By Patrick O'Connor
Seniors, I have some news-- college is going to have to wait. You’ve been drafted.
With this economy, Santa and Hanukah Harry have had to consolidate their workshops. Banks aren’t sure the merger will work, so the pre-holiday line of credit they need for inventory is being withheld, and the Federal government has refused to intervene. The globe’s gift-giving leaders are offering community service credit for anyone willing to pitch in and close the gap—and what college in their right mind is going to look past a letter of recommendation from the Big Two?
You’re busy with college applications, but helping out SC and HH won’t take very long—in fact, you don’t even have to leave your keyboard. Put your college essays aside for a second, and start a new document; the gift you need to give is heading to your high school counselor.
OK, now look—language like that is going to move you to the top of the Eternally Naughty list. I know it’s not all that cool to come out and ask for a present, and while this isn’t an easy thing to do, your counselor deserves this. I know some of you think they haven’t been all that much help with your college plans, but if you had 435 kids, I bet you’d have trouble remembering their birthdays, let alone where they’re applying to school...
…and don’t worry if you don’t know what they want—I have that all covered.
Vacation’s coming up, and with buddies home from college and family in from out of town, you may have to make some choices that were clear in Health class, but less so when they’re right in front of you. What your counselor wants this holiday season if for you to stick to your guns; college or no, you’ve got a future that will only be possible if you’re around to live it, and knowing you’re willing to do your part will make your counselor’s holiday.
The gift comes in two parts. First, copy and paste the following few lines, fill in the blanks, and e-mail it to your counselor (their e-mail is on the school Web site, just in case it’s not on your address list):
“Dear Counselor (putting their name in would be a nice touch, but do what you can):
Just so you know, I’ll take care of myself over the holidays. When I hang out with my college and high school buddies, I’ll use my head, and I’ll make sure somebody sober drives me home—same thing with family events. In fact, if Brad and Angelina split, and one of them pulls to the curb in a Porsche and asks me to go clubbing with them, I’m checking their BAC first—while I get a phone photo of me leaning on the Porsche, of course.
I hope this helps you sleep through the night over break. I’ll see you in two weeks.
Sincerely,
(sign here)”
I can see Santa and Harry smiling already—better yet, so is your counselor
Oh, right—the second thing you have to do? Mean it. They may not know your favorite color, but counselors didn’t go into this profession to do paperwork, and some of the work they’ve done to create opportunities for you is work you’ll never know about. Your school counselor may not be up there with Santa and Harry, but they’ve kept an eye out for you in their own way; think of this as their milk and cookies for the holidays, and we’ll all be better off.
Especially you.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
All That Work for Nothing? Think Again
By Patrick O'Connor
Word is, a student on a TV show got bad news this week from her dream college. She applied early (action?) and she was rejected.
I hear she took it badly, which clearly means her counselor forgot to tell her quite a few things:
* Most early application programs saw an increase in applicants this year.
* These schools may admit more students early, but they won’t be taking everyone…
* …and unlike years past, they won’t be moving all early applicants to the regular applicant pool.
In case you find yourself in the same boat, or perhaps deferred, I have one word of advice. OK, it’s actually a number.
850.
No, this is not the high score on some new version of the SAT. 850 is the number of valedictorians recently rejected from one of America’s most prestigious colleges. True, this was in the regular applicant pool, but still, these students represented the best in their high schools; they did everything they were “supposed” to do—and yet, they didn’t even get to the wait list.
At this point, you’re probably thinking one of two things:
1. “Wow, they put in all of that work for nothing.” (I hear this is how the TV student took the news.)
2. “Geez, if they can’t get in, I don’t stand a chance.”
It had to be hard to be turned down by a school they loved—but did all of that preparation really lead to nothing? Given everything these students had learned, the many ways they had grown, and how they overcame adversity and embraced creativity in making Plans B, C, and Q, did they really get nothing out of it?
If so, they have every right to be unhappy, but not with the college. They should be unhappy for letting the sun rise and set 1307 times from the first day of 9th grade to the day the college said no, never once appreciating all that each of those days had to offer.
They should hang their heads a little to realize, just now, the difference they’ve made to their classmates, their teammates, and the people they served in the soup kitchen.
And if they look back with a little regret on the many times they blew off a compliment from a parent or a teacher because the goal of college wasn’t realized just yet, that’s more than OK. They now know it was at that moment that the goal of fully living each day was conquered with a flourish—and understanding that will make each day all the richer at the wonderful college that had the good sense (and room) to take them.
What about you, and the colleges you’ve applied to? They’re looking for great students who have done wonderful things with their lives. That goes beyond test scores and class rank—it goes to who you are, what you care about, and how you see the world. Problem is, they run out of room before they run out of highly qualified applicants.
The thing to focus on then, is not who told you no, but who tells you yes. If a college wants you but runs out of room, that’s their fault; if they don’t see you for who you really are, well, maybe that’s not the place for you after all. Either way, your contributions will be greatly admired, and badly needed, by the college that has the good sense to tell you yes—which means any no, from any college, simply cannot touch you.
Next time you’re in Hollywood, pass that along to our femme fatale.
Word is, a student on a TV show got bad news this week from her dream college. She applied early (action?) and she was rejected.
I hear she took it badly, which clearly means her counselor forgot to tell her quite a few things:
* Most early application programs saw an increase in applicants this year.
* These schools may admit more students early, but they won’t be taking everyone…
* …and unlike years past, they won’t be moving all early applicants to the regular applicant pool.
In case you find yourself in the same boat, or perhaps deferred, I have one word of advice. OK, it’s actually a number.
850.
No, this is not the high score on some new version of the SAT. 850 is the number of valedictorians recently rejected from one of America’s most prestigious colleges. True, this was in the regular applicant pool, but still, these students represented the best in their high schools; they did everything they were “supposed” to do—and yet, they didn’t even get to the wait list.
At this point, you’re probably thinking one of two things:
1. “Wow, they put in all of that work for nothing.” (I hear this is how the TV student took the news.)
2. “Geez, if they can’t get in, I don’t stand a chance.”
It had to be hard to be turned down by a school they loved—but did all of that preparation really lead to nothing? Given everything these students had learned, the many ways they had grown, and how they overcame adversity and embraced creativity in making Plans B, C, and Q, did they really get nothing out of it?
If so, they have every right to be unhappy, but not with the college. They should be unhappy for letting the sun rise and set 1307 times from the first day of 9th grade to the day the college said no, never once appreciating all that each of those days had to offer.
They should hang their heads a little to realize, just now, the difference they’ve made to their classmates, their teammates, and the people they served in the soup kitchen.
And if they look back with a little regret on the many times they blew off a compliment from a parent or a teacher because the goal of college wasn’t realized just yet, that’s more than OK. They now know it was at that moment that the goal of fully living each day was conquered with a flourish—and understanding that will make each day all the richer at the wonderful college that had the good sense (and room) to take them.
What about you, and the colleges you’ve applied to? They’re looking for great students who have done wonderful things with their lives. That goes beyond test scores and class rank—it goes to who you are, what you care about, and how you see the world. Problem is, they run out of room before they run out of highly qualified applicants.
The thing to focus on then, is not who told you no, but who tells you yes. If a college wants you but runs out of room, that’s their fault; if they don’t see you for who you really are, well, maybe that’s not the place for you after all. Either way, your contributions will be greatly admired, and badly needed, by the college that has the good sense to tell you yes—which means any no, from any college, simply cannot touch you.
Next time you’re in Hollywood, pass that along to our femme fatale.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
College Decisions Come Out Next Week. Are You Ready?
By Patrick O'Connor
The first round of early college decisions will be released next week, and things look especially tense for two reasons. A number of bizarre articles cropped up online this fall, telling students the best thing they could do to improve their chances of admission at top notch schools was to apply Early Decision. Based on percentages, the articles said, students stood a much better chance of getting in by applying ED.
That’s all well and good, except the article didn’t say students admitted as ED applicant have to attend that college and agree to withdraw all other college applications immediately.
One online article’s response to these concerns? Hey, it’s October—if they don’t know now, they never will.
Now that’s counseling.
The same increase is happening with Early Action applications, where admitted students have until May 1 to make their choice—the only advantage of Early Action is that students hear early. Because a handful of college increased the number of EA students they admitted last year, the word in the senior hallway was that all colleges “liked” students to apply EA. The result? A record number of EA decisions are also expected, including more early admits—after all, if more students are applying early, it makes sense to take more applicants early.
All of this “get in early” talk is pretty exciting, and it’s great when students are organized and apply with focus and fervor—until next week, when students will realize three things:
We’ll need our best skills to support students through the challenges brought by denials, and even acceptances; search for great colleges that aren’t siphoning off huge numbers of admission offers to early applicants; and not look each of these students in the eye and scream “Why didn’t you ask me about applying early, instead of getting your advice on the Internet?”
Of course, it’s easier to avoid this last temptation, given this time of year is all about peace on earth—so go easy on the early applicants of 2012, and be grateful at least they’re coming to you now and asking “What’s next?” instead of waiting until May.
Follow Up—Another article popped up about the lack of counselor training in college advising—be sure to see it athttp://www.takepart.com/article/2011/12/06/when-school-counselors-are-overburdened-and-undertrained-students-pay-price#.Tt_sZmqxul0.facebook , and take action.
Also, congratulations and thanks to Eastern Michigan University, who heard the counselor cry for more training, and created a specialist certificate in postsecondary planning. One down, and about 400 to go.
The first round of early college decisions will be released next week, and things look especially tense for two reasons. A number of bizarre articles cropped up online this fall, telling students the best thing they could do to improve their chances of admission at top notch schools was to apply Early Decision. Based on percentages, the articles said, students stood a much better chance of getting in by applying ED.
That’s all well and good, except the article didn’t say students admitted as ED applicant have to attend that college and agree to withdraw all other college applications immediately.
One online article’s response to these concerns? Hey, it’s October—if they don’t know now, they never will.
Now that’s counseling.
The same increase is happening with Early Action applications, where admitted students have until May 1 to make their choice—the only advantage of Early Action is that students hear early. Because a handful of college increased the number of EA students they admitted last year, the word in the senior hallway was that all colleges “liked” students to apply EA. The result? A record number of EA decisions are also expected, including more early admits—after all, if more students are applying early, it makes sense to take more applicants early.
All of this “get in early” talk is pretty exciting, and it’s great when students are organized and apply with focus and fervor—until next week, when students will realize three things:
- More early applicants means more early denials. Colleges may like to take students early, but they aren’t going to take everyone who applies early—and unlike five years ago, more colleges are simply going to say no to those who don’t get in, rather than give them a second look with the regular applicants in January.
- Since more colleges are taking early students, those seniors getting a “no” next week are less likely to get admitted to any college that has an early program. More early admits means fewer regular admits, so these students will be competing for fewer spaces at many selective colleges come January.
- Some Early Decision applicants who decided to get their college counseling from the Internet will now find themselves required to go to a college they like, but may no longer love, if indeed they ever loved it in the first place. The “one and done” nature of Early Decision sounded great six weeks ago, but students wisely formulated Plan B in case they didn’t get in. Now that they are in, they may need help being psyched with what now seems like the educational equivalent of an arranged marriage.
We’ll need our best skills to support students through the challenges brought by denials, and even acceptances; search for great colleges that aren’t siphoning off huge numbers of admission offers to early applicants; and not look each of these students in the eye and scream “Why didn’t you ask me about applying early, instead of getting your advice on the Internet?”
Of course, it’s easier to avoid this last temptation, given this time of year is all about peace on earth—so go easy on the early applicants of 2012, and be grateful at least they’re coming to you now and asking “What’s next?” instead of waiting until May.
Follow Up—Another article popped up about the lack of counselor training in college advising—be sure to see it athttp://www.takepart.com/article/2011/12/06/when-school-counselors-are-overburdened-and-undertrained-students-pay-price#.Tt_sZmqxul0.facebook , and take action.
Also, congratulations and thanks to Eastern Michigan University, who heard the counselor cry for more training, and created a specialist certificate in postsecondary planning. One down, and about 400 to go.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Helping your Students Make the Most out of the Next Three Weeks
By Patrick O'Connor
They call these the lost weeks in high school, the three weeks between Thanksgiving recess and December break where learning is supposed to be going on, where teachers are wondering why Thanksgiving break couldn’t be five weeks long, and students are hoping for the first snow day of the year. Yes, classes are still meeting, and homework is still being done; it’s just a little harder to concentrate right now, while everyone is choosing sides on the musical quality of Justin Bieber’s holiday song.
School counselors know better than to weigh in on the musical tastes of their students, but we need to be alert to make sure our students know how important these next weeks really are. A quick flip of the calendar at a high school on semesters shows students have one or two weeks in January before the semester ends; since most of that time is spent reviewing material, the time to take your grade to the next level is now.
The same is just as true for students on a trimester schedule. Chances are the first trimester just ended around Thanksgiving, so it would be easy to view these three weeks as the “warm up” for the second trimester. But anyone who’s been a student on a trimester schedule will tell you there is no such thing as a warm up period; you turn the academic switch on and keep it wide open for twelve intense weeks. Coming back from December Break ready to learn is great, but students cruising through these first three weeks will come back to find 25% of their grade cast in stone—and nothing in Santa’s bag is going to change that.
Counselors need to make sure students are focusing on the tasks at hand this holiday season, and they can do so in three simple steps:
1. Increase your CBWA time. Counselors may be trained to do private sessions over long periods of time, but this time of year requires us to be in the hallways and in the cafeteria, checking in with students and saying the right word or two that will keep them on track. Counseling By Wandering Around is a great way to get students to remember why they’re in school any time, but especially now.
2. Offer more study skills workshops. Students in semester schools will need some pointers on how to prepare for upcoming finals; students in trimester schools will need a reminder of how to make sense out of the first few weeks of the new term. Either way, counselor-led study skills workshops can help students hear about the importance of studying from a new voice; this is even more powerful if counselors team up with teachers to present them in class, but workshops during and after school can go a long way as well.
3. Touch base with your seniors. Since many colleges have a January 1 application deadline, it’s easy for seniors to get so caught up in writing the perfect essay that they end up with first semester grades that are far from perfect—and they need to remember that grades come first. Seniors may need encouragement to put the essays aside until vacation, and keep up with daily assignments, since homework plays a big part in all class grades. It’s also important to make sure seniors are entering their last high school holidays with a bright attitude; get out there and be seen among your seniors, and offer support where you can.
School counselors know better than to weigh in on the musical tastes of their students, but we need to be alert to make sure our students know how important these next weeks really are. A quick flip of the calendar at a high school on semesters shows students have one or two weeks in January before the semester ends; since most of that time is spent reviewing material, the time to take your grade to the next level is now.
The same is just as true for students on a trimester schedule. Chances are the first trimester just ended around Thanksgiving, so it would be easy to view these three weeks as the “warm up” for the second trimester. But anyone who’s been a student on a trimester schedule will tell you there is no such thing as a warm up period; you turn the academic switch on and keep it wide open for twelve intense weeks. Coming back from December Break ready to learn is great, but students cruising through these first three weeks will come back to find 25% of their grade cast in stone—and nothing in Santa’s bag is going to change that.
Counselors need to make sure students are focusing on the tasks at hand this holiday season, and they can do so in three simple steps:
1. Increase your CBWA time. Counselors may be trained to do private sessions over long periods of time, but this time of year requires us to be in the hallways and in the cafeteria, checking in with students and saying the right word or two that will keep them on track. Counseling By Wandering Around is a great way to get students to remember why they’re in school any time, but especially now.
2. Offer more study skills workshops. Students in semester schools will need some pointers on how to prepare for upcoming finals; students in trimester schools will need a reminder of how to make sense out of the first few weeks of the new term. Either way, counselor-led study skills workshops can help students hear about the importance of studying from a new voice; this is even more powerful if counselors team up with teachers to present them in class, but workshops during and after school can go a long way as well.
3. Touch base with your seniors. Since many colleges have a January 1 application deadline, it’s easy for seniors to get so caught up in writing the perfect essay that they end up with first semester grades that are far from perfect—and they need to remember that grades come first. Seniors may need encouragement to put the essays aside until vacation, and keep up with daily assignments, since homework plays a big part in all class grades. It’s also important to make sure seniors are entering their last high school holidays with a bright attitude; get out there and be seen among your seniors, and offer support where you can.
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Effective College Counseling is Just Eight Minutes Away
By Patrick O'Connor
School counselors have a new reason to be grateful this Thanksgiving season, thanks to a report released yesterday on the state of school counseling. Sponsored by The Kresge Foundation, the College Board’s Annual Survey of School Counselors measured counselor attitudes on a number of issues.
Two quotes draw important attention to the area of counselor readiness. As the report states,
Although the majority of counselors have a master’s degree (73 percent) and important prior work experience (58 percent were teachers of administrators), only a small minority feel very well trained for their jobs (only 16 percent rate their training as a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale). Nearly three in 10 (28 percent) believe their training did not prepare them well for their job and more than half (56 percent) feel only somewhat well trained.
The report adds counselors have sought out additional training in a number of specialized areas, with college and career counseling the single largest area where counselors sought more training.
This same theme of preparedness is bluntly addressed in the conclusion of the report, with a recommendation to
Align Counselor Education and Training Requirements with the Needs on the Ground. Counselors indicate that their preservice training, while somewhat satisfactory, does not adequately prepare them for the realities they are facing in schools. Course requirements should be updates to reflect this reality, including mandatory work on advising for college readiness, access and affordability.
(The full report can be found at
http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/nosca/11b_4230_NarReport_BOOKLET_WEB_111104.pdf)
The College Board report provides further evidence of the yawning gap between education theory and the reality of working with real students with real needs, a gap unrecognized by most counselor educators and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Trained school counselors know the name of the behavior that clings steadfastly to an incorrect view of reality. It’s called denial, and while counselor educators are able to teach graduate students to recognize this trait, they are evidently not able to do so themselves, at least when it comes to their own attitudes about improved training in college counseling.
The College Board report may be the tonic that leads counselor educators to acceptance-- but like all clients going through the five stages of grief, their recovery is best supported with the help of a wise counselor…
…and that’s where you come in. Now that College Board has joined Public Agenda and other studies in calling for counselor training reform, school counselors must show their gratitude for this work by taking action. Five minutes is enough time to e-mail the director of your counselor training program and the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (go to http://www.acesonline.net/contact/) and call on them to put the real needs of students first by adding a required, comprehensive college admission counseling class to their master’s programs.
Another three minutes is all it takes to contact the American School Counselor Association (asca@schoolcounselor.org<mailto:asca@schoolcounselor.org>) and CACREP (go to http://www.cacrep.org/detail/contact.cfm) to ask them to end the circular blame game where counselor educators feel bound by CACREP standards, and CACREP leaves the standards as is because counselor educators aren’t demanding they be changed.
College Board has harvested a bumper crop of counselor opinion, leaving counselors an opportunity to sow seeds of meaningful change in the way future counselors are trained in college admission counseling. As busy as we all are, eight minutes is all the time you need to be a hero and not a turkey; since we all know what students and counselors really need, and what happens to turkeys at this time of year, the choice couldn’t be clearer.
School counselors have a new reason to be grateful this Thanksgiving season, thanks to a report released yesterday on the state of school counseling. Sponsored by The Kresge Foundation, the College Board’s Annual Survey of School Counselors measured counselor attitudes on a number of issues.
Two quotes draw important attention to the area of counselor readiness. As the report states,
Although the majority of counselors have a master’s degree (73 percent) and important prior work experience (58 percent were teachers of administrators), only a small minority feel very well trained for their jobs (only 16 percent rate their training as a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale). Nearly three in 10 (28 percent) believe their training did not prepare them well for their job and more than half (56 percent) feel only somewhat well trained.
The report adds counselors have sought out additional training in a number of specialized areas, with college and career counseling the single largest area where counselors sought more training.
This same theme of preparedness is bluntly addressed in the conclusion of the report, with a recommendation to
Align Counselor Education and Training Requirements with the Needs on the Ground. Counselors indicate that their preservice training, while somewhat satisfactory, does not adequately prepare them for the realities they are facing in schools. Course requirements should be updates to reflect this reality, including mandatory work on advising for college readiness, access and affordability.
(The full report can be found at
http://media.collegeboard.com/digitalServices/pdf/nosca/11b_4230_NarReport_BOOKLET_WEB_111104.pdf)
The College Board report provides further evidence of the yawning gap between education theory and the reality of working with real students with real needs, a gap unrecognized by most counselor educators and the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP). Trained school counselors know the name of the behavior that clings steadfastly to an incorrect view of reality. It’s called denial, and while counselor educators are able to teach graduate students to recognize this trait, they are evidently not able to do so themselves, at least when it comes to their own attitudes about improved training in college counseling.
The College Board report may be the tonic that leads counselor educators to acceptance-- but like all clients going through the five stages of grief, their recovery is best supported with the help of a wise counselor…
…and that’s where you come in. Now that College Board has joined Public Agenda and other studies in calling for counselor training reform, school counselors must show their gratitude for this work by taking action. Five minutes is enough time to e-mail the director of your counselor training program and the Association for Counselor Education and Supervision (go to http://www.acesonline.net/contact/) and call on them to put the real needs of students first by adding a required, comprehensive college admission counseling class to their master’s programs.
Another three minutes is all it takes to contact the American School Counselor Association (asca@schoolcounselor.org<mailto:asca@schoolcounselor.org>) and CACREP (go to http://www.cacrep.org/detail/contact.cfm) to ask them to end the circular blame game where counselor educators feel bound by CACREP standards, and CACREP leaves the standards as is because counselor educators aren’t demanding they be changed.
College Board has harvested a bumper crop of counselor opinion, leaving counselors an opportunity to sow seeds of meaningful change in the way future counselors are trained in college admission counseling. As busy as we all are, eight minutes is all the time you need to be a hero and not a turkey; since we all know what students and counselors really need, and what happens to turkeys at this time of year, the choice couldn’t be clearer.
Thursday, November 10, 2011
What’s Best, or Whatever?
By Patrick O'Connor
I was working on some last-minute college applications today, and nothing was going to distract me from them. Students who came by to see me were asked to come back later, and phone calls went straight to voice mail. Nothing was going to keep me from getting these applications out early, but then an ambulance siren blared up to my office window and cut out abruptly, meaning it was in the school parking lot…
…and suddenly, the applications could wait.
Fortunately, everything was fine—but school counselors everywhere are feeling that way about their work this week, as the headlines unravel two human relationship stories that give everyone in our profession pause. A presidential candidate and football coaches are accused of everything from bad judgment to blatant abuse of others, and suddenly the college applications, the report card reviews, and the study skills seminar are on hold—there are other issues to consider.
The headlines are beyond our influence, but they serve as important reminders of the duty we owe our students, our parents, our colleagues, and our community. While requirements vary from state to state, all school personnel are held to high standards when it comes to reporting suspected abuse of any kind—verbal, physical, psychological, and sexual. If you can’t remember the last all-building meeting—not a memo—on the topic of Duty to Report, it’s time to head to the principal’s office and set one up.
There are three important factors to consider. First, this has to do with all school personnel—not just teachers or certified school counselors. Depending on the state, anyone who works in a school—secretaries, janitors, bus drivers, college counselors, lunch workers, and yes, coaches who come to work after school-- are all required to know the law and act on it.
Second, this is about suspecting abuse. If a situation gives you any reason to think abuse could be occurring, you must report that suspicion. You don’t need stone cold proof; you just need that bad feeling that won’t go away; make the call, so the state has the opportunity to protect that child. If you think there’s more to do, that comes next, but this comes first.
Third—and this seems to be the issue that made headline news-- most Duty laws do not allow you to transfer the obligation by reporting to a supervisor. If you suspect a student is being abused, most states don’t let you off the hook by telling your boss—you have to tell your boss and report it to the state yourself. In most cases, this report is anonymous; in each case, it’s an important step in protecting a student and the community.
It’s been too long since the music and film industries surrendered any claim to the title of Builders of Strong Male Minds, and now amateur sports and political leaders are walking away from this same duty. With so many men embracing all varieties of “Whatever” as their life motto, counselors everywhere wonder how today’s boys will become tomorrow’s men if there is no one to point out the path and inspire them to stay on it.
This week’s news gives them two more reasons to give up hope, but one simple trip to the principal’s office can jump start your school to explore meetings, programs, discussions, and behavioral changes that can point out a better way for them, and for all of us.
You’ve got this article, you’ve got a printer, and you’ve got the same choice the headline makers apparently had. Which will it be—what’s best, or whatever?
I was working on some last-minute college applications today, and nothing was going to distract me from them. Students who came by to see me were asked to come back later, and phone calls went straight to voice mail. Nothing was going to keep me from getting these applications out early, but then an ambulance siren blared up to my office window and cut out abruptly, meaning it was in the school parking lot…
…and suddenly, the applications could wait.
Fortunately, everything was fine—but school counselors everywhere are feeling that way about their work this week, as the headlines unravel two human relationship stories that give everyone in our profession pause. A presidential candidate and football coaches are accused of everything from bad judgment to blatant abuse of others, and suddenly the college applications, the report card reviews, and the study skills seminar are on hold—there are other issues to consider.
The headlines are beyond our influence, but they serve as important reminders of the duty we owe our students, our parents, our colleagues, and our community. While requirements vary from state to state, all school personnel are held to high standards when it comes to reporting suspected abuse of any kind—verbal, physical, psychological, and sexual. If you can’t remember the last all-building meeting—not a memo—on the topic of Duty to Report, it’s time to head to the principal’s office and set one up.
There are three important factors to consider. First, this has to do with all school personnel—not just teachers or certified school counselors. Depending on the state, anyone who works in a school—secretaries, janitors, bus drivers, college counselors, lunch workers, and yes, coaches who come to work after school-- are all required to know the law and act on it.
Second, this is about suspecting abuse. If a situation gives you any reason to think abuse could be occurring, you must report that suspicion. You don’t need stone cold proof; you just need that bad feeling that won’t go away; make the call, so the state has the opportunity to protect that child. If you think there’s more to do, that comes next, but this comes first.
Third—and this seems to be the issue that made headline news-- most Duty laws do not allow you to transfer the obligation by reporting to a supervisor. If you suspect a student is being abused, most states don’t let you off the hook by telling your boss—you have to tell your boss and report it to the state yourself. In most cases, this report is anonymous; in each case, it’s an important step in protecting a student and the community.
It’s been too long since the music and film industries surrendered any claim to the title of Builders of Strong Male Minds, and now amateur sports and political leaders are walking away from this same duty. With so many men embracing all varieties of “Whatever” as their life motto, counselors everywhere wonder how today’s boys will become tomorrow’s men if there is no one to point out the path and inspire them to stay on it.
This week’s news gives them two more reasons to give up hope, but one simple trip to the principal’s office can jump start your school to explore meetings, programs, discussions, and behavioral changes that can point out a better way for them, and for all of us.
You’ve got this article, you’ve got a printer, and you’ve got the same choice the headline makers apparently had. Which will it be—what’s best, or whatever?
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Your Essay Limit Just Got Lowered. OK.
By Patrick O'Connor
College applicants received a cold blast from the East this weekend, and I’m not talking about the snowstorm that created power outages across New England. This cold front was delivered by the New York Times, which had an article in its Sunday edition on the stress college-bound seniors were feeling.
Common Application, the non-profit that allows students to apply to hundreds of colleges with one uniform basic application, had reinstituted a word limit on the essay seniors can write this year. The limit was lifted last year, but colleges complained the essays were too long. Common App obliged them by putting the limit back on, and the Times piece focused on students in angst over having to scale their 800 word essays down to something reasonably close to the stated limit of 500 words.
Before you say “so what’s the big deal”, it’s important to know Common App has said all along that the 500 word essay isn’t being enforced, at least by them. If a student really wants to send an 800 word essay, they can; based on comments from Common App colleges, the Times piece suggested some of them would take notice, and possibly umbrage, with students who went much past 530, but if the student wanted to roll the dice, that was up to them.
OK—now I’ll say it with you. What’s the big deal?
Don’t get me wrong—it’s easy to see why students would be confused and a little adrift with the announcement that Common App’s essay had a limit that wasn’t being enforced by Common App; to a 17 year-old, that’s like a school having a tardy policy, when the teacher takes attendance at the end of class. Mix in the idea that a college may enforce the limit in some unknown way with the general tumult of applying to college, and the potion for problems is ready to serve…
…unless, of course, you just follow the rules.
It’s true each college has their own rules, so keeping track of all of them can be confusing, but there’s a way to do that (did you read College is Yours 2.0?) It’s also true there are some “rules” most colleges will let you bend, like sending one extra letter of recommendation, as long as it really says something different than the others (did you read College is Yours 2.0?)
It’s just as true colleges will be happy to read a 530 word essay that’s great, and they will be less happy to read a 250 word essay that isn’t great. (Well, there is one exception to this rule—but you’ll have to read College is Yours 2.0)
This last rule has been around forever, and the Times is telling you it’s back. So write what you have to say and edit it down to around 500 words. It makes for a better essay (really), it sharpens the editing skills you’ll need in college, and it brings you one step closer to learning which rules are real, and which ones have some flex. If it bothers you to think someone else is sending in a 750 word tome, think about how they’ll feel when the college rep reading it says, in their own way, “hoo boy.”
College is supposed to broaden your view of the world, and if it’s done well, so should applying to college. Plan A is now Plan B, and it’s going to help you get into college, not get in your way— in other words, little darling, I see the ice is slowly melting.
So aim for 500. It’s all right.
College applicants received a cold blast from the East this weekend, and I’m not talking about the snowstorm that created power outages across New England. This cold front was delivered by the New York Times, which had an article in its Sunday edition on the stress college-bound seniors were feeling.
Common Application, the non-profit that allows students to apply to hundreds of colleges with one uniform basic application, had reinstituted a word limit on the essay seniors can write this year. The limit was lifted last year, but colleges complained the essays were too long. Common App obliged them by putting the limit back on, and the Times piece focused on students in angst over having to scale their 800 word essays down to something reasonably close to the stated limit of 500 words.
Before you say “so what’s the big deal”, it’s important to know Common App has said all along that the 500 word essay isn’t being enforced, at least by them. If a student really wants to send an 800 word essay, they can; based on comments from Common App colleges, the Times piece suggested some of them would take notice, and possibly umbrage, with students who went much past 530, but if the student wanted to roll the dice, that was up to them.
OK—now I’ll say it with you. What’s the big deal?
Don’t get me wrong—it’s easy to see why students would be confused and a little adrift with the announcement that Common App’s essay had a limit that wasn’t being enforced by Common App; to a 17 year-old, that’s like a school having a tardy policy, when the teacher takes attendance at the end of class. Mix in the idea that a college may enforce the limit in some unknown way with the general tumult of applying to college, and the potion for problems is ready to serve…
…unless, of course, you just follow the rules.
It’s true each college has their own rules, so keeping track of all of them can be confusing, but there’s a way to do that (did you read College is Yours 2.0?) It’s also true there are some “rules” most colleges will let you bend, like sending one extra letter of recommendation, as long as it really says something different than the others (did you read College is Yours 2.0?)
It’s just as true colleges will be happy to read a 530 word essay that’s great, and they will be less happy to read a 250 word essay that isn’t great. (Well, there is one exception to this rule—but you’ll have to read College is Yours 2.0)
This last rule has been around forever, and the Times is telling you it’s back. So write what you have to say and edit it down to around 500 words. It makes for a better essay (really), it sharpens the editing skills you’ll need in college, and it brings you one step closer to learning which rules are real, and which ones have some flex. If it bothers you to think someone else is sending in a 750 word tome, think about how they’ll feel when the college rep reading it says, in their own way, “hoo boy.”
College is supposed to broaden your view of the world, and if it’s done well, so should applying to college. Plan A is now Plan B, and it’s going to help you get into college, not get in your way— in other words, little darling, I see the ice is slowly melting.
So aim for 500. It’s all right.
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