When I worked in college admissions one of my responsibilities was to work closely with high school counselors. I loved the relationships that I forged with the counselors and came to understand their passion for helping their students transition to higher education. Now that I have changed sides of the table to become an educational consultant I have realized that

During a recent conference in which members from Rocky Mountain Association of College Admission Counseling, Western Association of College Admission Counseling and Pacific Northwest Association of College Admission counseling came together there was a session about how educational consultant and counselors work together.

Some of the lessons I walked away with:

1) Think about a stool. A stool you might say? Yes, a stool. When the student, parent and high school counselor work together you have a three legged stool. Add in a consultant and you have a four legged stool. What does that give you? More support and more balance.

2) High school counselors have a lot on their plate. They may not be solely responsible for college counseling and may have to split their time with other counseling roles and course scheduling. A consultant may be able to complement the high school counselor well in the sense that they can focus on the students who need more attention and research for things such as unique programs or disabilities.

3) There are a lot of things that counselors and consultants can learn from one another. If we can can learn fromeach other and in turn teach our students, the students and families are ultimately the winners in the proces.

4) We all need to sing the same song or it won’t sound good to listen to.

5) Families can sign a disculure form to release communication between consultants and counselors.