A front page story in today’s Dallas Morning News highlights the reality of school counselors in Dallas area schools – they are just too busy dealing with a multitude of issues and way too many students to give high quality college counseling and advice. The process of applying to selective universities and finding a way to pay for them is overwhelming, and high school counselors are understaffed and overwhelmed.
First, the good news. Richardson ISD ranked at the top of the districts evaluated by the DMN in number of counselors per student. In addition, LHHS principal Walter Kelly recently initiated the College and Career Center and sought community funding to make it happen. Thanks to the Wild For Cats Academic Booster Club, the Lake Highlands Women’s League, and the LH Exchange Club, the Center is now up and running, led by Dr. Brenda Prine, an expert in the field. Students and parents can visit the Center, located in an office inside the school library, for help with college apps, scholarship forms, and recommendation letters. Wildcats are fortunate to have this additional resource, which can also help with student interest surveys, application essays, and college visits.
Those of us with friends whose kids attend private schools like Jesuit, Ursuline, and ESD have long bemoaned the fact that their students receive extensive guidance in the college process. These schools have committed the money and other resources necessary to play a hands-on role in finding a college that fits and collecting as much in scholarship money and favorable financing as possible. Every counselor has time to get to know each student and his individual strengths and aptitudes, making their letters of recommendation very compelling to admissions and scholarship selection committees.
At the other end of the spectrum are districts like Allen, Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Rockwall, and Mesquite with more than 530 students per counselor compared to RISD’s 330. With high schools that big, the students are virtually on their own in their college search, because counselors have so much to handle, including enrollment and registration, mainstreaming students with disabilities, schedule changes, TAKS testing, AP exams, correspondence courses and summer school. They also counsel students having serious difficulties, such as pregnancy, long term illness or injury, parent death or divorce, drug and alcohol problems, police issues, and natural disasters (as when Katrina evacuees arrived or when apartment fires displace large numbers of students). DISD recently contracted to pay $2.1 million for outside organizations to guide their students through the college app process.
Colleges advise prospective students to make use of their high school counselor as a resource, to get to know them well enough to get advice on decisions like large school or small, public or private, liberal arts or career-driven. In their quest to choose students who will stay and excel, they rely on counselors to vouch for students who will be a good fit. We’re fortunate that the LH community is willing to support these students by funding the College and Career Center. You can use these links if you’d like to contribute to Wild For Cats, LH Women’s League, or Exchange Club.
