Wow, this sounds like very bad form. My DD is a senior at Walls and I will ask her if she's experienced it, too.

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.

Anonymous wrote:Firing offense for sure. Not just bad judgement. Hope this is handled swiftly.

And then who does the school end of everyone’s college apps?

Firing offense for sure. Not just bad judgement. Hope this is handled swiftly.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - yes, the counselor named names. Multiple kids knew where their classmates were applying - names, schools, ED/EA/RD - after conversations with the counselor

wow. Yeah, this is beyond weird and inappropriate.

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.

OP here - yes, the counselor named names. Multiple kids knew where their classmates were applying - names, schools, ED/EA/RD - after conversations with the counselor

I just re-read your post OP. Did the counselor name names?

It's hard to tell. If not, than this is totally a GREAT practice. You want to know how many others from the class are applying. My kids are at a private school and we tried to drag this out of our college counselor and didn't get anywhere.

A kid's first competition is always their classmates. And colleges are only going to take a tiny number from any one high school. If your kid is applying ED to a school with 3 other kids (all with strong grades) and two are legacies and one is a recruited athlete, it probably makes sense to pick another school.

Naming names is totally inappropriate and I am generally super chill when it comes to privacy.

Saying "3 other kids are applying ED to Penn" is totally awesome. I wish more college counselors would do this.

Anonymous wrote:My only thought is that the counselor is trying to "help" the kids to not all apply ED to the same school because historically only 1 Walls will get accepted.

Now, why the counselor would actually give the student's name vs. telling a kid that perhaps they should consider a different ED school...that's completely inappropriate.

I don't think it's inappropriate for a counselor to say "5 other kids are applying to X ED already," in fact, I think that kind of counseling is part of her job. Naming names? 100% inappropriate and almost certainly a violation of school policy.

My only thought is that the counselor is trying to "help" the kids to not all apply ED to the same school because historically only 1 Walls will get accepted.

Now, why the counselor would actually give the student's name vs. telling a kid that perhaps they should consider a different ED school...that's completely inappropriate.

On the positive side, my high school counselor had no idea where I was applying.

I agree it's inappropriate.

Anonymous wrote:Not overreacting. Inappropriate. I’d be upset too.

+1

Not overreacting. Inappropriate. I’d be upset too.

Some background: my senior is in the throes of college applications and seems to have a balanced list of schools. They are EDing to their dream school, but also ok if they don't get in and would be fine with one of their safeties. They've decided to hold their cards closely and not share much until they've committed somewhere.

Anyways, they came home today upset that a classmate asked them about their specific ED application/school and said that the senior class counselor had told them where my kid and several others were applying ED. Kid said that then several other students chimed in and said that they had also been told by the counselor where other students were applying, both ED and RD.

I didn't want to make a big deal about it to them, but this feels inappropriate for the counselor to share, especially if students aren't even sharing this information amongst themselves. Am I overreacting?