Can I Get a Little Advice Here?

The survey and an accompanying report, which are by Public Agenda (a research group) and financed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, suggest that high school counselors may be a weak link in the chain needed to get more students into college.

The report -- "Can I Get a Little Advice Here?" -- notes that tight budgets have resulted in student-to-counselor ratios well beyond those recommended by experts. But the overall tone of the study is critical of the counselors.

The findings are based on a national survey of 614 individuals aged 22 through 30 who had attended college (although not necessarily for long or long enough to earn a degree). Among the responses:

Finding 1: Most students give their high school guidance counselors fair or poor ratings.

Finding 2: Students who get perfunctory counseling are more likely to delay college and make more questionable high education choices.

Finding 3: High school counselors are viewed less helpful than teachers.

Finding 4: Advisors at higher education institutions get better ratings, but there's room for improvement.

For the full report, CLICK HERE

What Do Our Parents and Students Think?

Testimonials

Our College Admission Coaching Program is Top-Notch.
Happy With His Choice of Colleges

“Just wanted to update you: Our son is LOVING JMU!!! He is majoring in physics and keeping our fingers crossed, he is doing very well. Thank you for your support.

“….he did well his first semester. This semester is even more exciting with some truly interesting courses. His political science course is even taught by the President of the college. Guilford is a wonderful school and he is coping well. He has matured amazingly. I am so happy to have High School and all its worries behind us. Thank you for helping to put us on this path.”
Everything You Look for in a College Admissions Mentor

“Jeff (College Vision lead mentor) is awesome. I’ve seen a lot of people, a lot of teachers, a lot of counselors, but he gets it. He possesses all of the attributes that you look for in a mentor. He’s caring but he’s tough, and the adjectives to describe him could go on and on.” (from a College Vision parent)

The Guidance You Need to Navigate the College Search and Application Process

"College Vision has been a big help in guiding our sons through the college search and application process. Their advice on high school course work and extracurricular activities has also been very beneficial. Thanks to them, our oldest son has been accepted at a university he is very excited about attending. Our younger son has just starting the process and is on track to fulfill his goals. We wish we could have had College Vision’s guidance with our older son at an earlier age (since we now realize) the sooner you get started the better..." (from a College Vision parent)

The One-on-One College Admissions Guidance and Support You Want

"I am so relieved to have someone to talk to about all this college stuff. It’s coming fast. The high-school counselors are supportive but not helpful enough... there’s not a lot of one-on-one time (with the high school counselors)." (from a College Vision student)

Help in Finding the “Best-Fit” College
"Having been through this process before with my daughter, having someone monitoring and working with her would have allowed my child to find and apply to colleges that were better suited to her. Now that my son is a sophomore, we want to make sure he applies to colleges that are a good fit for him. That’s why we’re working with College Vision." (from a College Vision parent)

A Competitive Edge in the College Admissions Process
"The reason I chose College Vision is because the high school counselors are serving hundreds of students; I wanted to give my son what I believe is an edge over other students by having a team working with him to help achieve his dream of attending a great university." (from a College Vision parent)

The Early Planning and Self-Motivation Required for Success
“We're extremely happy with the work College Vision has done in raising awareness of the importance of a good head start and early planning for college. Our son’s grades have already jumped up, he has a plan to fill in the gaps, and he’s showing a lot of interest in the overall process of qualifying for a quality school.” (from a College Vision parent)

College Planning Information

Juniors(Concentration, Consistency and Commitment)
-begin preparing for SAT's/ACT's
-continue to work on your college list
-visit colleges and take tours

Sophomores(Balance, Business Minded and Believe)
-it's important to start researching colleges and potential careers
-spend time carefully selecting courses for your junior year
-plan and take advantage of your summer

Freshman(Acclamation, Application and Acceleration)
-develop a study and time management system
-meet your high school guidance counselor
-visit and tour at least one college

School Counselors Overwhelmed by Huge Caseloads

A recent article by Diane Rado, with the Dallas Morning News, talks about the struggle of high school guidance counselors to provide personal attention to students.

The Dallas Independent School District board voted last week to pay $2.1 million for outside organizations to help students navigate the college application process. High school guidance counselors want to provide more personalized service, but can't. It's just a numbers game.

The article states that the American School Counselor Association recommends a ratio of 250 students per counselor.

Our experience is Mentoring and Academic Counseling is the first step in the process and takes a lot of time and individualized attention.


The National Association of College Admissions Counseling, State of College Admissions Report, September 2008 reported the following public school student to counselor ratios:
-Virginia: 455:1
-Maryland: 374:1

I applaud the Dallas Independent School District board for addressing the issue.

Personalized College Admissions Assistance

Your College Admissions Coach offers guidance, mentorship, and planning to achieve your college vision.
An estimated 3.3 million students will graduate from high school this year and over 2.1 million will compete for college admissions.

We have one goal: To help you get accepted into the college or university that’s right for you. We have helped dozens of students get accepted to their best-fit colleges using our college admissions success model -- we’d like to help you do the same.

How does college admissions coaching work?

You may have heard the saying, “where there’s a will there’s a way.” With College Vision, the “will” is your commitment and the “way” is through our college admissions coaching program.

When you become a College Vision student you are paired up with an exceptional college admissions coach who will get to know your individual needs and provide guidance, mentorship, and planning for the college admissions process.
Your College Admissions Coach will:
• Give you an inside understanding of what it REALLY takes to get into the best colleges.
• Motivate you to establish positive routines, study habits, and life behaviors (including exercise and nutrition) that correlate with college admissions and success.
• Push you to get the best grades possible and to make the most of your high school experience.
• Guide you through the college admissions process, from choosing a major, selecting the right school, preparing for the SATs/ACTs, completing your applications, writing essays, requesting letters of recommendation, and more.
• Coordinate schedules, activities, and deadlines for college admissions.

We’re here to make your college vision a reality.
Getting into college is more competitive than ever, which means you need to plan ahead and take the steps TODAY to get into college. And since getting into college doesn’t happen overnight, our coaching program starts as early as 7th grade and evolves with your needs all the way through high school.
Our college admissions coaching model is proven to work. Let us show you how.

College Vision Student Athletes of the Month April 2009

Back Row (L to R) - Zach Clemens, Austin Behr, Beattie Southerland, Thomas Ewing. Front Row (L to R) - Kevin Koss, Emily Nykorchuk, Judi Chapman, Priscilla Smith, Ashleigh Hammer and Michael Howard.

College Vision Student Athletes of the Month March 2009

Back Row (L to R) Kenny McAdow, Brendan Shockley, Jonathan Knight, Jonathan Mason, Scott Smigler. Front Row (L to R) Joe Baires, Jenna Abraham, Megan Lindsey, Jamie McGee, Brenton Peters.