Working with Your High School Counselor

Your high school counselor has a pretty tough job.  No.  Not just because she/he has to deal with you…  This college counseling thing keeps them pretty busy by itself, and it’s only one of the many duties they perform daily.  She/he probably also helps you do pre-enrollment each semester, may sponsor a club or team, usually serves on tons of committees, coordinates efforts or helps with preventing drug use/abuse, drunk driving, teen pregnancy, dropping out, and teen suicide, also works with students pursuing technical or vocational training and those directly entering the workforce after graduation, always gets things dumped in her/him by the principal, and, oh yeah, has to always be available to help deal with discipline situations and provide personal crisis counseling!  Oh, and they probably have a couple hundred other students to provide all those services to.

I list all of those activities so you’ll better appreciate the time your counselor spends with you.  No matter how good they are – and most of them are pretty awesome – they can’t possibly have time to do all of these things AND spend as much time as they want to with each student going to college.  Counselors have to rely on creating, publicizing and making available resources that help the masses, so their time spent with individual students is often short and sweet.  This is the main reason I created CollegePrep-101 (http://www.collegeprep101.com) and the College Answer Guy (http://www.collegeanswerguy.com) – for when students want/need more assistance than their counselor can provide.

Now that you’re aware of those facts, I hope you’ll appreciate and respect your counselor and her/his time.  Since this person is likely to be your main resource person throughout the college planning process, it’s important that that be a positive relationship. The following are some suggestions of strategies you could employ to ensure you have all the latest information without driving your counselor crazy to get it.
 
  • Always remember, you are only one of the 100 to 200 students they work with, and that college counseling isn’t their only responsibility. 
  • Make sure they know you, your intended major, your resume (give them one), schools on your list, what you’re looking for in a college, etc.  Meet with your school’s senior or college counselor once each during your sophomore and junior year.  Depending on your situation, your parents may also want to meet with her/him.
  • Regularly keep in contact with her/him.  Ask how you can do this without bugging her/him.
  • Be organized.  Keep a file of information they give you and write down what they tell you.  Also keep copies of all applications you submit – just in case one gets lost and needs to be replaced.  This will keep them from having to repeat themselves or repeat any work they’ve done.  Plus it will show how much you value what they say and their time, and reminds them how mature and responsible they are.
  • Ask if they would be willing to write you a recommendation letter, and give them plenty of time to write it.  Also, give them a copy of what they are recommending you for…
  • After you’ve selected your college and been awarded a million dollars in scholarships, make sure to send your counselor a note of thanks for all their work and support.  Talk to your parents about doing the same.
  • Offer yourself as free labor.  Offer to help your counselor disseminate college planning information to your classmates.  You could maintain the e-mail list of those interested in scholarships, maintain the college planning web page(s), make posters to announce new information, etc.  If you’re a part of the process, you’ll be among the first to know about everything.
I think if you appreciate your counselor, help them, and stay out of their way you’ll be able to have the best possible relationship with them.

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