School counsellors in Vietnam: who they are and what they need from you

In many Vietnamese upper secondary schools the person who first names a set of destinations to a family is a counsellor or a form teacher. They are under-resourced, and they are the cheapest influence available to an institution.

What they are working with

Usually: a heavy teaching load, no dedicated budget, and a stack of glossy brochures in English from forty institutions. What reaches a parent is what the counsellor can summarise accurately from memory.

What actually helps them

• A one-page summary in Vietnamese with cost, entry requirements and two graduate outcomes. Something they can hand over without translating.
• A named contact who replies. Counsellors stop recommending institutions that leave them looking uninformed.
• Honest comparison. A counsellor who learns you were straight about what your institution is not suited for will trust everything else you said.

What does not help

Campus videos, branded merchandise, and invitations to events during teaching hours.

The season logic

Counsellor relationships are built outside the busy application months, when there is time to talk. An institution that only appears when it wants something is treated accordingly.

A season of school visits: In-Country Outreach →