college counseling Connecticut

In younger years, I was more attached to prestige for prestige sake.  I have mostly let that go.  But I also scoff at cocktail party chatter from some Shoreline Connecticut parents who dismiss prestige entirely.  Most of the time, they are reflecting their desire that no one else care about prestige while they secretly do. […]

During the height of the pandemic, there were around 50 million Americans unemployed.  I knew almost none.  I asked my friends if they knew people who were now unemployed. They, too, knew almost no one. I then realized, as elitist as it sounds, that most everyone I know had a college degree and, I dare say […]

In confusing times, paradoxes dominate. College is less needed (for some) and college is more needed (for many). After the Great Recession, I started Career Counseling Connecticut. I started working with twentysomethings throughout Connecticut as they navigated the work world. Those who did not need college and succeeded in the work world primarily went into […]

Maggie was a quiet young lady from Essex, Connecticut.   Attending Valley Regional High in the 2000s, she would later relay that most of her classmates wouldn’t recognize her if they saw her today.  She’s right because I didn’t recognize her.  She had taken an SAT class way back when and when we met a […]

For a broader perspective on prestige in the context of college counseling, please read the prior article.  Suffice to say, my college counseling efforts are designed to align with the goals of my clients.  The following story simply illustrates the point I made regarding “an asset to be leveraged.” As always, all names and identifying […]

An interesting paradigm shift seems to have occurred in my second decade of providing college counseling to students from Connecticut’s affluent suburbs.  When I started college counseling in the 2000s, most parents from Madison, Guilford, Essex, Old Saybrook, Old Lyme, East Lyme, Waterford, Stonington and other Shoreline towns, the parents were highly focused on the […]

As always, all names and occasional identifying details are changed when I provide college counseling stories. Emily was a student from Guilford High School in Connecticut.  We met for college counseling about a decade back.  She wanted to go to California.  As part of my normal college counseling discussion, I tell students that I will […]