School Counselor Blog

Join Andrea Burston ( @jyjcounselor ) and Danielle Schultz ( @sch_counselor ) to discuss navigating graduate school and a career as a professional school counselor.  In this session we will share tips, resources, and information about: 🎓 Making the most of internships 🎓 Interviewing for school counseling positions 🎓 Starting out as a new school counselor 🎓 What we have learned along the way This session is for: 🌟 Graduate students or new school counselors who want to ask questions and receive tips, information, and resources! 🌟 School counselors or counselor educators who want to share their knowledge and experience with others! School Counselor Meet Ups provide lots of information and resources in a laid-back conversational format on Google Meet. This is a unique format because you get to "see" (through video chat) school counselors from all over the country.  If you want to join us, sign up at:  http://bit.ly/meetup4sc . We currently have sessions planned thro...

A reader asked me about what to look for in a graduate school program for school counseling. Q: I just encountered your School Counselor blog - it's so informative!  My dream job is to become a school counselor.  My passion in life is to help high school students achieve their career goals, including going to college.  I currently work at a community college in Iowa as an admissions representative.  I love my job, but I am so excited to become a school counselor.  Right now, I am searching for graduate programs in School Counseling.  Do you have any suggestions on things I should look for in programs?  Any pointers on actually filling out the applications?  Also, what is your most important advice for an aspiring school counselor?   A: I am so glad you are enjoying my blog and finding it useful! Read below for some answers to your great questions! Begin Navigating  I wrote blog entries about graduate school that you may find help...

A reader asked me about graduate school and which degree is the best for school counselors. Q: I came across your School Counselor Blog yesterday while researching information on graduate school programs for school counseling. I would like to say how awesome your blog is and how much I loved reading through all of your information. As I am only in the beginning stages of looking at grad schools, reading your blog really helped validate my decision of pursuing a master's degree to be a school counselor. Also, I had a question that I hope you can help me out with. Through reading pages and pages of information on different schools and what degrees are offered, I noticed that there are at least three different types of counseling degrees: M.A., M.ED., and M.S. ED. I have read the basic differences on each of these, but is any one of these degrees better than others? (Most specifically when applying for jobs). Thank you very much! I look forward to reading more on your blog. :-...

I received a question from a reader about my journey to becoming a school counselor. Q. I came across your blog and would like to ask you a few questions.  I am currently a Junior, working towards my bachelors in psychology and my masters in mental health counseling.  I would just like to know what your schooling was like, how fast you got a job, and just pros and cons of the job itself. A. I started my college career at The Pennsylvania State University, where I double majored in psychology and women's studies. I was passionate about creating social awareness and helping people, but I was unsure what career I was interested in after graduation.  I thought about attending graduate school for Counseling Psychology, but I just was not sure about it. I spoke to a professor in the Counselor Education program at Penn State and discussed my interests with her.  She suggested I look for a program accredited by Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educati...

A reader inquired about how to find graduate school programs for school counseling outside of the United States. Q: I am in Indonesia and planning to pursuit my Master Degree major in Counseling and Guidance. I know your e-mail from the School Counselor blog :) I have several questions here, Do you know any good Universities in Taiwan, German, and Australia that have Counseling and Guidance as one of the Major? Do you have any Study Plan for Counseling and Guidance, that i can see as my reference? A: I have looked on the Internet for schools that are in Taiwan, Germany and Australia.  It was difficult to find anything.  I did not find any schools specifically. I found the Australian Guidance and Counseling Association .  They may be able to give you more information about programs in Australia. I would recommend emailing someone in that organization and asking them if they know of School Counseling Programs in Australia. There is a website called GradSchools.com th...

A reader asked me about navigating the process for applying to graduate schools, which can definitely be a bewildering process. Q: Is there any advice or pointers you could give me regarding graduate school and what I should start doing at this point? I have started looking into schools but it's an overwhelming process. I would like to stay in the DC are if possible. I guess it's time to start thinking about taking the GRE's...  I actually looked at the professors and heads of the School Counseling program at GWU and contacted one of them to learn more about the program.  If you have any other tips on anything, feel free to let me know :) A: The first thing I would recommend is checking out CACREP 's website. CACREP Stands for Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. There are many reasons to choose a CACREP accredited program, but the main reason I recommend choosing a CACREP accredited program is because CACREP programs m...