20 Questions to Ask Your Guidance Counselor
Your school guidance counselor is one of your most important resources.
She/he can help you schedule your courses, balance your workload, deal with
personal issues and plan for life after high school. Don't know your
counselor very well? Make an appointment.
Here are some basic questions to get your conversation started. It always
helps to think ahead and write down your questions as we are all busy and it
is easy to forget.
1. What are the required and recommended courses - for graduation and for
college prep?
2. How should I plan my schedule so I will complete all necessary courses?
3. What elective courses do you recommend?
4. What Advanced Placement courses are available?
5. When is the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Corporation
(NMSC)exam going to be given here? Should I take that exam?
6. Is this school a testing center for the SAT® or ACT, or will I need to
go somewhere nearby?
7. Do you have any after-school or evening sessions available for college
planning, or for taking the SAT or ACT?
8. Do you have college handbooks or other guides that I can browse or
borrow? Do you have a copy of the free Taking the SAT booklet, which
has a practice test in it? Or a test booklet to prepare me for the ACT?
9. What activities can I do at home and over the summer to get ready for
college?
10. What kinds of grades do different colleges require?
11. Are there any college fairs at this school, or nearby?
12. Where do other kids from this school go?
13. Can you put me in touch with recent grads who are going to colleges
on my wish list?
14. Do you have information about colleges far away, or do you favor schools
nearby?
15. If my colleges need a recommendation from you, how can I help you
know me better, so it can be more personal?
16. What are the requirements or standards for the honor society?
17. Are there any special scholarships or awards that I should know about
now, so I can work toward them?
18. Can I see my transcript as it stands now, to see if everything is as I
think it should be?
19. Do you have any forms I would need to apply for financial aid?
20. How does our school compare to others, in terms of test scores?
Go to www.Scholarship.com for more helpful information.
