<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0bMbj5_1GuM4wtp00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0bMbj5_1GuM4wtp00" width="959" height="639" ><figcaption>Woman on telephone getty</figcaption></figure>A strong relationship between a school counselor and an admissions officer can put important context in front of decision-makers. But not every counselor has the time or access to build one.When I was a college counselor at Montclair Kimberley Academy in New Jersey, I got to know Kent Jones, thenDean of Enrollment and College Relations at Skidmore College. That relationship gave me a rare view into how admissions decisions actually got made.We talked about students from my school who had applied to Skidmore, sometimes in real detail. Kent would tell me where an applicant stood, and I remember how finely he sliced it: high admit, low admit, high waitlist, low waitlist, high deny, low deny. A student wasn't simply in or out. There were degrees of confidence, doubt, and possibility.Those conversations also let me explain what an application couldn't show on its own. As I recall, a few times they moved a student along that spectrum, higher but sometimes lower.What made the relationship matter to me is that it outlasted my time at Montclair Kimberley. I went back to Montclair High School, a large public school serving a much broader mix of students, and Kent and I kept talking. It was never really a relationship between Skidmore and one private school. It was between two professionals who trusted each other's judgment.<h2>What a Counselor Knows That an Application Cannot Show</h2>An application holds grades, courses, recommendations, activities, essays, and sometimes test scores. Even a thorough one leaves things out.A counselor may know that a student has grown enormously this past year, that a family crisis explains a rough stretch on the transcript, or that an ordinary-looking extracurricular represents extraordinary responsibility. Some of that belongs in the counselor recommendation. But a conversation allows for questions and subsequent discussion that a letter can't.There's a real difference between defending a student and asking for special treatment. Advocacy means making sure the admissions office has relevant, accurate information. It doesn't mean expecting anyone to ignore the institution's standards.I previously worked with a brilliant student who lived in China. His record didn't reflect his mind. His first college essay version was exquisite. His International Baccalaureate grades were mostly average, except in Theory of Knowledge, where he was outstanding. I thought St. John's College, with campuses in Annapolis and Santa Fe and a single Great Books curriculum for every student, would be an unusually good fit.I called the college's international admissions representative and explained why I thought he'd thrive there despite the uneven grades. I could describe qualities the transcript didn't show. He was admitted, and he recently graduated with honors.I can't know how much that call mattered. But it gave me the chance to build a case for a student whom conventional measures captured only partly.That kind of exchange fits what NACAC's Guide regarding Ethical Practice in College Admission asks of both sides: share accurate, relevant information about students, and protect confidentiality. The guide also draws a line. In one of NACAC's sample dilemmas, an admissions rep calls a counselor about a student who is "on the bubble" and asks whether the college is the student's first choice. The guidance is that admissions staff shouldn't ask counselors to reveal or rank a student's college preferences. The conversation is welcome. Pressuring the counselor is not.Trust makes these conversations work. An admissions officer has to believe a counselor will be honest, including about a student's weaknesses. A counselor has to believe the admissions officer will be candid about the institution's expectations and the student's prospects.<h2>When a Coach Explained the Process</h2>I had a different but equally revealing experience with a student who was being recruited to play lacrosse at Haverford College.The coach was remarkably open with both of us about how recruiting worked. As he described it, he had seven recruiting "chips" to use in support of prospective players in admissions, and my student started 12th on his list. As recruits ahead of my student turned Haverford down, the coach told us how that moved my student up.I hadn't seen that kind of transparency before. Instead of decoding vague expressions of interest, we knew where the student stood. It didn't remove the uncertainty, but it took some of the stress out of it, and it gave me an inside look at a process that baffles most families.It's worth being precise about what Division III recruiting is and isn't. According to the NCAA, Division III schools don't offer athletic scholarships, and Division III athletes generally face the same admissions standards as other students. A coach's support can help an applicant, but it isn't an offer of admission, and how that support works varies by school and sport.The Haverford coach never promised admission. He told us where my student stood and how things were developing. That distinction mattered.The coach and Kent Jones were in very different roles, but the lesson was the same: students benefit when the adults around the process communicate candidly and sincerely.<h2>The Problem of Unequal Access</h2>An uncomfortable question remains: what happens to students whose counselors don't have time to build these relationships?The resource gap between public and private school counseling is large. According to NACAC, public school counseling departments spend an average of 22% of their time on postsecondary admissions counseling, compared with 51% at private schools. In 2021–22, the average public school counselor was responsible for 405 students (NACAC's figure includes counselors at all grade levels), well above the 250-to-1 maximum ratio the American School Counselor Association recommends.Those numbers help explain why professional relationships are hard to maintain. A counselor at a well-resourced private school may have a manageable caseload, time to visit colleges, and a budget for conferences. A counselor at a large public high school may juggle hundreds of students along with scheduling, testing, academic problems, and personal crises. Even an exceptional counselor can't keep up relationships with dozens of admissions offices without time.Access to a counselor matters in its own right. NACAC's own study found that high school seniors who talked one-on-one with a school counselor were 6.8 times more likely to complete the FAFSA and 3.2 times more likely to attend college. That shows an association, not proof that counseling alone caused those outcomes, but it stresses how much professional guidance counts.None of this makes one school's students more deserving than another's. But it can change how much individual context reaches decision-makers.The answer can't be to ask every counselor to build a professional network on top of an already crushing job. Colleges have a responsibility to make themselves reachable.<h2>Building Relationships Across the Desk</h2>Some of these relationships start when college representatives visit high schools. Others start at gatherings run by the National Association for College Admission Counseling.At NACAC's 2026 national conference in Minneapolis (October 8–10), the association offered complimentary registration to approved counselors from public high schools, public charter schools, and community-based organizations in the Minneapolis–St. Paul area. The program required nominations and capped attendance at two people per school or organization. The conference also hosted a Counselors' College Fair, where counselors could meet admissions teams face-to-face.Events like these are about more than collecting brochures. They let counselors and admissions staff get to know each other, ask questions, and build the kind of rapport that pays off when one student's application raises a question. NACAC's updated 2026 guide reflects that, with added stress on transparency about what colleges consider and on clearly communicating admission expectations.The timing is good. Many colleges, worried about enrollment, are working to make admissions feel less closed off, as a Hechinger Report story on NPR described this month, with Skidmore as one example.Conferences aren't the only route. College representatives can offer virtual conversations, reach out to schools they've historically overlooked, and make it easy for counselors with heavy caseloads to ask questions. They can be candid about expectations, explain how applications are evaluated, and say which extra information would help when a student is under consideration. None of that would erase the inequities in college counseling, but it could make access depend less on who happens to know whom.<h2>The Value of Being Known</h2>I don't know how many students benefited directly from my conversations with Kent Jones. I remember the candor, and I remember his willingness to reconsider an applicant when new information warranted it. I also remember that our relationship survived my move from a private school to a public one.That mattered to me because a counselor's judgment shouldn't depend on the name on the door.The student from China, the lacrosse recruit, and the applicants Kent and I discussed all had different circumstances. In each case, though, communication gave me something useful to advise a student with, or gave an admissions professional a better picture of one.Admissions will always involve hard decisions. No amount of networking can guarantee an acceptance, and none should. But a process in which admissions officers recognize that the people who work with students every day have something to contribute is worth having.The goal isn't an edge for students whose counselors happen to know the right people. It's a system where more students benefit from the honest, informed conversations that good counselors and admissions officers can have.A student's chances shouldn't depend on whom their counselor knows. But every student merits the benefit of what a knowledgeable counselor can say.This article was originally published on Forbes.com</div></body>

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A strong relationship between a school counselor and an admissions officer can put important context in front of decision-makers. But not every counselor has the time or access to build one. When I was a college counselor at Montclair Kimberley Academy in New Jersey, I got to know Kent Jones,...

The College Admissions Conversations That Can Change A Student’s Chances

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A strong relationship between a school counselor and an admissions officer can put important context in front of decision-makers. But not every counselor h

The College Admissions Conversations That Can Change A Student’s Chances

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