EDITORIAL
Why Lowell needs a college counselor
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OLLEGE COUNSELORS are becoming so popular that in 2013, 26 percent of all college applicants — three times as many as in 2003, hired a private admissions consultant or an independent educational consultant to assist with their college applications, according to a Stanford University professor. The average package, from consultation junior year to application senior year, can be over $4,000. Obviously not everyone can afford a private college counselor, especially at public schools like Lowell where 43 percent of students are low-income. To make the college application process fair for all students, some SFUSD high schools, including Abraham Lincoln High School and George Washington High School, provide college counselors for their students. These college counselors help students with college-related issues only, while regular school counselors are responsible for schedules, graduation, truancy concerns and emotional welfare. At Lowell, neither school counselors nor
the Volunteers in College and Career Information (VICCI) Center can perform the full duties of a professional college counselor. Lowell needs its own college counselor. Lowell’s regular counselors act as both academic and college counselors, making it hard for them to perfect either role because of an overwhelming workload. “Right now counselors deal with grades, stress, meetings and emotional needs, but then we have to turn that off and search up college information,” Lowell counselor Adrienne Smith said. “Getting a college counselor would make current counselors’ work easier and would let counselors get to know their kids better.” Having a college counselor in the VICCI Center would expand the services that Lowell already offers. “College counselors attend conferences and are up-to-date on the changes in the college preparatory process,” said Lowell counselor Josephine Ho. “They will be able to help the VICCI Center fulfill its potential to be a great college center by working with parent volunteers and providing them with direction.”
VICCI Center volunteers agree with this sentiment because they lack the comprehensive knowledge of a professional college counselor. “Parent volunteers know some of the information students ask for but being a college counselor is not their job and there’s no way to account for how much each volunteer knows,” said VICCI Center parent volunteer Michael Wong. A college counselor who works full-time at Lowell would also provide continuity and consistent support for students. VICCI Center volunteers only work on specific weekdays, making it difficult for students to follow up. Though the volunteers contact each other when a student has a pressing issue, having one person who can track a student’s progress would be more beneficial. The same issue is faced by the VICCI Center’s Plan of Action for Challenging Times (PACT) educational advisor, Simone Andrade, who is only at Lowell two days a week. She is also required to prioritize students who are in or eligible for PACT, which primarily serves low-income students who See COUNSELORS on pg. 19
In Loving Memory
Jenna Rose Fiorello The Lowell staff 2009-2013 Features Editor Reporter Editors-in-Chief
Andrew Pearce • Sam Tick-Raker Samantha Wilcox • Michelle Wong News Whitney C. Lim, Michelle Wong Sports Amber Ly, Andrew Pearce, Sam Tick-Raker Features Luke Haubenstock Opinion Madelyn Chen, Samantha Wilcox Reporters Lisa Cheung, Celena Chang, Ophir Cohen-Simayof, Josephine Dang, Aiko Delos Reyes, Jade Fong, Danielle Flores, Caleb Hilladakis, Adrian Hung, JoyAnne Ibay, Luke Haubenstock, Joseph Kim, Cynthia Leung, Stephanie Li, Rayming Liang, Jacqueline Nguyen, Amber Ly, Tyler Perkins, Paula Quon, Arthur Register, Rachael Schmidt, Noreen Shaikh, Olivia Starr, Emily Teng, Clarissa Wan, Sophia Wu, Luming Yuan, Jennifer Zhang, Kellen Zheng Illustrators Emily Teng, Stephan Xie Photo Editor Zoe Kaiser Photographers Kelley Grade, Karina Huft, Aida Irving, Zoe Kaiser, Amber Ly Multimedia Editor Ariel Yuan Art Manager Emily Tang Business Managers Jason Li, Carissa Ng, Gabe Schumm Web Managers Srinand Paruthiyil, Ivy La
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v The Lowell April 2015
Adviser
Samuel Williams
2014 NSPA Online Pacemaker 2012 NSPA Print Pacemaker 2011 NSPA All-American 2011 NSPA Online Pacemaker
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Published by the journalism classes of Lowell High School, Room S108, 1101 Eucalyptus Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132 Phone: (415) 759-2730 Internet: thelowellnews@gmail.com, thelowellads@ yahoo.com; http://www.thelowell.org. All contents copyright Lowell High School journalism classes. All rights reserved. The Lowell strives to inform the public and to use their opinion sections as open forums for debate. All unsigned editorials are the opinions of the staff. The Lowell welcomes comments on school-related issues from students, faculty and community members. Send letters to lowellopinion@gmail.com. Letters must be signed. Names will be withheld upon request. We reserve the right to edit letters before publication.