“Nothing is a guarantee,” says college counselor Diane Bidna, so “we have to find the place that really fits the kid.” This is one of her guiding principles as she helps students build balanced college lists.
Diane also brings a spirit of adventure to her college counseling – all three of her sons have gone out of state for their college educations, and she and her husband spent a year working in education roles in Mexico City within the last ten years. When they returned to California, Diane was invited to serve as the college counselor for an Armenian K-12 school in the San Fernando Valley. This insight and experience helps her guide her private clients to make the most of their sometimes limited time with their college counselor at school.
Diane Bidna joined the Magellan College Counseling team about a year and a half ago. I asked Diane to share how she became interested in college counseling, to help you get a better feel for what it would be like to work with her. You’ll hear how her perspective has been impacted by her sons’ college search experiences, and you’ll get a glimpse into her personality, in this interview.
Magellan’s process is a little bit different for our clients, because we take advantage of the structure of our team to help our students present the best version of themselves. Each of our students has a lead counselor, but in our biweekly team meetings, we share information and rely on each other’s experience as we help each student build a balanced college list. Additionally, we circulate our students’ essays within our team for feedback, emulating how admission offices, who don’t spend time with each applicant as we do, review students’ essays for the first time.
I hope you’ll find this interview with Diane Bidna helpful, as you prepare to help your own child through the college admission process. Thank you for relying on Magellan College Counseling for up-to-date information about how the world of college admissions is changing!