnet. Counselor at large school has handled college guidance for years and was a wealth of knowledge. DC was good student with decent score and one strong EC. He's done extremely well with college acceptances but we received excellent advice. Other DC was very outstanding and based on stats could apply to any school. Counselor had no experience and was little to no help. We would have been better served hiring someone privately. All worked out for DC but lots of mistakes along the way.

[Anonymous]

One kid at private and one at a big public. Counseling was definitely better at the private school, but the overall high school experience was actually better at the public school. So I would not select a school based on college counseling, especially since that is something you can purchase separately. The counseling at the public was perfectly adequate.

[Anonymous]

Nothing. FCPS. Langley High.