Guidance department puts immense effort into helping students with applications

Last August, senior Benedict Chiu met with his guidance counselor Monique Young to talk about college applications. What lay before him seemed like a huge and daunting task.

Now more than six months later, the process is almost at an end. Like the other 300 seniors who applied to schools, Chiu used the school’s built-in resources, mainly the guidance department, to lead his way into the right college.

“The guidance department showed me how to use Naviance, compare projected college acceptance statistics and how to organize safety, target, and reach schools,” Chiu said. “The counselors were always free and available to answer whatever questions I had during the process.”

Although some students think the college process starts in the fall of senior year, the guidance department checks in with students of all grades each year, around the time of course requests, to get an understanding of each student’s academic progress.

“Really early on, we do academic planning with students so they meet the requirements for graduation,” said guidance counselor Eileen Allen.

Once the fall of senior year comes around, the guidance department takes a more active approach.

According to Frances Saiki, another counselor, guidance holds essay workshops at the end of junior year and the fall of senior year.

 “We also do a private college workshop in which we talk about teacher recommendations and how to go through that process,” Saiki said.

Other options are available for parents and students alike who have questions.

According to Allen, counselors hold a question and answer session, which is an opportunity for parents and students to alleviate some of the anxiety about the process. 

Also, every spring and fall, guidance puts on night presentations in the McAfee Center where they go through the timeline of the application process using a PowerPoint presentation. This presentation is geared to the parents, but in each English class the counselors try to replicate the presentations to the students.

On a more personal level, the department offers services where they meet with students and families in order to review college lists and make sure a student’s graduation status complies with the application. According to Allen, the guidance department meets with 75 percent of families so that they understand what is required to proceed.

In many instances, families have never gone through the application process before.

“There are some students who are more independent, but there are some who we sit down and do it with them, such as creating a Common App account and walking them through the whole process,” Saiki said.

The recommendation process is by far one of the most stressful and tedious aspects of the application for staff members.

“Another thing that is very time consuming is writing recommendations,” Saiki said. “Each of our recommendations are individualized to make sure each letter is unique.”

Although guidance tries its best to help all seniors with all of their questions, many students and parents still have lingering concerns.

“With all of these workshops and presentations, there are still lots of questions, so it wouldn’t be unusual for a student to come in 15 times to ask about Common Application or the UC application,” Allen said.

As the fall of senior year progresses and application deadlines near, the guidance department works to assist students with whatever they need, but the counselors base a lot of their assistance on how much students need. 

For Chiu, the department was able to answer all of his questions and concerns, helping him to create the best application possible and making it possible for him into colleges like the University of Southern California.