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Share Your Child’s Story of Success in Working with a College Guidance Counselor
My weekly column published today, entitled College Guidance Counselors as Advocates, is intended to give some insight to parents of high school seniors and younger students about the importance of their children working effectively with the assigned college counselor. But no insight is better for these parents than their learning the successful stories of peers who have already gone through the college admissions process. Please share your child’s story of success in working with his or her college guidance counselor, by adding a comment. Thank you and congratulations on your role in supporting your child’s success.
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on Monday, October 9th, 2006 at 9:44 am and is filed under High School.
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December 9th, 2006 at 3:32 am
My student (freshman) attends The University of Toledo. Because he has had difficulty in transitioning into college life, he considered dropping out. A counselor at the university put him onto a program offered by a company south of Toledo that offer programs for students like Stevie. The counselor siad that they thought the transition might have been due to my child’s having attended a rather samll high school. The counselor at the company suggested Stevie be tested for a learning disability while he went through their self-leadership program. Stevie was diagnoded with dysgraphia and attention deficit disorder. He has since develped some personal systems for organization and studying and is doing very well in his classes now. If it weren’t for the counselors input, things could have turned out quite differertly for Steven. I would recommend to any other parent that has a student struggling in their firs year to make use of the campus counselors at their school. It could be the difference between finishing or not finishing school. The outside programs were terrific in terms of giving Steven a new start at school. If it’s OK to recommend it, others can check it out at http://www.gorillas-gazelles.com. I’m sure that thier are other programs like theirs also available, but thsi is the only one that I know about first hand. Again the lesson i learned here was to make sure that your student periodically checks in with campus counselors to make sure that they are progressing and that they can help as they need it.
October 16th, 2006 at 5:52 am
If you save good luck, on federal low rate loans and any aid from the College of choice,if you own a retirement plan it counts and you’d better be divorced ,youll do much better. somebody needs to tell the truth ! 4 years have past student did well now the Loans come do! What we need is more federal loans at low rates and more aid .I’m not the country that asks for someone who answers the phone to have a degree!
October 10th, 2006 at 9:43 am
As a veteran educator, I know today’s guidance counselors are bogged down with state/national testing demands which limits time for college counseling. Another option for navigating the college admissions process would be to contact your school district’s gifted education coordinator. These individuals are often very knowledgeable about the process and have had experiences with highly selective universities.
Parents are the single most influential entity in their child’s life.
1. Start early! When the kids are young, stop by a college campus for a walk or tour while driving to your vacation destination. Exposure to a variety of schools helps the student know what they would like in a university setting.
2. Assist your student with researching careers/colleges. Some college websites offer online surveys through their career counseling offices which provide direction and help narrow the focus for possible areas of study, highlight personality inventories, and work ethic standards for various careers.
3. Help them find a mentor or someone they can job shadow. These adults can share what their courses were like and what to expect on the job.
4. Speak with other parents/students that have already gone through the college admissions process. Learn the ropes and the pitfalls to avoid.
5. Pick up a copy of, “Been There, Should’ve Done That” for your son/daughter. It is a compilation of stories from college students on what they would do differently, if given the chance.