By Jessica Thompson, Newswire, and Nick Yates, ISB Communications
High school is a time when students make lasting memories, create lifelong friendships, explore plenty of co-curricular activities, and challenge themselves academically.
But this is also a time of stress and anxiety.
Students are trying to choose what post-secondary school to attend, they’re learning how to hone a college or job application, and they’re starting to think about the oh-so-common question, “What do you want to do with the rest of your life?”
Fortunately for International School of Beijing (ISB) students, there’s a comprehensive, well-resourced, and highly qualified counseling service in place to help them in each stage of their journey. Counseling on how to choose a university and apply makes up a large part of the package in High School, alongside social-emotional, personal, and academic counseling.
To further strengthen support to students and families, ISB has just announced changes to the High School counseling model. From next academic year, ISB will have one department responsible for social/emotional/academic counseling led by School Counselors and one department for career and university advising led by University Advisors. This remodel will allow the counselors the clarity to specialize in and enhance the programs provided.
They will continue to partner with students and guide them through this important phase as so many are applying to college. With an unusually high counselor-student ratio of 5:24, ISB can comfortably personalize the experience by having these conversations one on one.
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A major focus of the college counseling service is to direct students to best-fit universities and courses. ISB prides itself on ensuring its learners find the institution that is most appropriate for them based on their passions and talents. The wide scope of university offers and the subjects ISB graduates go on to study each year signals that they are pursuing their passions at many of the world’s finest educational institutions.
The counselors spend a lot of time busting myths about college and encouraging community members to think in line with ISB’s whole-child philosophy, which promotes social-emotional well-being and character development alongside academic achievement.
“There is no evidence that students’ learning will suffer from attending a less selective college… the students who benefit the most from college are those who are most engaged in their academics and campus communities,” note the authors of a research paper for Challenge Success, a Stanford University-affiliated organization that partners with communities to promote student well-being and engagement with learning.
This quote illustrates how when students choose a college that is the best fit for them, rather than one that just looks good on paper, they excel. It’s tempting to just think about the likes of the Ivy League when targeting a university, but there is of course life beyond these weighty names.
“This is one of the greatest challenges,” says Patrick Stenger, one of our [former] High School counselors at ISB. “We look at the entire experience of the three or four years and ask the students to think about which of the universities they apply to will provide them with the greatest amount of value, not just in the degree, but in life and education.”
Mr. Stenger presents parents and students with material like the Challenge Success study to take it from opinion to fact.
College counseling begins at ISB when students enter Grade 9. The first in the year’s series of coffee mornings with the High School counselors features an explanation of the major events and landmarks of a student’s High School experience and how the department supports them through the journey.
As students progress through High School, the college counseling team host seminars talking about college admissions systems around the world. Students and parents can have their questions answered. During Grade 11, students have college research and essay writing workshops. They look into post-secondary facilities and learn how to put together an admissions essay.
In their final year, students participate in an all-day workshop on application processes, discover what activities to put on a college application, and consult with their counselors.
Recently, there has been some disruption to this normal order of business as Covid-19 has forced the temporary closure of campus. The counselors have stepped up to provide their services remotely as well as to offer psychological support to community members in these testing times.
With highly-trained, well-resourced college counselors who know the students, ISB makes it so parents don’t have to seek help outside school amid the often unreliable networks of agents that exist in some parts of the world to capitalize on families’ uncertainty about post-secondary.
ISB students and their counselors have a characteristically close relationship. When asked for his memories of particular students, Patrick Stenger is quick to start listing them off.
“There is one student, Hiro W, who is just an amazing kid who could go anywhere. He left in junior year, took a year abroad, and learned Spanish,” Mr. Stenger says. “He just did what he wanted to do, which is extremely brave.”
His High School college counseling team also left quite an impression on Hiro.
“Mr. Stenger has been very supportive and always gives me great ideas,” says Hiro, a senior at ISB. “I think sometimes students themselves may not realize their potential. The counselors really help point those things out for you. When you have a person doing that for you, you feel more confident, more comfortable, you know that you’re going to have that support throughout the college process.”
Hiro describes the inspiration the college counseling team help spark. “When you bring what you have to the counselors, they don’t try to limit you, they never criticize, they’re supportive in the way they deliver feedback,” he says. “They explain and help get rid of the things that you’re worried about by making things as transparent as possible.”
ISB seeks out the best counselors and commits to continual training, development, and research time for them.
Mr. Stenger always knew that he wanted to do something in education to help others. He has close to 20 years of experience in counseling internationally since earning his masters in educational psychology. His colleagues have similar backgrounds, and ISB funds them to continue learning and attending conferences to keep up with best practices in their field.
“All of us counselors are actively involved in continuing to learn our trade,” says Mr. Stenger. “[These learning opportunities] give us a way to network. We collectively have great relationships with the people who actually read our students’ applications.”
Ultimately, Mr. Stenger hopes that even with the college admissions process demanding most of the focus during High School, students will still take some time to enjoy themselves and begin to find their place in the world.
“It’s about making friends and feeling comfortable with your environment, professors, and academic rigor,” according to Mr. Stenger. “The sooner and the better that can take place, the more time you have to actualize that experience. We help our students get to the point where they can fully engage with that experience on their terms.”
Hiro knows the importance of living in the moment while at ISB. “The interesting thing is when ISB students graduate and get into those great schools, and start post-secondary education, they end up really missing ISB,” Hiro says. “They miss that tight-knit community.”
The experience should be further improved with the Counseling Department changes. The move has been made based on extensive research, collection of internal data on community needs, the study of best practice,s and listening to feedback from ISB students, parents, and outside consultants. Following additional faculty recruitment, next year’s enhanced Counseling Department will house seven trained and qualified personnel, with three School Counselors and four University Advisors.
“I am excited for the remodeling of the department and feel it is the right structure for our students,” adds ISB High School Counselor Kyle Ottaviano. “This will allow every student to have extra care and focus from both the School Counselors and the University Advisors. It will also allow students to form stronger, deeper, and more supportive relationships within the school and will align us with our school Mission to help develop the social and emotional well-being of every student.”
The ISB community can look forward to even better counseling services for all the school’s students.
With the help of the College Counseling Services, finding a college that is the ‘right fit’ becomes a little easier. Now comes the even more daunting part: putting together an in-depth application. But how exactly do you make sure your application sticks out from the pack? Click the link below to find out!