Why You Should Make Friends With Your Guidance Counselor
A guidance counselor can be a high-school student’s best friend. You don’t have to pay them to talk to you and they can give you all kinds of helpful info and advice.
Article Courtesy of CampusCompare.com
A guidance counselor can be a high-school student’s best friend. You don’t have to pay them to talk to you and they can give you all kinds of helpful info and advice.
Even though CampusCompare is all about helping you find the right college for you., we are also all about working with guidance counselors.
They can help you find out what steps you have to take in the college admissions and application process. For example, they can help sophomores plan a course load that meets the requirements for post secondary education, including four-year colleges, junior, community or technical school. They can advice juniors and seniors when to take PSATs and SATs and can forward your high school record to the colleges you are applying to. And they can even help you with personal issues that you face.
So they can be very good friends to have indeed.
But depending on your high school, they might be the most wonderful and accessible person who knows you on a first name basis, or they might be responsible for thousands of people and to them you’re just another face in the crowd.
So it’s up to you to befriend your guidance counselor. After all, the person who has the biggest stake in your future is you.
Here are a few questions to break the ice with your guidance counselor and help you stay ahead of the admissions and application process.
- What courses do I need to take if I plan on studying a particular major?
- How should I plan my schedule so I complete them?
- Do you have any after-school or evening sessions for college planning or the SAT?
- What activities can I do at home or over the summer to get ready for college?
- Do you have any college brochures and guides that I can see?
- Do you have any SAT or ACT practice tests?
- Can you put me in touch with recent grads who got into the colleges I am applying to?
- Are there any college fairs that I can attend?
- Are there any scholarships that I should apply for?
- If I am interested in a specific career, what major do you suggests, what courses should I take?
- Which AP courses are available?
These questions are a great way to get the ball between you and your guidance counselor rolling. Don’t be shy, jump in. Your guidance counselor will be happy you asked. And so will you!
