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Making a Decision About College Interactive Case: Meet Jonathan Stewart, Guidance Counselor     


“To be honest, I don't know Marisela all that well. From what I know, she's a pretty good student and well liked by her peers and teachers. She has one of the toughest schedules a student could have with four AP courses this year, two of them in the sciences.”


Jonathan Stewart has lived in Palmdale, California all of his life. He's been a guidance counselor at Palmdale High School for over 15 years and has taught there for 10 years also. He has a caseload of 550 students. The bulk of his time is spent coordinating students' class schedules and handling any disciplinary issues that come up. Not much of his time is devoted to career or college counseling, as evidenced by the cookie-cutter type letters of recommendation that he puts out for the students who are applying to college.

“To be honest, I don't know Marisela all that well. She hasn't gotten into any trouble so I don't see her all that much. I met with her once to explain the fee waiver for her college applications. From what I know, she's a pretty good student and well-liked by her peers and teachers. She has one of the toughest schedules a student could have with four AP courses this year, two of them in the sciences. I think she has to take care of her younger siblings because her mother works a lot. That being the case, maybe it's better that she stay local. I'm sure her mother would be happy.”

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Marisela, high school senior
Marisela's mother Biology teacher Guidance Counselor Up next -> Supporting data University
Admissions
Counselor
Piecing it all together

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