college counselors at private schools: what's the value add?

[daijobu]

I was chatting with a mom of private school kids who was bemoaning the poor college placement of seniors at her school.  She placed the blame on their new college counselor who did little to court the tippy top name schools, didn't invite them to visit their school, didn't promote their students, etc.  

 

But I'm wondering, how much value do these counselors really provide?  Are Harvard adcoms really impressed when a school counselor tells them, "Our students are so wonderful!"  Or is there some other secret sauce they provide?   

[snowbeltmom]

I was chatting with a mom of private school kids who was bemoaning the poor college placement of seniors at her school.  She placed the blame on their new college counselor who did little to court the tippy top name schools, didn't invite them to visit their school, didn't promote their students, etc.  

 

But I'm wondering, how much value do these counselors really provide?  Are Harvard adcoms really impressed when a school counselor tells them, "Our students are so wonderful!"  Or is there some other secret sauce they provide?   

 

From what my friends tell me who have kids at our area's expensive private schools, the guidance counselors do provide a "secret sauce" - some of them had worked in admissions at one of the lottery schools before taking the guidance counselor position, while others are on very good terms with the adcoms at the lottery schools.  These relationships, along with the schools' reputations do carry a lot of weight in admission. 

 

[Guest]

Interesting. Maybe it's my DIY and Homeschooler streak coming out in me, but I think the GCs for the local public schools place a lot of kids at schools that are their personal pet favorites while there are many schools that could be much better for that student, or more affordable, or some other factor. I don't really understand a parent (especially if they are paying all or much of the tuition and room/board) just sort of leaving it up to the school guidance counselor to figure out where DC should apply. Plus I think some GCs give too much weight to some frivolous goal the kid has like, "I want to be near the beach." (Not that one cannot give that any consideration, but something like weather preference or what kind of entertainment is available are down near the bottom of my criteria list.)

 

My kid is at a private school, but I am by far the driving force behind shaping my childrens' lists. I ask the GC if I need guidance, but I cannot imagine tossing them the baton and hoping I like what they come up with.

[Julie of KY]

I think guidance counselors can be relied on too much and parents ought to have some say in counseling their kids. It amazes me the lack of knowledge that some parents have and how trusting they are to let the guidance counselor do all the decision making with their kids. Too often, they just plan to let the kids take loans because that's how it's done.

 

Yes, I think some GC have secret sauce at reputable schools. Others just give out advice and it's not always good advice.

 

 

[Joules]

The contacts of the GC can be very important.  Another possibility, I think the counselor letter does carry a great deal of weight at some colleges.  At some public schools the GC may be writing hundreds of these.  They probably all sound alike and may not make the student really shine.  A GC at a private school has fewer students to manage and can give the applications and letters the time they deserve.

[Another Lynn]

From what my friends tell me who have kids at our area's expensive private schools, the guidance counselors do provide a "secret sauce" - some of them had worked in admissions at one of the lottery schools before taking the guidance counselor position, while others are on very good terms with the adcoms at the lottery schools.  These relationships, along with the schools' reputations do carry a lot of weight in admission. 

 

 

At my oldest ds's private school, the senior gc was formerly in admissions at two different colleges.  She has great relationships with admission reps at colleges in our state.  She was extremely knowledgeable about all things related to applying and financial aid.  She hosted parent info nights.  She was very up to date on the changing FAFSA deadline (everything I heard from her at info nights matched what I read here on the forum!)  She did not personally guide my ds about where to apply, but she was interested in where and gave him some advice about which activity to lead with on the Common App, etc.  And she wrote recommendation letters for nearly every senior in the school.  She sent out questionnaires to parents spring of junior year collecting info about our to-be seniors - what were their biggest interests, biggest accomplishments, significant character traits, what adjectives would we use to describe them, etc, to give her info that would be helpful in writing a more personalized rec. letter.  At my public school 30 years ago, I don't remember involvement of this kind at all.  

[lisabees]

There are a lot of different kinds of private schools. There are only a few which rank in the exclusive niche with a high percentage going to top tier colleges. These schools cost $60,000 around here. And there are only a few.

 

At those schools, the GC makes a difference.

 

Most of the other private schools and public schools have GCs with limited scope and knowledge.

 

I mean, shouldn't a good college counselor consider finances first and foremost? That would involve revealing discussions with parents. That is definitely out of the scope for most GCs.

 

And think about it, most GCs have other roles - scheduling and counseling kids in emotional ways etc. They have way too much on their plate.

[wapiti]

This will vary by school; some private schools will have fantastic counselors and some will be as weak as the typical PS and everything in between.

 

At my kids' private school, there are five college counselors plus administrative person for about 400 seniors (girls school and boys school combined).  The regular high school counselors are a separate group, so these college counselors are working only on the college process.  They are serving a wide range of students; on one end will be a few attending CC and at the other end will be several attending selective schools and a few attending very highly selective schools.  I found that I agreed with the vast majority of what the counselors said during the recent info night for sophomore parents though I did disagree on a few points, partly because not every piece of advice can apply to every student.
 

One of my bigger issues is that the college counselors start late, when the die is cast.  I think that's on purpose, to avoid undue pressure and influence of the college process.  The high school and college counselors do communicate but... I found that the high school counselors actively discourage honors and AP classes because they want to be sure the student is really up for the challenge.  My kiddo was scared off from AP World and now wishes she had taken it (at the moment, has a 100 average in the regular, non-AP class).

 

It seems to me that these college counselors have systematized what they can.  Still, some students contract with personal college admissions consultants, though I don't know how many.  I guess we'll find out, but I suppose the school's college counselors end up steering students in ways that depend on their stats.  In other words, maybe they put a different kind of attention on the students with stats for the potential for highly-selective admission and those stats won't really be clear until toward the end of junior year.

 

My child and friends are planning SAT prep summer prior to junior year, which is ahead of the schedule recommended by the school's college counselors.  Thinking some more, if there needs to be one-size-fits-all recommendations on that schedule, the college counselors have no choice but to suggest waiting until the end of junior year to test because of different math levels (the school is extremely rigid and brutal about freshman math placement).  Usually the school requires all juniors to take the April ACT (cold! I disagree) though I noticed that the schedule changed for next year - will be in Feb.

Edited May 7, 2017 by wapiti