Pioneer Academy

College Counseling Philosophy

College counseling at Pioneer is a highly individualized process with the goal of producing the best possible match between each student and the college or university which best fits that student. Like much of everyday life on campus, the creation of that ideal match is a very personal, labor-intensive, learning experience. Each student works closely with his or her counselor to explore the many talents and interests that he or she has developed over the years, to set goals based on those experiences, and to research and find the colleges that will help him or her achieve those goals.

Personal attention is the hallmark of the college search process at Pioneer. Our experienced college counselor serves each class at Pioneer. While the counselor has multiple opportunities to get to know students inside and outside the classroom, guiding them through their college search is the primary responsibility of the counselor. By visiting college campuses, attending regional and national conferences, and hosting individual college representatives at our school, Pioneer’s college counselors constantly update and expand their knowledge about programs available at colleges.

Creating a good match of student and college also requires that the college counselor and student forge a strong relationship that the college counselor knows the student’s strengths, abilities, talents, and aspirations. For this reason, the counselor meets with each senior for one hr from September through December.

However, we expect and want students to take control of this process. Our job is to guide, counsel, probe, recommend, refer, suggest, and inform. Our job is NOT to decide, require, command or package. It is the student who makes the decisions about where to apply, what to write about in their essays, whom to ask for recommendations. Students are responsible for getting applications out on time, signing up for tests on time, asking teachers for recommendations on time, acquiring applications and filling out forms on time. We do not do these for our students – nor should their parents. We have found that regular and honest communication between the counselors, students, and parents is the key in the student’s finding the right college for him or her. We encourage parental input as long as the student remains in the driver's seat.

In helping a student build a college list, we will be straightforward and honest in our assessment of his or her chances for admission. To do otherwise would be a disservice. True maturity comes when a person's sense of self is grounded confidently in reality, not when it is flying on the gossamer wings of easy promise. While some people find this honesty daunting at first, most come to realize that calling a school a reach does not mean that we won't support a student's desire to apply. Students and their families need to be armed with accurate information as they make decisions. If a student decides to take a high degree of risk, that is his or her choice; our responsibility is to point out the possible fallout, not to make the final decision for the student. Parents, too, must be voices of reason and reality. Ridiculously high expectations can create all kinds of psychological issues for the students. If, in response to outsized expectations, students focus only on the top and then simply add schools to which they have paid no attention, they can end up emotionally devastated.

Ultimately, students who are happiest about the college process are those who understand their abilities and needs best and who are, therefore, able to find schools that make the best fit. Those are the ones who have researched their lists well, have asked the tough questions, and, as a result have found the schools that they can truly embrace.