CGN Counselor Bites
Counselor Bites are succinct, 30-minute recordings that provide school counselors with insights to help their students navigate the complex college admission process by covering a wide array of topics with an extensive network of experts. This member-only benefit will empower you to do your best work as a counselor and increase opportunities for your students.
We’ll share the results of a new CGN survey of parents and the three biggest emotions they express in an effort to help you better support these important and often overlooked stakeholders, ease anxieties and help students succeed.
A student’s college list is not static. Learn tips and best practices to help younger students get started and to support 12th graders as they narrow down their college choices.
As a counselor, your guidance is crucial to their success – from FAFSA/Financial Aid to college acceptances. But this academic year is different, and many students are uneasy. Learn how you can empower your seniors:
- Strategize how to support seniors through uncertainty
- Review key resources to enhance a senior’s decision making
- Discuss your concerns and solutions for your seniors
Host: Brennan Barnard, Director of College Counseling, Khan Schools Network
Featured Expert: Barbara Conner, Director of Recruitment, Franklin & Marshall College
Counselors: looking to up your game helping students with course selection? Barbara Conner – who has worked as both an admission director and school counselor – will offer best practices for guiding students through this complex decision-making process, factoring in their long-term goals and aspirations.
Featured Expert: Kevin Maldonado, School Counselor, Hopewell Valley Central High School
Students are under a lot of pressure as the college search intensifies. Counselors are not only supporting them in reaching successful outcomes but also looking out for their mental health. In this video we will:
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- Discuss ways to keep students motivated
- Address the self-doubt that comes with rejection
- Consider negative factors like social media and peer comparisons and how to mitigate them
Featured Expert: Terry Crawford, Co-Founder and CEO, InitialView
Just for counselors! Interviews are an opportunity for students to make a personal impression that goes beyond the application. Help them ace their interviews by watching this program from CGN and NACAC.
As counselors we support students by working with families of all shapes and sizes. This program will help you form effective strategies for building partnerships with parents/guardians. You will learn:
- What to do when a student and parent aren’t on the same page
- Tips for handling awkward conversations around finances and family dynamics
- Strategies for engaging parents who are not as involved
The Supreme Court’s decision ending race-conscious admissions has provided just as many questions as answers. How can students – and the counselors that advise them – tell a story in which their identity plays a meaningful part. In this v, you will:
- Hear how admissions offices are approaching the upcoming cycle
- Gain insight into how Community Based Organizations and admissions offices around the country are supporting traditionally marginalized students.
- Learn best practices for coaching students through the changes
- Learn how AI language models work.
- See a demo of an AI-generated letter of recommendation.
- Get practical advice on the best uses and limitations of AI for research and writing.
The glass-half-full view of AI is that it can enhance the work humans do in many fields – college counseling included – and save us time on rote tasks. For example, the time saved by using AI as a list-building tool can be redirected into more meaningful, one-on-one interactions with students. In this video, you will:
- Learn Jeff Neill’s 7 tips for getting the best results out of AI.
- See how multiple inputs to AI will generate a more personalized list.
- Understand the limitations of AI while getting practical advice on how you and your students can use it right now.
Counselors balance many conflicting priorities as they advise students on course selection – rigor vs. interest-alignment, prerequisites and graduation requirements, students and family members with different perspectives. It can lead to some tricky conversations. In this program you will learn:
- Best practices to achieve the right balance and reduce stress.
- Perspective and myth-busting from an admission leader.
- How to answer the complicated questions like “Calculus vs. Stats”
The rapid growth of AI has already begun influencing countless industries, and college admission is no exception. How will the changes impact professionals in high schools and colleges? In this informative Q&A for counselors and admissions officers alike, you will have your questions answered on:
- The conversations Common App is having with its 1,000+ colleges and universities.
- What one of the most knowledgeable voices in this emerging field of study sees as the opportunities and limitations of AI.
- Whether AI adds or reduces bias in the admissions process.
Yes, there are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the US. But reputation, rankings and exposure lead to the same few dozen being discussed over and over again. So how can you as a counselor break this cycle? In this informative Q&A for counselors only, you will get strategies on:
- Key questions to ask students to help find schools that are a good match
- Ways to get students interested in schools they haven’t heard of
- How to balance optimism with realism
- And how all these strategies lead to a less stressful college search
When 11th graders return from their holiday break, it is often with a renewed sense of purpose regarding the college search. Giving them a place to start is critical. This program offers counselors advice on:
- A spring/summer/fall planning timeline
- What kind of events and resources are most helpful
- How to tamp down the hype and anxiety before it gets too overwhelming
Nationwide, superintendents and school counselors struggle to manage growing challenges as resources shrink and the educational environment continues to get tougher.
In this discussion, our experts will share valuable insights on how superintendents can:
- Bolster counseling support services while grappling with the Great Resignation and underfunded schools
- Explore effective strategies even as counselor caseloads remain unsustainable (e.g., 1:902 in Arizona!) and student needs – including mental health – increase
- Navigate the divisive politics characterizing many school boards today and the increased pressures that result
“The Money Talk” is often one of the toughest conversations for a counselor to have with a family. But finding the right financial fit for a student and family is just as important as finding a school where the student will thrive academically and socially. In this interactive Q&A session, you’ll get advice on:
- What a financially supportive college counseling process looks like
- Tools to share with families to help them make fiscally responsible decisions
- Strategies to help families talk about finances
Counselors, this interactive Q&A is for you, to help you provide your students and their families with answers to questions like:
- How to keep up with changes in testing policies in admission
- How much of a difference does test prep actually make?
- When is test prep worth the money and when is it not?
An increasing number of colleges and universities are using the Self-Reported Academic Record or SRAR. Why is this the trend and how can counselors help their students navigate the process?
In this informative 30-minute program, you’ll receive advice on:
- How to ensure a mistake-free, accurate SSAR
- What to know from the backend on the college side
- How to interpret non-traditional transcripts
From NACAC partner College Guidance Network: A well-designed school profile allows admission teams to review applicants fairly and equitably. Yours can provide valuable context to make students stand out in the application process.
In this informative video, counselors will receive advice on:
- Current trends affecting what matters most in a school profile
- What the profile is AND what it’s not
- Effective vs ineffective elements of a profile
From NACAC partner College Guidance Network: School counselors are key advisors of students in their postsecondary planning. Student aspirations after high school evolve and choices abound, including non-degree and short-term credentials. Counselors will learn more about Grow with Google and how this offering fits into the landscape of postsecondary attainment.
From NACAC partner College Guidance Network: Going off to college is a huge adjustment for students and their families. How can counselors best prepare teens and parents for this transition? In this interactive Q&A discussion you’ll learn:
- How to prepare for the inevitable bumps along the way.
- Tools to help teens understand the responsibilities ahead.
- Student life support services available on most college campuses.
From NACAC partner College Guidance Network: Parents and students are being flooded with information about college admissions. How can counselors fight the deluge and support them with quality, trusted content, enabling them to make better-informed decisions? In this discussion you’ll hear about:
- The counselor’s role in helping students and their supporters make sense of data, marketing and media messages.
- How to discern high quality, curated content.
- The difference between useful data and data manipulation.
From NACAC partner College Guidance Network: Counselors see a range of emotions from high school seniors at this time of year. You may be wondering how you can best support and advise those students who receive disappointing news from admissions or financial aid offices. In this informative session you'll get expert suggestions on:
- Talking to teens about what might be their first big disappointment in life.
- Best practice for getting them to turn the page and look to the future with optimism.
- Helping families maintain perspective.