Do you have a college-bound high school student? If your child attends a private school, your first thought is probably, "I'm already paying for college counseling." And if your child is enrolled in a public high school, your similar thought would be "my tax dollars are already paying for high school counseling. Let's use that!"
No matter what high school your child attends, you might want to reconsider.
These days, most high school students are looking to college to help them build a foundation for a successful and prosperous life. People with a college degree earn an average of $1,000,000 more over the course of their lifetime than high school graduates.
Perhaps more importantly, the modern college experience is a life-changing experience where students can discover themselves, their passions, their maturity, and their own personal calling.
With so much at stake, you probably want your child to have the absolute best chance to get into the absolute right college for them. So keep this in mind:
- Your child's counselor will likely be assigned simply on the basis of the last name, without regard for what your child needs, or the counselor's experience with those needs.
- Typically, high school college counselors begin the college search and application process far too late — often as late as the senior year.
- Public high school counselors have to divide their time between hundreds of graduating seniors - the average California high school counselor is responsible for 822 students. Private high school college counselors are responsible for fewer students, but they still may have several dozen students under their advisement, and may not be able to walk your student through their college search process step-by-step.
- Your child's counselor may be responsible for behavioral and academic counseling in addition to their college advising duties. They may not have specific training in helping students through the college search, nor memberships in professional college counseling organizations to help them stay informed about college admission trends.
- This infographic shows some troubling statistics about the availability of public high school counselors to help students through their college search and applications. For example, 60% of high school seniors report NEVER meeting with their counselor, and the 40% who do spend an average of 38 minutes with their counselor during their entire time in high school.
In short, the high school college counseling available to you may not give your son or daughter the advantage they need to get into the right college. More importantly, your child may be focused on the wrong schools for his or her talents, passions and goals.
If you've already realized this on your own, then find out now about Magellan's independent college counseling services.
- We match your child to a counselor based on their interests, talents and desires
- We begin working with students as early as the 9th or 10th grade
- All our college counselors are trained and qualified professional college counselors
- Each of our counselors only works with a handful of graduating seniors each year
Here's more detailed information about the high school college counseling at some specific schools our clients have attended.
- El Camino Real High School College Counseling
- Taft High School College Counseling
- Agoura High School College Counseling
- Pacific Palisades High School College Counseling
- Viewpoint High School College Counseling
If you don't see your own school in this list, it is very likely that your school is not much different than those mentioned here.
Still have questions? We'll be happy to answer them for you. Contact us or call us today. 877-5-MAGGIE (877-562-4443).