High school counselors in most states are required to have a degree in counseling. Makes sense. Unfortunately, what very few people know is that the counseling degree does not train counselors in college counseling.
No classes in college counseling. No requirement that they visit colleges to understand how admissions works. Nothing.
To compound the problem, most high school counselors are so busy with all of their other duties that they don’t have time to learn about college admissions. Most don’t have time to visit colleges to learn about admissions.
Don’t misunderstand me. Most high school counselors are faced with huge workloads and are doing their best to provide services to as many of their students as possible. But they have limited time and as a result, college admissions counseling is inadequate at most high schools.
Some people have been advocating classes in college admissions for new counselors and for reducing the number of students that counselors are responsible for so that they can spend more time on college admissions counseling. But the reality in our world is that funding for schools is being cut, not increased.
When you see your high school counselor, tell them thanks for all of the work that they do. However, understand that no matter how much they want to help, they do not have the training, or the time, to help you as much as you need.
Leave a Comment