Are you getting the right guidance from your school Counselor?
What do you think about the quirky examples showcased by the college counselors in this video? Is there anything you can relate to?< /div>
https://youtu.be/B09gxjE1KpQ
The average guidance counselor to student ratio in 2015 was 478:1. That boils down to 3 minutes per student per school year*. How can we expect them to get anything done in that amount of time?
The odds aren’t in the college counselor’s favor, but we argue that there’s no excuse for some of the insanely bad, and downright wrong, advice and information we’ve witnessed counselors sharing with their students.
We work with students all across the country, and we’ve heard some doozies from college counselors at elite high schools. Here are some real life examples.
This is Part 1 of a 3-part mini-series; “Are you getting the right help?” Topic: Deadlines
Counselor mixed up school deadlines and did not understand the difference between “Early Action” and “Regular Decision” – Boarding school in Connecticut. Applying Early Action can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection, and this counselor advised our client incorrectly based on his/her misunderstanding and failure to stay current.
Counselor advised a student to apply to other schools after he/she has been accepted via Early Decision to a school of choice (student could afford to attend ED school) – Top private school in Metro Detroit. Once you have been accepted Early Decision, you are obligated to that school; to then apply elsewhere suggests fraudulent intent.
Counselor stated that with a “Rolling Admissions” deadline, you do not benefit from submitting an application earlier – Top private school in Metro Detroit. With Rolling Admissions, submission timing can mean the difference between acceptance and rejection. We have witnessed competitive students apply late to a Rolling Admissions school and get rejected; through speaking with the Admissions committee, we learned an earlier application would have resulted in their acceptance.
* According to theNational Association for College Admission Counseling