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Episode Notes
Episode Title: Athena Lao on How to Choose Your College Counselor.
According to Rohan Pasari, CEO of Cialfo, while some schools have College Counselors on their staff, globally around 95% of the students do not have access to dedicated counselors.
As high schoolers and their parents start to seriously think about college in their sophomore years, one of the important resources they start to look for is a College Counselor.
Athena Lao walks us through the Things to Consider as you choose your College Counselor.
Topics discussed in this episode:
- Introduction to Athena Lao [0:36]
- What to Look for in a College Counselor? [1:34]
- What Really Matters [2:44]
- Evaluating Your College Counselor [6:42]
Our Guest: Athena Lao is a graduate of Harvard University with a Bachelor’s degree in Classics. Athena then went on to get a Master’s degree in International Education Development Program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Memorable Quote: “I would say, though, that there are some other factors that one should also consider and that in some ways, I think, are more important than those usual categories that people are thinking about.” Athena Lao.
Episode Transcript: Please visit Episode’s Transcript.
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Episode Transcript
Transcript of the episode’s audio.
Athena Lao 0:14
But here's a creative way we can reframe that we can talk about your profile your experiences differently, you're really showing the best and a more interesting version, or the most interesting version possible to schools. That is an underrated skill.
Venkat 0:36 [Introduction]
That is Athena Lao, a seasoned college counselor.
Hello, I am your host, Venkat Raman.
As high schoolers and their parents start thinking about college, hopefully in their sophomore years, one of the important resources they look for is a college counselor.
According to Rohan Pasari, CEO of Cialfo, while some schools have College Counselors on their staff, globally almost 95% of the students do not have access to dedicated counselors.
In this Podcast with Athena Lao, we discuss the factors families should consider in choosing your college counselor.
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Venkat Raman 1:22
Let’s get started with Athena!
Venkat Raman 1:27
Let me start by asking you, How should students and parents go about picking their college counselor,
Athena 1:34 [What to Look for in a College Counselor?]
I think that there are quite a few things that you can look for. And I might be biased in terms of what I'm seeing as a college counselor myself.
Athena 1:45
But I think that the thing that most people, the things that most people look for are cost. Is this something within their budget, can they afford this to work with this person.
Athena 1:59
They also look at years of experience in the field of higher education or college counseling and their success rate.
Athena 2:06
Another factor that I think is overrated too, is whether if you have a dream school, like say you want to go to Harvard, that it's really important that the person you are working with has been to that school has been to Harvard themselves. I think that actually doesn't matter at all.
Athena 2:21
I would say, though, that there are some other factors that one should also consider and that in some ways, I think are more important than those usual categories that people are thinking about.
Venkat Raman 2:39
Okay, I'm intrigued, so tell us what really matters.
Athena 2:44 [What Really Matters]
So I think what actually matters when you're working with a college counselor are the personality fit. And because a lot of time, because a lot of the work involves helping manage this project of you as a student being able to attend that school. And so that person you're working with having a sense of your style, and being able to motivate you to do your best under a lot of time pressure. That is actually really important. And way more important than, you know, if they've been doing this for 20 years, because if you don't by then, you know, you're not going to enjoy the time working with that person, and you won't be as successful as you could have been.
Athena 3:30
I think a second thing is the creativity in the strategy. So there are a lot of and I say this as someone who has been working for multiple years in this field, that sometimes counselors will see a profile and think, Okay, I have boxed this person into this sort of category, they would be able to get into these kinds of schools. And you know, they should not aim for anything else. And so I think I'm working with someone who is able to say, Hey, this is the superficial read of your profile and your application. But here's a creative way we can reframe that we can talk about your profile your experiences differently, they're really showing the best and a more interesting version, or the most interesting version possible to schools. That is an underrated skill that I think you should try to test for when you're talking to the counselor.
Athena 4:31
Also the amount of thoroughness in terms of, you know, all the details that they listen to for ask about when it comes to your classroom and extracurricular experiences, life experiences that you may think are just boring but actually might be a helpful detail to share on the application. That sort of thoroughness and attentiveness to the what seems like the little things is actually fantastic because that means That person is incorporating all of those details into the larger, more creative strategy of how to present you as an applicant. I would, I would say that those factors of their creativity and the strategy for your about application, and their ability to listen for details and put things together, that all is really helpful in making sure you're creating the best application possible.
Athena 5:28
Project management is really one of the most important parts of this whole process. And that requires an understanding of timelines, how to work backwards from the timelines and help you and communicating to you as a student, this is what needs to get done now. And this is how much leeway This is how much you can procrastinate. Before we panic. And you know, these are all the different parts, did you forget about x? Are you sure you did this? Let me see it and check for you. So someone who is able to be that diligent and ask about all the different parts and help you make sure that all of your ducks in a row, all of your ducks are in a row, that is really important. So I think asking about the college counselor style and management of their time, and the different parts of the application is something that I think all people could take more time to do.
Venkat Raman 6:29
Now you've laid out some wonderful criteria to look for in a counselor. Now, how should parents and the student evaluate a college counselor?
Athena 6:42 [Evaluating Your College Counselor]
Yeah, oftentimes companies will give you a chance to talk to the counselor right away. And you'll be able to share some basic information about your profile what you're concerned about. And then the counselor has a chance to say, Okay, well, from hearing that, here's a high level picture of what I recommend, or here's some questions that I have to understand more about you. So I think paying attention to the kinds of questions that they ask, and how comfortable you feel with their demeanor. And also, you know, when you ask them, when you ask them questions, what, you know, what are they like? Like they know what they're talking about. That's all useful. And I think you can also ask directly, you know, what is your process? How do you? How do you work with students? How do you manage time, right, that can also just asking that directly is insight into what they do?
Venkat Raman 7:45
Got it.
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Venkat Raman 7:52
Hi again!
Hope you found the discussion on choosing a College Counselor with with Athena Lao useful, and you land a great counselor.
Thank you so much for listening to this podcast.
Transcripts for this podcast and previous podcasts are on almamatters.io forward slash podcasts [almamatters.io/podcasts].
To stay connected with us, Subscribe to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts or Spotify or visit anchor.fm forward slash almamatters [anchor.fm/almamatters] to check us out.
Till we meet again, take care and be safe.
Thank you!
Summary Keywords
College Podcast, College Podcast, Podcast for High Schoolers, College Podcast for High Schoolers, US Colleges, International Students, College Admissions, College Applications, College Counselor, College Resources, Choosing College Counselor.