Sean, you�re obviously touching on an area very important to me. I have many thoughts on this, but I�ll try to be as brief as possible:
1.I think there�s tremendous potential in technology. We use it more and more at Admission Possible. I think there are two problems it helps solve really well: when distance presents a barrier; and where there�s lots of information that you need to centralize and/or cull through. These are the places I think technology can have an impact on college preparation.
2.I don�t think technology solves the problem of pure ratios. If you can afford to get more guidance counselors, then get more guidance counselors: using a computer rather than face-to-face interaction doesn�t change the number of kids per counselor (unless it�s a distance problem as mentioned above).
3.Using other adults to help address this issue is something that could be really productive; but you have to think pretty intentionally about the things that just any caring adult can do with some training, and what a guidance counselor does. This is sort of what we do: we take recent college graduates, give them a lot of training, and ask them to work with students�but we really focus on the mechanics of the college-going process (the part that most middle-class parents do for their kids). We�re not guidance counselors, who have been trained to advise on coursework, counsel students on personal or emotional issues, etc. or to help students think about other post-secondary options that are NOT college. Also�this is something that could happen with or without technology.
4.I think this idea would work very differently for middle class and upper-middle class students than for low-income kids (wealthy students are probably attending a private high school and have a totally different set of concerns). The online counselor function at imakeithappen might be a great tool for middle-class kids; they come from a background that�s pretty used to operating in an environment like this, where you �ask an expert� or use the high-tech version of calling a help line. (I�d be curious to know what the response is if you submit a question like, �Should I take AP US History or the regular government class next year?�) But I have a hard time imagining very many low-income kids like ours feeling comfortable using a tool like this, for a reason you articulated: this isn�t a �trusted adult� to them. That doesn�t mean technology couldn�t work for these kids. It does mean that it probably would have to be structured and introduced to them very differently in order to work. So I think the question is: what would that need to look like?

Thanks Traci! I think you make great points here. Maybe the opportunity with techonology should be framed as helping to free up other resouces for the focused services and attention you describe here?