How to use data to create your own counselling narrative

As a counsellor, it is incredibly important to create the narrative at your institution.

Parents and school administration will try to steer the conversation towards topics that are either unimportant or self-serving (usually very competitive universities), paying little attention to what is actually important: what our graduates are going to do after high school.

Instead of playing defence, it can be more effective to change the conversation so that all the stakeholders – administration, parents, and students – are discussing the right data and using it correctly.

University counselling: tracking data

There is what seems like an infinite amount of data that different stakeholders will use throughout the university-application process. Therefore, it is important for counsellors to track this data in a way that each stakeholder can access. This can be via a portal such as Cialfo, Maia or Unifrog, or on an Excel spreadsheet if your school does not use a portal.

Starting the year, the information that will be most useful for students and parents will be the names of universities and what majors they offer, as well as how competitive they are (percentage of applicants accepted; average GPA or SAT/ACT scores). This information can be easily found on the internet, via the Ucas search tool in the UK and College Board’s Big Future in the US, or through individual university websites.

During the year, it will be important for you to track the names of the universities to which your students applied. As you look over the list, make sure there are some reach, target, and safety schools in the mix; if not, then help the student find some universities that fit the missing category. Usually students struggle with finding safety schools that excite them, so keep a list handy.

At the end of the year, record all the results of the applications (accepted, deferred, denied) and how much scholarship money they were offered. Add in information about the profile of the student, including high-school GPA and external scores (PSAT/pre ACT, SAT/ACT, IB/AP exam results) as they become available. This information will be helpful when next year’s students start making their list of where to apply, and working out their chances of being accepted.

Presenting the data

The portals listed previously can transform this data into scattergrams, which can be helpful for students who are more visual. If possible, collect the name of the university that each graduate will attend, what they will study, and a personal email so you can connect current students with them for advice.

Data such as the number of applications sent, a complete list of university acceptances and where the university is located, percentage of acceptances and scholarship totals are all important data to share with the administration.

If any of this data can be converted into charts, then it should be – it is easier to access information from a pie chart than a long list, although the complete list of acceptances is found on the back of most school profiles. The rest can be included in your school’s annual or board report.

You may also want to share how many letters of recommendation each teacher has written, so the administration can thank them for their role in this process. This helps them feel appreciated and it makes your job easier when you have to ask them to write letters next year.

In this way, you can use data to create a counselling narrative for students, parents and school administration. And, in the process, you will inevitably get more of their support – and their support is crucial.