Get into Stanford: Influence of high school counselors on college admissions
Much of the advice I discovered as I was making my way through Ivy League admissions with decent but unspectacular test scores and an average GPA.
Some of this advice I didn’t find out until later – when working as an admissions officer for 3 years at a Top 20 university.
This advice falls into the second group – I simply found out way too late for it to help me during the admissions process. I have to admit – I was lucky. But I see examples all the time of:
1) Distinctive students who have bad high school counselors that offer poorly informed and sometimes outright wrong advice about Ivy League colleges
2) Strong students who haven’t built a strong relationship with their class counselor (after all, you rarely see them right?) and as a result, those counselors write very generic recommendation letters and generic evaluations in the secondary school report, the midyear report, and so forth
That last point is very damaging. Because you can fix #1 by finding out the truth independently. But it’s nearly impossible to fix #2 until its too late.
That said, here are some suggestions on how you can manage that relationship and steer away from mistake #2:
1) Schedule meetings with your guidance counselor on a periodic basis from 9th grade . In some schools, counselors follow their classes from year-to-year. At most schools, you’ll have a different guidance counselor each year. Whatever the system – make sure you meet with them at least 3 times a year (once in the middle of a semester, once at the end) to chat about things like:
-Potential course load
-College applications
The last point is the most important. The earlier you can get on the guidance counselor’s radar that you’re applying to schools like Harvard and Stanford and really CARE about the process, the more they’ll respect your goals and assist you
2) Schedule a parent-counselor conference. Just like my earlier post about parent-teacher conferences, parent-counselor conferences when done well are a really effective way for parents to discuss pertinent issues, advocate for their child’s interests, and make the guidance counselor know that he/she can’t slack off. Because counselors can be lazy, just like everyone else. Polite but demonstrated parental oversight can be a very effective accountability tool
3) Schedule application run-throughs with them starting at the end of junior year and at the start of senior year. Two goals: one, get on their radar early regarding the admissions process and two, give them thorough insight into your academic and extracurricular successes. Many counselors simply don’t know what’s going on at the high school – what clubs you’re in, what sports teams you start on, what you did during the summer. Arranging these 15-30 minute review sessions provides you that opportunity
4) Give them materials in the same way you would for teacher recommendations – a polished resume, and a letter explaining your dream schools, your story, and your proudest achievements
Of these four steps, Step #3 is probably the most critical. Do this at least two times before they need to submit the Common App secondary school report. Do it once more before they send in the midyear update.
If you’re afraid of doing so, remember: this is the rest of your life here. Go get what you want.