Brother, can you spare me a college counselor?

For Carlos Perez, going to college seemed out of the question. The Honduran immigrant had a low GPA at Boston's Brighton High School his freshman year, was an illegal resident, and money was a big issue. He was ineligible for college loans because of his illegal status and planned to leave school.

But Mandy Savitz, his high school guidance counselor, saw the situation differently. She steered him toward college-prep programs and even contacted a lawyer to help him become a citizen.

Carlos's grades shot up. And this fall, he'll enter Boston College to start down the path toward becoming a doctor.

"If it hadn't been for Ms. Savitz, I wouldn't be going to college. I would be working illegally," says Carlos, who requested a pseudonym because of his family's immigration status.

To Savitz, it's all part of being a college guidance counselor in an era when a college degree is seen as essential to success. School counselors are stretching the seams of their job. Many aren't trained to help with college admissions. But they're logging more hours on test prep, rounding up college reps, and reviewing applications. They're helping low-income students overcome financial hurdles, and catering to pressures from ambitious parents who want Ivy League acceptances.

Yet in many cases, expanded duties have not been accompanied by greater resources. And booming high school populations and erratic staffing mean that most counselors still face daunting workloads that can prevent them from helping kids who otherwise might have unparalleled opportunities open to them.

"[A better admissions-counseling process] makes a huge difference in the number of students who apply who otherwise wouldn't," says Savitz.

According to the American Counseling Association, the ratio of students to counselors in the United States has grown to 561 to 1, up from 513 to 1 in 1998 - and it's still expanding, It recommends a maximum of 250 to 1. Some high schools have responded by opening career centers. Others have hired college specialists to help kids fill out financial-aid forms and craft winning essays. Yet many schools can't afford to do more.

At Brighton High, the response was to restructure its guidance system. The mostly African-American school has partnered with Boston University and Boston College for help with admissions. The school's new career center is filled with students huddled over tables. They tap computers and peruse Web sites with college rankings and profiles. The shelves overflow with advice on how to apply for a Pell grant or other financial aid.

It can make a difference in a school where college is not necessarily an obvious choice. "Many kids are first-generation collegegoers. Parents don't know how to apply. We can show them ways to lessen the financial burden," Savitz says. "It helps ... to see that obstacles can be overcome and college can become a reality."

But many students are working with counselors who lack a sophisticated understanding of the process. Familiarity with the college-admissions process is low on the list of job requirements for counselors, says Jan Gallagher, president of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), an organization of secondary school and college-admissions counselors and financial-aid officers.

"There are many more social issues to deal with, high-stakes testing ..., more parents out of the picture," she says. "[Neglect of college-admissions counseling] is going to hurt those who aren't self-directed or don't have parental support."

Forming a line for help

At Dorchester High School in Boston, where 40 percent of students go on to college, "[Students] line up sometimes. I send them back to class, get their name, and then call them," says Jackie Seda, a counselor who works with seniors.

The counselor-to-teen ratio is 1 to 300, yet Ms. Seda tries to meet with everyone individually. "Some days I have three or four students who need college applications and recommendations ... that will take me all morning."

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