SUPPORTING INTERNATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS IN THE COLLEGE ADMISSION PROCESS from freemexy's blog
In recent years, international students on F-1 and J-1 visas have constituted a growing segment within the US secondary school population. Because many international families choose to enroll their students in an American high school in order to boost their prospects of admission to top US colleges and universities, college counselors play an important role assisting these students during their transition to postsecondary education. Drawing on interviews with 20 college counselors from a diverse set of high schools across the country, this study explores the unique challenges counselors have encountered advising this student population, as well as what resources these professionals need in order to more effectively serve their foreign pupils.International middle school
Key findings included:
Negotiating language and cultural barriers can be a significant obstacle for counselors, especially if international students arrive in the US with limited English language proficiency.
Seventy-five percent of all counselors, and 90 percent of private school counselors, reported their international students work with third-party agents. Because no schools in the study had a written policy outlining the relationship between the counseling office and agents, counselors were unsure of how to collaborate with the external consultants.
Most counselors reported their graduate programs in counseling and education did not address working with nonimmigrant international students specifically.
Only four institutions offered formal multicultural competency training to college counselors.
On average, college counselors felt less comfortable advising international students about the college admission process than their domestic students.
Key findings included:
Negotiating language and cultural barriers can be a significant obstacle for counselors, especially if international students arrive in the US with limited English language proficiency.
Seventy-five percent of all counselors, and 90 percent of private school counselors, reported their international students work with third-party agents. Because no schools in the study had a written policy outlining the relationship between the counseling office and agents, counselors were unsure of how to collaborate with the external consultants.
Most counselors reported their graduate programs in counseling and education did not address working with nonimmigrant international students specifically.
Only four institutions offered formal multicultural competency training to college counselors.
On average, college counselors felt less comfortable advising international students about the college admission process than their domestic students.
The Wall