It's that time of year that I still remember as a director of college counseling at a high school.
As the school year began, I was expected to update the school profile. I needed to do that as soon as humanly possible, but especially by the first round of application deadlines, usually October 15th. I was fortunate in that I had spent so many years of my career working in college admissions offices. I knew what was important in the school profile, and what wasn't.
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This year, I started helping high schools around the country overhaul their school profiles. Identifying what is important to include, how to present it, and how it should look takes weeks to do right. I could write a book on it. For now, I have four goals for helping a high school improve their school profile. If you are a current counselor, parent, or student, here are the essentials:
1. The school profile needs to be easily accessible on the high school website.
A link on the landing page is ideal.2. The school profile needs to be updated every year.
This should happen by October 15th, the first set of application deadlines.3. Everything on the profile needs to be accurate.
If an important course, like Physics, wasn't offered this year due to low enrollment or a staffing issue but it remains on the profile, colleges will assume it's available and question why the student isn't taking it.4. The school profile needs to benefit its students and put them all in the best light.
Having information on the profile like GPA ranges and percentiles on a profile for a high school that says it doesn't rank only helps the students at the top of the range; no one else!Learn More About My High School Consulting Services
If you have never heard of the school profile, search for it. If you can't find it or the high school refuses to provide it, then you know something isn't right. Profiles are not private or confidential like letters of recommendation. They are meant to be shared and used to more accurately evaluate a student's application. In fact, the school profile is the entry point for a student's application. A college cannot evaluate the student's application, and especially the transcript, without it.
