Precollege Guidance and Counseling. Spurred on by the recent impetus toward reform and concern with promoting excellence in education, the counseling field has recently been engaged in self-examination. In September 1984, the Trustees of the College Board appointed a 21-member Commission to review the evolution and current condition of precollege guidance and counseling, and to render judgments and recommendations. The Decision to Enter College.
Studies show that the greatest determinant of who goes to college is socioeconomic status.
Parents and counselors are the primary influences. Students who are most likely to depend on the school are those whose parents have not experienced college. Counselors play a crucial role in the student's passage through the educational process. In some studies, precollege advising has come under a great deal of criticism. Counselors are in a position to help overcome the considerable inequities evident in education, provided that school systems give them the support and resources necessary to carry out their responsibilities.