Counselors pave path through applications

With college application due dates looming, teachers, administrators and counselors are bombarded with requests for recommendation letters and green sheets. However, this year has been more hectic than ever, following the departure of a guidance counselor.

In the college application process, counselors play a key role, from making sure the student is well informed at every step of the process to reviewing the completed application with the student to writing an administration recommendation letter.

While teacher recommendations are well known by students in all grades, administration recommendations do not get as much publicity. The recommendations counselors or administrators write for their students differ from those of teachers, said guidance counselor Frances Saiki.

Teacher recommendations focus on the student’s behavior in the class, whereas the administration recommendation often consider the student as a whole: their likes, dislikes and background. With each letter tailored to each student, the process can be time-intensive.

“Each of our letters are all personalized, catered to whatever the student has done, or who the student is as a whole,” Saiki said.

Parent statements, green sheets and personal observations all play a role in the letter, and the actual writing can take several hours.

“Even though some say [these required papers] can be long and complicated, they really do help us write the best possible letter for them,” guidance counselor Eileen Allen said.

As this year’s senior class is split between three guidance counselors following the retirement of counselor Christy Cali, each is busier than ever. Allen and the other counselors are feeling pressured as they all must write more recommendation letters.

“It’s time consuming, but you just work through [writing the letters],” Allen said.

New to this year is also the various workshops hosted by the counselors. In the spring of the senior class’s junior year, the counselors hosted a grade-wide private school application workshop. In addition, they also had separate workshops with smaller groups of their own students. Lastly, they hosted a question and answer session with the parents during their junior year for anything the parents were unsure about.

In addition, the counselors also help the students in every step of the application process. They can help decide which schools are a good fit and, in some cases, even make sure the application is done correctly.

“I’m essentially on call all hours,” said Allen. “I get emails from students working through the application.”

The role of counselors starts before senior year, said Saiki. Counselors help with calendars and timing of testing for students, going through the process of choosing schools or even just being there and listening to what is going on in the students’ lives.

By the time students graduate, they often develop a close relationship with their counselor. Each guidance counselor can capture who the students really are, said Saiki.

“Over the course of [the student’s] four years, I’ve been lucky to really get to know some of them, and see growth and development,” Saiki said. “When I’m writing these letters, I really get to see the real person [in each student].”