Goodbye to School Counselors

Philadelphia public schools took the Draconian measure of cutting all staff at each school other than a principal and teachers. What does this mean for rising seniors who attend a Philadelphia public school? No college advising, no school profile or counselor recommendations, no one to send transcripts or coordinate visits from admission officers.

How should we expect college admissions offices to deal with this reality? There has already been the controversial change that allowed school counselors to opt out of writing recommendation letters if they were too busy. I don't think there is enough data yet to determine whether that hurt the acceptance rates of students whose counselors opted out. I can't imagine how a college could or would consider a student if no transcript is available. Will schools try to fill the gap with volunteer parents taking on many of the tasks? Will colleges accept self-reported grades and class lists?

As I head to the annual Higher Education Consultants Association conference, I think about the realities that have contributed to the increase in independent college counselors nationwide. These are sad and scary times for school counselors.