How “Honest” Are Counselors about Choices?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
My DD gets all As and Bs at a DC private school, high 1400s on the one SAT she took so far. She has some interesting extracurriculars. She hasn’t won any awards, has no “hooks,” isn’t into varsity sports. She’s a good kid, works hard, but there are kids at her school who are true standouts. She’s just not at that level.
DD has very high-ranked schools on her list that she’s discussed with her counselor. The counselor said things like, “well, those are pretty hard to get into,” but hasn’t come right out and said she should probably not waste an ED on them. She has some safety schools on the list, too, but she truly thinks she has a shot at the top ones on her list. She constantly talks about which one she might apply ED. I love my kid and don’t want to be the one to burst her bubble, but unless she does a lot better on the SAT (if she even takes it again) and somehow distinguishes herself, I just don’t see her being able to “beat out” these superstars that will apply to the same universities. How honest are counselors generally with their students and is, “X is hard to get into” a euphemism for, “you probably won’t get accepted”? I assume once school starts again the counselors will have more serious talks with the students. But would they really come right out and say, “if you want to ED, why not consider.....” and give realistic options? I want her to make her own decisions, but with honest guidance from the counselor. I’m just worried she might get the, “apply where you really want to go,” talk. |
Anonymous
| Maybe tell her to ask more pointed question to the counselor, e.g. “have any unhooked student with my stats got to school X in the past 3 years? What % of the students like me have been rejected?” With my son, after questions like these it became clear that HYP are futile. |
Anonymous
|
Eh, guidance counselors are a joke. They have their own interests. My son went to public school and his gc kept suggesting Rutgers. He told her, "I hate New Jersey; I wouldn't go to any school in that state even if that's the only place I got in." She discouraged him from applying anywhere else.
He went to Stanford. He sent her a postcard. |
Anonymous
| PP again. Make it easy for the counselor to answer your questions. They don’t want to say you shouldn’t apply, because that’s an opinion, but they can certainly state the facts: e.g. no unhooked student got in with an SAT < 1500 |
Anonymous
Your son sounds provincial. |
Anonymous
| they generally push everyone to apply to a few schools. at my sons school, his gc was pushing for two of his schools to be JMU and CNU. they’re not bad schools but DS wanted a LAC |
Anonymous
| I’m AA and have several friends who are HYPS grads who were discouraged from applying and instead steered towards UIUC, GWU, Rutgers, Rochester by guidance counselors. I had such a different experience in HS and in fact wish that I’d taken my GC’s advice. I’ve seen my friends’ experiences echoed in some of the Black@“eliteschoolname” posts on IG this year. My takeaway is that GCs are a crapshoot and their advice should be taken with a grain of salt, unless families you know and trust with similar profiles vouch for them. |
Anonymous
|
Usually they suggest applying to 7:
2 reaches 2 safeties 5 good bets The guidance counselor probably doesn’t want to crush your kid’s spirit and has probably had her fill of parents who think their kid is Ivy League material when they’re not. |
Anonymous
Did you ever think this was b/c HYPS schools are hard to get into and not about race. How do you know that the same guidance counselors didn’t give similar advice to white students. |
Anonymous
| The guidance counselor is going to look at your daughter in the context of her class. She will be honest with her because her own credibility is on the line with admission reps at the colleges and universities she wants to send kids to. |
Anonymous
|
It’s a huge profession. Impossible to answer OP’s question.
At private schools, they are just helping with the college search. At public schools, they also help with traditional counseling, academic advising, etc. I would not expect a public school counselor, with all the crap they have to do, to know everything about every college. I would expect more from a private school counselor, though. |
Anonymous
| To me I think her issue is more the As and Bs than the 1400. When I look at Naviance (for my kids public)/ maybe private is different the kids who get into top colleges have very very high GPAs. High test scores like 1400 will help at many State Us under top 40ish- but please understand that most admitted students have BOTH. |
Anonymous
| If you have Naviance, look at it with your DD so she can see which schools are likely for her stats. As a poster mentioned, a balanced list is KEY. Reaches are easy to choose, but safeties are equally important. I would also push for a rolling admission and early action. |
Anonymous
| Oops,forgot to ask. Does her school’s GC involve the parents? Perhaps you could ask more specific information with your DD in the room. |
Anonymous
Same thing with Mitchelle Obama. Her gc allegedly told her she’s not a Princeton material. She went to Princeton. That’s Mitchelle’s version of the event. GC probably told her Princeton is a crapshoot, she needs to apply to schools like rutger as a fall back. No gc in the right mind will tell a student to apply to Princeton and Stanford - and have Harvard or Columbia as fall backs. |