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Counselors tell PVPUSD trustees more students are applying to elite campuses; board asks for community webinar
Summary
District counselors presented college‑admissions data showing rising application volumes (UCLA cited with >140,000 applications) and urged families to consider multiple pathways including community college and dual enrollment. Trustees asked staff to return with persistence and transfer data and to host a public webinar.
On Oct. 9, Palos Verdes Peninsula Unified school counselors presented college‑admissions trends and the district’s approach to counseling students on postsecondary options.
Eliza Santa Rosa, counselor on special assignment, told trustees that national shifts — test‑optional/test‑blind policies and a large increase in applications to flagship campuses — have changed the admissions landscape. "For example, UCLA has had over 140,000 applications this time around," she said, noting that UC admissions outcomes should be read in the context of rising application volumes and school‑level applicant rates.
The presentation reviewed how the district supports students through early counseling (starting in eighth grade), a robust College and Career Center at each high school, and new dual‑enrollment opportunities with Harbor College. Counselors and trustees discussed the role of community colleges and transfer pathways: counselors said community colleges remain a common, viable route and that transfer pipelines (including local Promise programs) can lead to UC admission for many students.
Trustees praised the counseling team's work and asked for additional follow‑up: persistent data on where students enrolled after community college, trends by math course sequence, and details about how the district's counselors and College and Career Centers can scale outreach. Several trustees suggested the district host a webinar to explain the new admissions environment to families; staff agreed to explore a public session and to return with further data in roughly a year.
Next steps: staff will compile additional data on transfer outcomes and college persistence and will plan a community webinar to explain admissions trends and counseling resources.
