College Counselor with BHS Student experience
Hello,
My child is approaching Junior year and we are a little behind the curve to locate a college counselor. I've searched the archive and some recent posts. But have not yet found someone who really speaks to me. I'd love to find someone who really knows BHS, how to market the students and how to get great letters of recomendation from teachers when she does not know any of them really well. She has a special interest sport which is not NCAA but often a "club sport" and we would like to know how to find a school that might welcome that. She would be interested in UC's but also a range of national possibilities so we would prefer someone who does not just specialize in UC's. Anyone coming to mind? TYIA - This crowd is the best.
Aug 6, 2025
Parent Replies
Hi,
We highly recommend David Kojan. Amazingly, David even attended Berkeley High!
Our daughter worked with him starting in her junior year and his support, encouragement, steady presence, and care were invaluable in the college application process. She saw her options expand, widened her scope of vision, and shifted her focus in writing to go deeper, reflecting instead of presenting, and believing in her own abilities and aspirations. She had great success in her college admissions process and is currently thriving at one of her top choice schools.
David believes in the young adult and their abilities, asking important questions and gently pushing for more personal insights in order to reveal a state of self discovery. His concern is not one victory, but rather, the belief in oneself, in one's ability to broaden and deepen, to question and seek, to find the path that speaks to oneself.
Our daughter felt empowered, confident, and in the driver’s seat. It is a support that sustains and encourages while taking a back seat to developing a child’s sense of agency, sense of self, and sense of adventure. This ability to see each young adult as unique, to care for them as people and also understand the importance of self discovery, of guiding them to a-ha moments without taking credit away from their own epiphanies, their own truth, this takes a caring thoughtfulness that David skillfully shares with each student.
https://www.dkojan.com/about
We tried a college counselor, but had better luck with the BHS counselors, even though they are very overworked. In terms of college recommendations, which I see from both the p.o.v. of a parent and as a recommender, it is much easier to write recommendations for students, who 1) turn in their assignments with some care and on time, who 2) show some genuine interest in the subject, and who 3) get excited about some ideas or projects. So "great" students get "great" letters of recommendation. It is also a positive if they are kind to other students in the class. --- My personal kid also had one rec from a class they took outside school through an arts organization. They ended up attending a very competitive college which may have been related to some of their summer academic activities as well as doing well in high school and on standardized exams.