Do homework before seeing counselor

By: LORELL FLEMING - Staff Writer | Sunday, October 22, 2006 7:24 PM PDT ∞

One of the first stops on the road to college is at the high school career/college counselor's office.

You can do some things to make that visit to the counselor's office as productive and effective as possible, according to Karen Ricci, the college and career counselor at Fallbrook Union High School. She has been at this high school for 10 years, and in her profession for 15 years.

For starters, she said, students should give some thought to the profession they want to pursue. It's not uncommon for students to be unsure of what career path to take.

"Kids have more choices these days, and more choices can create chaos for students," Ricci said.

A student who doesn't know what profession he or she wants to go into can ask the counselor for a career assessment. With the assessment, the counselor can evaluate the student's strengths, abilities, likes and dislikes to determine what careers the student may be best suited to follow.

If a student has a career in mind, the student can ask the counselor about opportunities to be exposed to that field. Opportunities might including job shadowing or listening to a speaker who is an expert in that field, Ricci explained.

"It's a great way to help you decide if that's what you want to do," she added.

Once a student figures out his or her career goals, the choices for college could narrow to those that have majors correlating to that student's career.

Here are a few other questions to ask your counselor, according to Ricci:

-- When will college representatives be on your high school campus? Many high schools host college fairs.

-- What are the deadlines and fees for submitting college applications?

-- What are the college testing requirements and the fees for taking those tests?

-- How much does it cost to send your scores to the college or colleges of your choice?

Ricci recommends the following Web sites:

-- www.collegeboard.com

-- www.princetonreview.com, the Princeton Review Web page, can lead visitors to other helpful Web sites that address specific inquiries.

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