1. What is distinctive about the way you do guidance and what we would find at a public school?
2. What specific things do you do to help parents help their young adults through the college planning process?
3. How do DC counselors help juniors and seniors in the college planning process?
4. Does DC Guidance help students decide what career path they should take?
5. Does DC offer an inventory or test to help students determine their interests?
6. At what grade do counselors begin to provide college planning help?
7. Do DC grads get into the “BEST” colleges?
8. Does DC encourage students to go to “top tier schools?” Are students at a disadvantage for admission to the most selective schools because of DC’s size?
9. Does DC consider non-Christian colleges as worthwhile options for Christian students?
10. Why do you refer to ‘secular’ colleges as ‘non-Christian’ colleges?
11. Do you help Students who want to go to non-Christian colleges and Christian colleges?
12. Are all DC grads urged to go to Christian colleges, as the first and best choices for all Christians?
13. Aren’t Christian colleges inferior to non-Christian colleges?
14. Are all DC grads urged to go to four-year colleges?
15. To get a good job after college, don’t you have to go to a “good” college?
16. Does DC help with scholarships and financial aid for college?

1. What is distinctive about the way you do guidance and what we would find at a public school?

     DC Guidance works to reinforce a biblical identity in each student. That identity is one of a steward or manager of talents or unique resources entrusted to him by the Lord. Each student’s mission is to develop and invest his set of talents to fulfill the Lord’s ultimate mission in this world—to get glory to himself by extending his kingdom or rule through all kinds of work and activity.
     All students are stewards, as Matthew 25:14-30 illustrates. All will be either wise and faithful ones or wicked and lazy ones. All will be either God and mission-centered stewards with their talents or self-centered and indulgent stewards with their talents. All students, therefore have a dignity because of their identity. They are created in his image with a commission to devote themselves to God’s purpose.
     Teachers and counselors, therefore work to help all students cultivate a sense of their talents and urge them to do thoughtful planning for their use of them.
     This identity-accountability dynamic frames much of the practical counsel guidance specialists and teachers give in our school. It shows the utmost respect to each student as uniquely created in God’s image and, as such, with the responsibility and ability to make good decisions for their lives.
     Counselors don’t tell students what they “should do” or where they “should go.” They are conscious that they are not the Lord. But they do help students, along with their parents’ input, to do personal assessment, gain awareness of post high school options, discern the best among the alternatives that are open to them, and develop a specific plan of action that will help the students bring closure to the college planning process in the senior year—all of this within a career stewardship philosophical frame of reference.

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2. What specific things do you do to help parents help their young adults through the college planning process?

     There are several regular resources DC Guidance offers to parents. First, on at least a quarterly basis, DC Guidance produces the High School Guidance Update. This periodical includes notices of scholarships, special programs and college planning news and activities to parents. The most recent issue, and articles with ongoing relevance from past issues, are always posted under the Guidance tab of our school web site, www.dccs.org/guidance.htm.
     Second, during the Freshman Orientation, a significant segment of time is given to orient incoming high school parents to the progression of guidance services that they may expect over the next four years. Counselors distribute printed brochures, a general time-table for college planning, and other college planning materials at that time.
     Third, in the sophomore and junior years (though all parents at any time are welcome to attend), parents are specifically invited to attend any of the “Sophomore/Junior Parent College Planning Information and Q & A Evening Sessions.” There are typically five of these each school year (September, October, November, January, and February). The agenda is the same for each. A counselor gives a brief update to parents of college planning calendar events, a survey of the contents of the junior Career Stewardship Seminar (CSS-see FAQ #4) in which all 11th grade students participate, and addresses questions in an open time for Q & A. Parents usually only attend one session, but they are welcome to come to as many as they would like. The Q & A feature is what makes each evening session different from the others.
     Fourth, all juniors and seniors will meet with a counselor for their individual college planning. Parents will be invited by mail to attend during the scheduled time with each student. (See FAQ #4 for more details about these interviews.) They will also receive a pre-interview questionnaire on which they may identify questions or topics they would like a counselor to research before their student’s interview.
     Parents may call either of the high school counselors at any time throughout the year and throughout their student’s high school career. Typically, however, Mrs. Renae Pieters meets with the girls and Dr. Rick Horne meets with the guys. Guidance specialists recognize that they are there to assist not replace parents in this important, formative parenting responsibility.

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3. How do DC counselors help juniors and seniors in the college planning process?

     There are two primary tools counselors use with juniors and seniors to help them construct a personal, specific, post high school education plan. First, the group guidance Career Stewardship Seminar (CSS) and, second, the individual personal interviews (with parents invited to be present) for juniors and, later, seniors to begin and, subsequently, to bring college plans to closure. These are the back bone of DC interventions for college planning. (See related FAQ #2 above for more detail.)
     First, all juniors are scheduled for the CSS in either the first or second semester. The Pass/Fail CSS is 14 sessions of small groups of juniors who meet in classrooms and in the computer lab for discussion and research into each of the five module topics. Students receive a portfolio to contain the handouts throughout the CSS. They first receive the Career Stewardship Module Manual at the outset of the CSS. The Manual summarizes all of the major concepts and web sites of each module and gives students (and their parents) a resource to which they may refer as they engage in the college planning process and have questions pertaining to any of the module topics.
     Module #1 is the “Occupational Module.” Students review the Career Stewardship concept rooted in Jesus’ teachings about talents in Matthew 25:14-30. Incoming juniors are more thoroughly introduced to these concepts in their summer reading of Life-Shaping Decisions, Applying God’s Word to Career Planning. In addition, students take an occupational talent inventory that helps them to relate their experiences, abilities, and interests to hundreds of the most commonly sought occupational areas.
     Module #2 is the “College Planning Module.” In these sessions, students receive the book, Walking Through the College Planning Process, A Comprehensive Guide for Christian High School Students. This handbook, published by the Association of Christian Schools International, offers students and parents a college planning timetable and sketches matters that range from differentiating Christian and non-Christian colleges, college planning testing, financial aid and scholarship matters, college visits, and important matters pertaining to the actual college application process.
     Module #3 is the “Scholarship and Financial Aid Module.” Counselors summarize financial aid and scholarship search basics and web sites related to each.
     Module #4 is the “College Application Process.” Students are introduced to the timetable for their exploration, review college decision-making basics, college visitation fundamentals, application procedures, ways of assessing colleges that “best support” them, and admissions categories and deadlines for each.
      Module #5 gives students access to resources for their spiritual and academic support on Christian and non-Christian campuses. They examine web sites of major campus Christian organizations such as Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Reformed University Fellowship, Campus Crusade for Christ, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and others. In addition, they survey several sites useful for apologetics (defending their faith) and values research in future college and social situations in which they may find themselves.

     The Second way in which DC Guidance works with juniors and seniors is with the personal interview that counselors have with each junior and senior. Juniors are all scheduled, and their parents invited, to meet privately with a counselor. These interviews aim to either get a student’s personal plan into gear or to assist him or her to map out a route to take them from where they are in their planning to the actual application that will occur in their senior year. Junior interviews occur in the spring semester.
     In the fall semester, seniors are all scheduled, and parents are invited, for their interviews with a counselor to bring their plans to closure. Counselors help students (and parents) research needed data and customize their personal plan of action.

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4. Does DC Guidance help students decide what career path they should take?

     DC Guidance does work to help students understand the biblical principles of the career decision-making process. In addition we do give juniors an opportunity to think about specific occupations and some of their related talents which they assess themselves to have. But these are not the major focus of our career planning efforts because of the instability of interests at this stage of their lives and because we understand God’s Word to urge focus upon the “why,” or motive question, more than the “what,” or occupation or profession question.
     The most popular major in nearly all colleges is “undecided.” Changing majors is not uncommon. One admissions counselor from Penn State University said the average PSU grad has changed majors five times. This is not unusual, for Christian or non-Christian college students.
     The point of this is to assert that most high school students are not ready to commit themselves to a specific occupational direction. Some are. Some have known they’ve wanted to be a nurse or teacher or astronaut since 3rd grade, have the grades and experiences to support that goal, and, in fact, do begin higher education to become a nurse, teacher, or astronaut. These students, however, are exceptions.
     We begin to seriously nurture these biblical perspectives about faithful stewardship or management of personal talents in the summer reading between 10th and 11th grades. We ramp up that attention in the junior year through our 14 session Career Stewardship Seminar (CSS), of which all juniors are a part in one semester or the other. The “Why am I going?” to college and “How does God want me to think about work?” questions, address motives and goals of life and work that Jesus said were critical for being faithful with the talents he has entrusted to each (Matthew 24:14-30). Zeroing in on a specific occupation or profession will gradually occur through the post high school years as students keep themselves committed to fulfill God’s purposes and seek to be faithful with the talents they know they do have. “‘…You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness!'” (Matthew 25:21-23).

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5. Does DC offer an inventory or test to help students determine their interests?

Yes, during the junior year Career Stewardship Seminar (CSS) students are given a self-reporting assessment of their abilities. Interests are a small part of that assessment. Skills, aptitudes, school performance, activities, and in and out of school experiences are more significant, however. Interests tend to be the least stable part of a young person’s personality. It is not as though they have no value, but their weight needs to be very carefully considered due to their common fickleness. See the previous question for more detail about our Christian philosophy of decision-making in this regard.

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6. At what grade do counselors begin to provide college planning help?

     In one sense we begin college planning and career development thinking in the elementary and middle schools. Our teachers and counselors at all levels work with the framework of the career stewardship concept of Matthew 25:14-30 in mind. It is the philosophical framework for all of our guidance interventions. It gives us the goal of nurturing a conscious sense of the need to be faithful with the unique talents which God has entrusted to each. This is very general in the younger grades and, by the time students are choosing their high school classes, it is a familiar concept that high school teachers and counselors can begin to unpack with practical implications for everything from the kind of courses to choose, to the way they assess colleges or other post high school options.
     The major emphasis on college planning, however, begins in the 10 grade with some testing and reading activities. The small group Career Stewardship Seminars (CSS) in the 11th grade and the individual, personal interviews and follow-up interviews in the 11th and 12th grades, take each individual student from the more general concepts of faithfulness with their talents to the actual construction of a specific, uniquely customized, post high school plan.

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7. Do DC grads get into the “BEST” colleges?

     Parents who are eager to see the widest post high school options open for their son or daughter, should be encouraged with the patterns of DC graduate college acceptances. (Lists of recent colleges which have accepted DC students are on the DC High School Profile.) Achievement in our college prep program, as measured by GPA, the rigor of selected courses, and SAT or ACT scores, has gained grads’ acceptance in most of the highly ranked, selective schools in the nation as well as community colleges and trade and technical schools. DC does not guarantee college admission of students to any highly selective university or highly selective major within a less selective college program. Acceptance patterns for students within DC’s academic program, however, show that high performance in its academic program can gain them admission to schools at every level of selectivity.
     While DC has no pretenses of being a “prep school” for the ivies, its program is designed to equip capable students with the academic competencies to compete for spots in the most selective Christian and non-Christian college programs. This plan emerges from our Christian philosophy of education that nurtures students toward the faithful use and development of all of their talents, as accountable servants of God.
     Having said this, one should understand that the “best” schools rating is a judgment call. This is treated in the next question more fully, but the published rankings of “best” colleges are done overwhelmingly by academicians from non-Christian schools, of whom many are antagonistic to Christian colleges from the outset.

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8. Does DC encourage students to go to “top tier schools?” Are students at a disadvantage for admission to the most selective schools because of DC’s size?

    In a recent summary of data, Dr. Dill determined that 96% of our students go on to college. 85% of these go on to four-year schools and, of those, 38% go to what were designated (according to US News categories) as “top tier schools (TTS).” There seems to be no disadvantage for grads from smaller schools, in general, or DC, in particular, to be admitted to more highly selective schools.
     Some raise the question about whether our school (our Guidance Department, in particular) is urging students to pursue TTS vigorously enough. The motive that seems to be driving this concern is summarized in popular beliefs like, “Businesses want students from these TTS,” and “TTS are the ones that have the best placement rates,” and “We’re doing our students a disservice if we don’t get them to the best schools so they can impact the world for Christ—our mission.”
     The DC Board of Directors, Administration, and teaching staff, along with our Guidance personnel, want DC students to grow, be stretched, and be faithful in the fullest sense of the term with the academic talents with which they have been entrusted. Similarly, we probably also hold convictions in common that recognize that the name of an institution can have some influence on one’s post college life. But that these views mean giving priority to TTS, and touting them as the “best” choices to pursue, is questionable on both factual (data) and biblical/philosophical grounds.
     Factually, the stereotype is false that depicts Christian colleges and non-Christian colleges, of lesser “reputation” (the 90+% or so of colleges that don’t have the TTS prestige), as having weaker job or grad school placement than the TTS. The anecdotal “impression” that the name of an institution is such a significant factor in future career development is more a reflection of the success of Madison Avenue and the NCAA than reality. Predictably, most of the support and many of the assertions of this TTS advantage come from TTS presidents and admissions personnel, not business or grad school personnel.
     Philosophically the sincere belief that we should be urging more students to go to TTS because of job placement, graduate school admission, career advancement, or wealth and security beliefs, puts the cart before the horse.
    Our mission is to educate students who will serve God and impact the world…This will not be done with trust in “horses … chariots…” Faithfulness with the talents that God has given to students is what we must urge as the first concern. Faithfulness means students will pursue the best program to support them to be the whole person God has created them to be to accomplish his mission. Will this always mean selecting a TTS? Does it mean one should not choose a TTS? No-- in both cases.
     We wish to nurture a mindset, skills, and commitments in students so that they will want the wisest college choice for themselves—one that will enable them to grow, serve, mature, and develop a foundation for faithful service in any profession in which they can be faithful with the Lord’s talents. TTS schools may be a part of that configuration of possible tools for growth. But non-TTS schools may be the wisest choice for even highly talented young adults. Factors such as personal maturity, family needs, debt and financial aid planning, availability of a particular major, spiritual readiness, parent convictions, ministry aspirations, and other issues, may make it wise to choose a college other than a TTS.
     Students with special academic ability ought to be challenged to put themselves into a stretching program. But because of finances, one who attends Temple and does stellar in his history major, may still gain Penn Law School admission. One who does well at Philadelphia Biblical University, with a Bible major, may still be accepted in a Drexel MBA program. Most business executives (parents that have come through our Guidance Center offices) have affirmed that the name of the institution may get a grad an interview, but in most cases, as soon as one opens his mouth, he or she will win or lose the position by the impression he or she makes—regardless of the prestige of the school.
     To be sure, some law firms, some hospitals, etc. only want “top” college grads to apply. But the lion’s share of the options is not so skewed in those directions. In any case, DC wants to nurture the value of “faithfulness” as the definition of “success” that is in harmony with his will for all his talent-invested people.

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9. Does DC consider non-Christian colleges as worthwhile options for Christian students?

     Yes. As noted above, there are dangers in every college situation about which to be on guard—in Christian and non-Christian colleges. But the worldview commitment of the non-Christian college is antagonistic to the Christian world-view by its defined “secular” orientation. This is true in and out of the classroom—the social life of the college often being the more insidious and subversive force of compromise and apostasy in the lives of young, professing Christians on non-Christian campuses.
     One popular Christian college admissions counselor, and former Christian school counselor, urges parents to examine the credentials (grad degrees AND undergrad degrees) of profs at Christian college and universities. He’s written, “They'll be surprised. Few parents ever told me they examined the faculty pages of any university, let alone the Christian ones. With Christian professors holding PhD's from schools like Northwestern, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Lehigh, Penn, Columbia, Duke, NYU, MIT, Univ of Chicago, Stanfod, RIT, VA Tech, Harvard, Case Western, and other "world approved" institutions, AND knowing Jesus Christ as Savior, and a Christian's purpose in life, why, I repeat, why, would a student and parents choose a Christless indoctrination or education from similarly-degreed people whose hope in man's ingenuity.”
     But the critical question, DC counselors believe, is not whether a college is Christian or non-Christian, but “What program best supports the student to be the person God has created him or her to be?” That may be a Christian or non-Christian college.

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10. Why do you refer to ‘secular’ colleges as ‘non-Christian’ colleges?

     Often people think of colleges as being either religious or secular schools. This implies that secular is values neutral. Nothing could be further from the truth. DC counselors refer to Christian and non-Christian programs because every college and every professor is either in the flow of Christian or non-Christian convictions.
     Jesus said “"He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters” (Luke 11:23). He was not ambiguous about people and their values and how to detect what corresponds to his purpose. More offensive to our ears, but just as accurate a restatement of what Jesus said, would be to identify colleges as Christian and anti-Christian colleges. There is no neutrality. To pretend to be neutral is itself a violation of God’s command to have no other gods before him!
    This does not mean that Christians may not attend non-Christian programs or that there is no value to them or that Christians do not teach in them. All of these are false conclusions to draw. The non-Christian designation simply means that the believer who attends a non-Christian school (one not designed and intended to promote a Christian world and life view) will encounter daily and class by class contrary world-views that are to one degree or another antagonistic to their Christian perspectives and values.
     In many non-Christian colleges and other schools, one may encounter believers teaching, advising, or leading. They may also sit under others who are, good, moral, and respectful professors, though they do not profess an evangelical commitment to Christ. The bent of the non-Christian institution’s worldview philosophy, however, will be oppositional to biblical values and a Christian worldview in the classroom and in the social, dorm, and college life structures of the college.

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11. Do you help Students who want to go to non-Christian colleges and Christian colleges?

    Yes. Every student is unique and has a unique set of talents (Matthew 25: 14-30) to be developed for the Lord’s purposes. Likewise, the plan each student develops ought to be as realistically and personally configured to his or her talents as possible. The “one-size-fits-all philosophy” does not square with God’s wise counsel for faithful planning.
    Christian colleges, non-Christian colleges, four-year schools, professional schools, the military, community colleges, trade and tech schools, even gap-year planning can all be wise choices for students. The most critical question is not, in our opinion, whether a school is Christian or not, but which program best supports a student to be the whole person God has created him or her to be.

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12. Are all DC grads urged to go to Christian colleges, as the first and best choices for all Christians?

     “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Proverbs 1:7). It is clear, though, that, because of God’s goodness to all, he does enable unbelievers to know and even be brilliant in their intellectual and practical thinking. Believers can learn from believers AND unbelievers.
     But there are always contaminating “gods” that unbelievers carry with them and show allegiance to in their teaching. Their presuppositions and their understandings of the purpose of life will always conflict with those with which God has determined people ought to be aligned. Jesus spoke of the truth that sets people free and identified himself as that truth (John 8:32).
     Non-Christians and non-Christian college programs can be useful to believers. Similarly, Christian professors and Christian college programs can offer this support. What matters most is the match for offering the best support to each student. “What program best supports the student to be the whole person God has created them to be?” This requires students, along with their parents, to assess their own spiritual maturity, as well as the programs and resources available for a student’s spiritual, academic, and professional support.
     This is true for both the Christian and non-Christian campus. The one offering the best support options is the wisest one to help the student who is motivated to be a faithful steward of the talents God has entrusted to him or her. The Christian college, by definition, designs its programs to offer that support with God’s mission in mind. In the non-Christian college, the student must take the initiative to plan that support for themselves—the colleges aren’t going to do it (though they usually allow various Christian groups on campus that students may take advantage of). DC Guidance encourages students to choose what will best support them but does not assert that that must be a Christian college.

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13. Aren’t Christian colleges inferior to non-Christian colleges?

     Some Christian colleges are weak in some areas and some non-Christian colleges are weak in some areas. In general, though, the experience of the DC counselors is that Christian college programs are as high quality as non-Christian ones—they have to be to compete.
     The way to determine the strength of a college’s programs is to ask the “outcomes” question. “What happens to your graduates within 9 months of graduation in the high school social studies education major, the interior design major, the business administration major, the computer technology major, the biology major, the social work major, etc.?” The outcomes question is the best measure of the strength of a major in any college. Another evidence of the strength of a major is to ask about who recruits on the campus. "What corporations, professional companies, graduate schools "actively recruit" your graduates?" Most colleges have some strong areas and some weaker ones. Outcomes can help you identify those strong and weak programs.
     But overwhelmingly, a generalization about Christian colleges being weaker than non-Christian ones is false.

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14. Are all DC grads urged to go to four-year colleges?

     No. All are urged to plan some kind of post high school training. High school prepares students to do nothing—except to be students. That’s our role as an academic institution. When students leave DC, the overwhelming majority report that they have been well prepared for their next level of education or training by our academic program.
     But going on to community college, a trade or tech school, the military, an apprenticeship, a gap year experience, or a four-year college program are all tools that the Lord may use in one’s life. The critical issue is not whether all are in four-year colleges. Rather, it is whether all are choosing programs that best support them in light of their talents, spiritual maturity, and providential circumstances.
     The large majority of DC grads do go on to four-year programs. Typically 95% or more of each year’s grads (all but one or two) do go on for higher education. 85% or more to four-year venues. But DC Guidance wants to support the validity of every student’s choice of higher education that is chosen in accord with the goal of being faithful with his or her talents.

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15. To get a good job after college, don’t you have to go to a “good” college?

     Yes, but “good” and “college” are both terms that must be understood. “Good” does not mean top tier or highly selective or nationally known or “best” ranked, in our view. There are not many colleges that get those rankings.
     “Good” from the professional or occupational perspective is the school that has a strong job or graduate school placement rate. Rather than looking at the US News and World Report best colleges edition, or any other such guide, we recommend that parents and students ask the “outcomes” question: “What happens to your graduates in the __________________ major (supply a major of interest) nine months after graduation? (See related FAQ # 13.) What are they doing?” This reveals the strength of a program or major at any given college.
     What one gets from the so called “good” or ranked top tier schools is a high price tag and usually lots of debt. The name of the school can have some value to some firms. But overwhelmingly, the student’s college record and activities and the way he or she presents himself or herself is what matters to employers. What a top tier name may get someone is an interview. Once the student opens his mouth, though, assessment is going to be on his presentation.
     To be sure, there are some firms and some grad programs which only look at applicants with status behind their name. But these are not the lion’s share of the options students have nor the majority of those who will seriously consider candidates from lest prestigious colleges.

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16. Does DC help with scholarships and financial aid for college?

     Yes. DC does help students in a limited way. DC Guidance is not a scholarship service, but we do three things to help in this area. First we include a scholarship module in the junior Career Stewardship Seminar (CSS). All juniors are given an orientation to scholarship matters and work through several scholarship web sites in the computer lab session of this module. These sites are available to them later from home or school when they are actually doing college searches and related financial planning.
     Second, the DC Guidance Update, our Guidance periodical, reports current lists of scholarships and special programs quarterly throughout each year. The most recent Update is also kept on the DC web site under the Guidance Tab.
     Third, as scholarships come across our desks, or as we learn of them from college representativess who come through our offices to meet with students, the counselors pass relevant information along to seniors who they know are either looking at a particular college, looking for a specific major, or who meet the special criteria for scholarship eligibility.

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