College Freshmen View Counselor Help in College Selection

Abstract

Little attention has been paid to the role performance of counselors in the college decision process. This study surveyed 270 college freshmen at a northeastern university in an attempt to explore the activities of their high school counselors in college admissions. The students came from 233 institutions of secondary education. Among the findings were: ( 1) the high sohool counselor has increased in Importance and in potential influence in the college-choice process; (2) the helping activities of counselors were for the most part active and direct; (3) the expectations of the students for the counselor were for active involvement by the counselor; and (4) in some cases, the counselor played a restricting role in the process of college selection.

The illusion of pre‐enrollment counseling

“…In fact, those leaving tried to "paint a rosy picture of themselves" (1968, p. 688) in comparison to persisting students. Bentley and Salter (1967) found that most high school students do not even expect the counselor to raise the question of college suitability; apparently, most students just want information and are not concerned if the counselor does not explore the factor of suitability.…”