There's definitely a variety even among counselors at a specific school. My child's counselor has always responded within a day, while a friend's never seems to respond.

At my son’s HS, it literally took 6 months for the counselor to update his SSL hours. He emailed them in July. They weren’t updated until January despite several very nice emails asking for the counselor to kindly update. They kept saying they basically had other things to do. I understand SSL hours are not the #1 priority, but SSL coordinators are given a stipend to account for the extra time they spend. 6 months is not a reasonable amount of time. There are some fantastic counselors and also some who ignore and avoid.

Anonymous wrote:I have a freshman so am wondering the reasonable amount of days to expect a counselor to respond to an email? I know they're overworked so want to be understanding. thanks

2 business days. If no contact, resend and CC RT/Principal

Churchill. Mr. Purpura responds within hours and sometimes moments. Def within the same day. He’s amazingly responsive.

48 hrs is the assumed maximum wait
if you don't hear back, forward it to the AP and ask if they can help or if there's another counselor who would.

That normally gets results.

It varies on their workload and the quality of the counselor. The ones in my school are often busy due to the large amount of people in my school and it takes up a month for them to reply.

Anonymous wrote:Unfortunately it varies from counselor to counselor. Good ones reply within 1-2 days. Bad ones may not reply for a week or so

Bad ones may not respond at all.

I’ve always gotten quick replies except the end of last year. There was some disconnect between trying to directly email versus emailing thru Parentvue. I was using the email address through my yahoo account and it wasn’t going through. Then I emailed through parentvue and got a response. Counselor said he didn’t receive my other emails. This happened to me before as well with two different teachers.

So I guess what I’m saying is to be sure your email is getting through. If you can’t confirm give the benefit of the doubt when you escalate. I tend to move on to the principal after a few days - but if time is of the essence I will escalate in a day.

Chase them. If they've not responded within 48 hours just politely remind them you're waiting for a reply.

I’m responsive as a counselor but sometimes I get so many emails that I miss one. I’m not offended if someone resends with a note like, “just in case this got buried, I Know you must get a tremendous volume of emails…”

HS counselor here. I try for 1-2 days, but things come up during the day that can make this impossible. I've had multiple consecutive days recently where I was addressing student crisis after crisis and didn't even get to my emails during the work day. Often, when I'm good about my emails, it's only because I am making myself less available to students, which I really don't like doing. In the past I would just go home and answer emails but I have two kids under two, and I just don't have the time to bring my work home. I'd say if two business days pass, it's completely appropriate to follow up.

OP I think it's nice that you are being thoughtful about your child's counselor

2 days for a good counselor, IME. Also, the Seniors and Juniors have more urgent issues usually and this is high time for college apps, so unless you have something super urgent you might cut them a little slack.

Just call them if you don’t hear in a day or two. Totally variable response rates, even though the “rule” is they are supposed to get back to you in either 24 or 48 hours - can’t remember which

Unfortunately it varies from counselor to counselor. Good ones reply within 1-2 days. Bad ones may not reply for a week or so

I have a freshman so am wondering the reasonable amount of days to expect a counselor to respond to an email? I know they're overworked so want to be understanding. thanks