To the Editor:
There seems to be a disconnect with supporting college-bound students during the transition from high school to college. I would like to take the call to action made in “Stymied on the Cusp of College” (The Chronicle, October 6) further by also asking high schools to provide additional support to students and encouraging postsecondary institutions to identify new ways to support incoming students.
Oftentimes college counselors are tasked with supporting students through college applications, but much of the work that is required once a student has committed to a college goes unsupported. As the saying goes, “It takes a village to raise a child,” so we must remember that the responsibility for getting students to matriculate is shared by both the sending and receiving schools. School districts must consider making counselors available during the summer to provide support to their outgoing seniors. Additionally, colleges need to do a better job at disseminating information to counselors so that they can be aware of what their students need support with. As a point of contact, counselors have already developed relationships with students and have easier access to them to provide personalized support.
While colleges think about ways to better support incoming students, they must consider current limitations and come up with different solutions. When a student contacts a university with a question, the wait times are long and the attention given is rushed and minimal. For first-generation students, this can be daunting as they are unfamiliar with the terminology to effectively communicate their needs. As a former college advisor, I can attest to hearing my students try to communicate with impatient representatives at the other end of the phone. This diminishes their confidence in their ability to advocate for themselves and they can feel defeated. Also, many students are unable to contact offices during their regular 9-a.m.-to-5-p.m. hours because of school or work. Colleges and universities must identify different ways to provide this support to students, especially first-generation and low-income students, as they are the ones who stand to lose the most when they do not matriculate.
Jasmin Pivaral
Los Angeles
The writer is a graduate student at the Rossier School of Education at the University of Southern California.