College Counselor

College Counselor

Reports to: Associate Director of College Counseling

At Chicago Scholars, we strive to prepare our Scholars for the world and the world for our Scholars. Our dual focus on Scholars and the world are both essential to our strategy. The first part of our work supports college acceptance, matriculation, persistence, and career access for our Scholars. The second part allows Scholars to go beyond surviving to thriving, from achieving to excelling, from attending and working to belonging and exceeding. The first part of our work allows entry, the second truly opens up opportunity and redistributes power. To achieve these goals we center diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and racial justice so that we can launch and lift our Scholars and enable them to lead and leverage their power wherever they are on their journeys.

Chicago Scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first-generation college students from under-resourced communities. Through college counseling, mentoring, and by providing a supportive community to our Scholars through each phase of our program: College Access, College Success, and Career and Leadership Advancement, we ensure that they realize their full potential as students and leaders.

76% of Chicago Scholars graduate college within 6 years. Per the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, only 49% of their peers earn a degree within 6 years. Upon graduation, our Scholars move into leadership positions across Chicago, helping to drive the economic future of their communities and our thriving city.

Chicago Scholars' commitment to READI encompasses all of our stakeholders—from our staff to our board, from our volunteers to our partnering organizations, and most importantly our Scholars. This holistic approach is necessary for the sustained, long-term, positive impact that we seek for our Scholars, our neighborhoods, our city, and our world.

At Chicago Scholars, we believe that education is social justice. That's why we're empowering Chicago's best and brightest first-generation college students and students from low-income communities with the mentors, resources, and opportunities to go to our nation's best colleges and universities, graduate on time, and become Chicago's next generation of leaders. Since 1996, we've impacted the lives of more than 5,000 young leaders in Chicago.

These are a set of guiding principles that apply to all stakeholders within the Chicago Scholars ecosystem. We select and retain stakeholders based on these stated expectations for how we achieve our mission and vision. Each are supported with core competencies and narrative for the sake of clarity.

We Dream Big. We speak up, innovate, push the boundaries and keep the creativity flowing. We don't accept the status quo because the stakes are too high. We have an incredible belief that growth and change is possible. While we dream big, we are laser focused on our intended goals and outcomes for our Scholars, our city and the world.

We Show Up. We show up every day; not just physically, but with a positive attitude and willingness to work, connect, challenge, engage, solve problems and have fun. We don't wait for someone to tell us what to do. We take action and get the job done. If we don't know how, we figure it out through our knowledge, exploration or our network.

We Embrace Our Differences. We represent a multicultural nation and our collective backgrounds, experiences, styles, values, perspectives and beliefs are an asset to the world. We recognize that together we achieve better outcomes more quickly. Justice and equity starts with us using our collective voice.

We Model the Way. We exhibit the behavior that we want to see in others and in the world. Titles are granted, but our behavior is what earns us respect. In order to model the way, we must be clear about our guiding principles, celebrate our accomplishments and learn from our challenges and failures.

We Care For Each Other. We adapt to the needs of the person in front of us. We pause, reflect and listen. We do our best work when we are in good relationship together. We care personally and challenge directly.

We Keep Our Word. When we commit, we are all in. Whether for events, a Scholar, a peer or ourselves. Our words are as powerful as our actions and are the building block of trust, respect, self-worth and integrity.

The College Counselor will manage a caseload of senior high school students using all aspects of the college counseling curriculum through 1:1 and group sessions to ensure their Scholars enroll in a match, fit, and financial fit college institution. The College Counselor will work with the Associate Director of College Counseling to ensure that Scholars are engaged in mandatory and optional programs, college counseling, mentoring support, family workshops, and annual events. The College Counselor will manage caseload communication and outreach by engaging in monthly counseling session curriculum planning and maintaining entry of session attendance, notes, and application submissions. Also, the College Counselor will identify and support Scholars who are at risk.

This hybrid role will primarily work nights and weekends to accommodate Scholar availability and evening in-person programs support.

College Counseling (85%)

· Advise a caseload of 100-120 Scholars through the entire college application and selection process

· Schedule and meet with Scholars and families per the monthly college counseling curriculum

· Submit thorough case notes accurately and on time within Salesforce

· Implement the curriculum as designed and collect all necessary materials from Scholars, including college applications, financial aid award letters, etc.

· Identify Scholars who are at risk and in need of additional support or interventions; collaborate with mentors and College Readiness staff to provide support and resources to Scholars

· Provide support, leveraging other counselors and mentors, to prevent summer melt and ensure that Scholars enroll in and matriculate to a match and fit college in the fall following their high school graduation

· Collaborate with high school college counselors, if needed, to best support Scholars

· Act as a resource and professional role model to Scholars who have questions and concerns about their CS College Counseling experience

Program Support (10%)

· Support the recruitment process from start to finishing including high school visits, program application review, selection, and implementation

· Support Chicago Scholars internal scholarship application review

· Facilitate and support Scholar and family programming including evening and weekend workshops and events such as New Scholar Orientation, College Fair, and Onsite College & Leadership Forum

· Occasional support of college Scholars seeking individualized guidance on transferring, re-enrollment after significant time off, complex financial aid situations, and other situations if/as needed

Additional Responsibilities (5%)

This role is also required to:

o Attend weekly in-person all-staff meetings (Tuesdays), monthly Program Team meetings, bi-annual retreats, and weekly/monthly team and sub-team meetings

o Attend and support required all-staff and Program Team events

o Other duties, as assigned

Education: Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred

Experience: 3-5 years of experience

Must live in the Chicagoland area

Translation skills preferred (Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, etc.)

Strong READI values/training

Experience supporting DREAMERS preferred

Experience working with parents/guardians

Programming experience

FAFSA training/experience

Adaptability - Ability to operate effectively flexibly in changing contexts and operating environments.

Teamwork/Collaboration - Demonstrates awareness and respect of cultural and individual values. Listens to ideas from others even when different from own. Share time, energy, and knowledge with others to ensure they can succeed.

Accountability/Project Management - Effectively manages own work, and work of teams when relevant, ensuring delivery of high-quality work.

Problem Solving/Critical Thinking - Able to break down tasks into manageable sections in order to make informed decisions and solve problems. Able to perceive and resolve a gap and overcome obstacles between a present situation and a desired goal.

Leadership Intelligences – Ability to meet people where they are at, treat them with respect, and influence them.

Communication - The ability to read and interpret information effectively, clearly articulate a plan of action, and influence others by way of written and verbal mechanisms.

Our team leverages AI to augment human creativity and enhance impact. In this role, you will be encouraged to experiment with AI tools to improve your work and drive efficiency. We seek individuals who demonstrate curiosity about emerging technologies and are comfortable integrating AI into everyday tasks. You will proactively identify areas of friction in workflows where AI can improve speed, quality, or insight, while maintaining a strong understanding of data security, privacy, and ethical considerations in AI use.

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