7 min read
How Middle School Counselors Can Help Families Succeed
Middle school is a time of transformation. Kids are growing up fast, and it can feel like a whirlwind of change for students and families.
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For the foreseeable future, in-person visits to college campuses are not possible with campuses shut down and admission offices working remotely. If you’re a high schooler that was planning campus visits this spring, it’s likely you’ve already attended several virtual tours instead. How can you make the most of these virtual events? Make a list of what is important to you and what you want to learn by the end of the tour. We’ve put together a brief checklist of considerations and questions for you. During your virtual tour, try to follow along and find answers to these questions.
Once you determine your end goal, begin a virtual tour of your own on Scoir using YouVisit and CampusReel. Be prepared to take notes to compare each campus. It may be difficult to get the ‘feel’ for a campus virtually, so I suggest researching student rankings on professors, academics, food and the social scene. This information is not marketed by the campus, so you will get a true ‘feel’ for the campus. CampusReel are student tours that give you their viewpoint of the campus.
If a college or university is still on your list at the end of your virtual tour, go to the admissions page and sign up for virtual information events. It is always a good idea to let a college know you are interested in attending and signing up for virtual events will let them know you have interest. Many colleges also offer virtual one-on-one meeting options to answer your questions.
College admissions, as we know it, has never operated during a pandemic. Students must be creative in continuing their college search and making the college aware of their interest. Taking virtual tours, emailing college professors, attending virtual information sessions and requesting virtual appointments to clarify information is a great way to actively participate in the college process.
Julie Kampschroeder has over three decades of experience working with high school students. She is passionate about assisting First Generation/Low Income College Bound students. Julie currently works as a public school counselor in a diverse high school in St. Louis, Missouri. Early in her career she volunteered countless hours with the Missouri Association of College Admission Counselors (MOACAC) and earned both the President’s Service Award (2008) and Peggy Clinton Lifetime Service Award (2012). As a First Generation College student herself, growing up in a small town, she is most proud of the National Association of Admissions Counselor Inclusion, Access and Success Award (2013). Maya Angelo’s motto of “when you know better, you do better” guides her work in educating First Generation students to level the playing field in college admissions.
7 min read
Middle school is a time of transformation. Kids are growing up fast, and it can feel like a whirlwind of change for students and families.
7 min read
When I started college admissions counseling 20 years ago, students would come to meetings hefting heavy boxes of viewbooks they'd received from...
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We recently hosted the event: Why Counselors Give Us Hugs at NACAC. This blog post provides a recap of what we covered during the event.