The family relied on Allison's counselor, John Gunty, director of counseling at Saint Joseph Notre Dame High School, to give them direction and support.

"He was the one who really helped," said Jan. "He listened to Allison and helped her, all in the direction she wanted to go. He was awesome in the ability to provide her with the tools she needed."

SJND's college admission efforts within the Counseling Department are an important service to parents like Jan Meins. The application process can be stressful, and it's important for students and families to feel like they have support. At SJND, the process of college counseling begins freshman year and continues throughout the four years a student is here.

"College guidance counselors must have the knowledge of the process and the time in which to execute every detailed aspect of it in order for it to be a successful for each student," says Gunty. "If the student wants to go to college, the opportunity and support is here."

On average over the past five years, 99 percent of SJND graduates have gone on to college. SJND is able to provide individual counseling attention with a low overall ratio of 141 students to one counselor. During the important senior year, each counselor has no more than 35 seniors, so that seniors get even more personal attention.

Most high school counselors carry a roster of anywhere from 250 students at the smaller high schools to 600 students per counselor at the larger institutions, according to a report by the Early Academic Outreach Program at the University of California, San Diego. In fact, the national average of K-12 students to counselor ratio is 477 to one.

"From the beginning we strategize with the students and their families in order to target the appropriate school," says Gunty. SJND's three counselors, including Nick Martin and Frances Romero, have the expertise to guide students through the often complicated process of compiling application materials, letters of recommendation, transcripts and even assistance with financial aid.

Jan Meins said electronic communication, like email, has helped students and families keep in contact with the counseling department. It helps ensure deadlines are met, she said.

"He was always available and on top of it, reminding Allison what she needed to do," said Jan. "Not just face-to-face, but emails, too. He would shoot her an email, and she would feel comfortable sending him an email, too."

Allison was admitted to several schools and is now a freshman at University of California at Santa Barbara.

The experience Allison had at SJND is not unusual.

"We are a medium-sized school which allows for individual attention and a personal touch," says Principal Simon Chiu.

The personal touch has its benefits.  According to a 2009 University of California report, 98% of SJND students who applied to UC schools were accepted. In addition to the UC schools, SJND students are accepted at the California state schools, and private liberal arts colleges, like Mills, Santa Clara and Willamette, as well as top-ranking universities like Stanford, University of California at Berkeley, UCLA, Harvard and Yale.

The goal is to match the student with the best college. Counselors help each student make the best decisions for college according to their specific skills, abilities and interests.

The success of the Counseling Department however, is best manifested in the stories of SJND alumni.

 "A couple of weeks ago we read one of the stories from Don Juan Manuel and discussed the exact material we did in Honors Spanish III at SJND," said Sophia Chaparro '09, now in her first year at University of California, Berkeley, in an email to her SJND Spanish teacher, Betsy Norris.

"I felt like I could have practically taught that lecture myself," wrote Chaparro. "Anyway, the point of my email is to thank you for all that you taught me because it is extremely useful in college, so tell your students to study hard and pay attention."

The coming months are an exciting time for the students of the class of 2010, as well as for their parents, teachers and counselors. Letters of acceptance will begin to appear in the mail shortly. The last four years of hard work will begin to open new and exciting doors.