Mission Possible : Education: Counselors at Los Angeles high schools display tenacity, flexibility and creativity in trying to ensure that students go to the colleges right for them.

North Hollywood High School college counselor Susan Bonoff tracked down two former pupils from 18 years ago to help pay for a needy student to attend Stanford University this fall.

Westchester High college counselor Esther Hugo, who routinely takes students’ financial aid applications to the post office, usually pays the postage too.

And Birmingham High counselor Jan Livingston is helping a senior--who graduates this week--hastily apply to colleges for the fall.

When the 28,000 other members of the Class of 1994 accept their diplomas in the Los Angeles Unified School District, it is their college counselors who will be remembering the anguish and the joys of the last few months. More than half the seniors experienced the grueling process of college applications, the emotional roller coaster of acceptance and rejection letters and, finally, the tough financial decisions.

The district’s 49 college counselors are part academic advisers, accountants, real estate agents, morale boosters and even immigration experts.

“The truth is, college counseling is alive and well . . . but the job is truly overwhelming,” said Livingston, who works at Birmingham in Van Nuys. “You anguish with the kids. You want them to succeed. I see them at graduation and I know they’ll go on without me and I’ll never know the results.”

While the college counselors must advise hundreds of pupils in their junior and senior years, the schools’ various other advisers also can help the students. The district has only one college counselor on each high school campus.

The counselors say they will do whatever they can for their college-bound students, even if it means calling people for money, currying favors from admissions officers or persuading parents that dorm life is not all that bad.

“College counselors are just tenacious people,” said Chuck Espalin, director of the district’s counseling program.

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For Jesus Torres, Stanford University would be just a dream without Susan Bonoff. Through tireless phone calls and networking, she managed to find enough money to meet Stanford’s $28,000 tuition.

Even with financial aid and help from Stanford, Torres must pay $13,000 for his first year. He says his parents, who earn less than $40,000 a year, will contribute several thousand dollars.

Bonoff found Torres a summer job in the Silicon Valley where he will make about $2,000, and he will take out a $3,000 loan. In the end, Torres was left $4,000 short.

“I was really worried,” Torres said recently as he scanned a scholarship brochure for Latino students. “I basically didn’t want my family in any financial danger. I didn’t think I could go.”

But Bonoff remembered seeing the names of two of her former junior high school English students on the letterhead of a scholarship bulletin. She tracked down one of them and nervously explained the financial dilemma.

Last month, Bonoff and Torres met the two businessmen for lunch, and the money will be forthcoming. “When I call you up 10 years from now when you’re a successful engineer and I tell you I have a student who can’t afford college, will you help me?” Bonoff asked Torres recently.

“Definitely--without question,” Torres said quickly.

Typically, counselors begin addressing sophomores early in their high school careers. But it is the junior year when the push begins.

Most hold college awareness nights for parents and students. The counselors guide students in choosing college preparatory courses and keep after them to maintain their grade-point averages.

Often, they become vociferous advocates for the students--writing letters of recommendation, calling admissions offices to put in a good word, or grilling financial aid officers about denied applications.

The counselors also have the tough job of advising students who are not United States citizens. The University of California and the community college system require these students to pay higher fees and tuitions. Many counselors discuss the process of becoming legal citizens with students.

The counselors also are working more with parents who are reluctant to send their children to college because they never went or never thought it was a possibility.

“Sometimes I tell the students, ‘Let’s get the application in and we’ll deal with your mother later,’ ” said Steve Kleinberg, the counselor at Monroe High in North Hills. “Part of it is definitely encouraging parents about the importance of education.”

At other times, it is pure hand-holding. “A mother called me the other day laughing and crying,” said Cassandra Roy, the counselor at Crenshaw High in South-Central Los Angeles, which sends nearly 80% of its seniors to college. “Laughing because she was happy her son was going to college in Ohio but crying because he’s the oldest child and the first to leave.”

Some students underestimate themselves and aim at “safe” schools, the counselors say. It is then that the counselors become motivational speakers and public relations consultants for other campuses.

“This is really their first year of college--not next year when they are freshmen,” said Crenshaw’s Roy. “This is when they learn how to jump through the hoops.”

The school district, the largest in the state, last year sent about 65% of its 24,172 graduates to a two-year or a four-year college. The district has not yet compiled statistics for the Class of 1994, but officials say they expect to see similar numbers.

Of the nearly 28,000 seniors this year, more than 57% are Latino, 14% are black, 16.6% are white and nearly 9% are Asian.

With an increasing number of students needing financial assistance at a time when federal and state aid is decreasing, counselors must be creative in finding scholarships and loans.

“In the fall, all we hear is ‘get me into college,’ ” Bonoff said. “Now all I hear is ‘help me pay for it.’ ”

Westchester High is one of the few schools in the district with an academic booster club of sorts where parents raise money for the college office. This year, Westchester students will receive about $20,000 in scholarships--all raised by the parent group.

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College recruiters spend days on Los Angeles Unified campuses, often making return visits to meet students and encourage them to attend. Some schools, such as Monroe, have college outreach advisers who work at the schools helping students complete registration forms and financial applications.

Crenshaw’s Roy said that campus had a problem after the 1992 riots when the number of recruiters dropped significantly. “I guess they were scared to come,” Roy said, adding that the number of recruiters has grown recently.

The Columbia University recruiter at North Hollywood got an earful last fall from Bonoff, who arranged a meeting and ultimately got a free trip to New York for one senior. Roberto Diaz, who will pay $1,500 to attend the $29,000-a-year school, said Bonoff gave him the push to apply.

“Right off the bat, Mrs. Bonoff said I should go to Columbia,” Diaz said recently. “She really pulled for me.”

Diaz, who said his parents earn about $23,000 a year in their jobs as a parking attendant and seamstress, was worried about attending such a high-end campus. “But it all came together for me,” Diaz said. “I thought New York City would be the greatest, but I didn’t know if I could actually go.”

For Birmingham’s Livingston, the past two weeks have been particularly trying. A student who hadn’t thought about going to college decided at the last minute to apply.

“I believe that every student is college material and the trick is you just have to figure out which college,” she said. “We just keep doing it because we really care about these kids.”

On Their Way The following list shows the 49 high schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District and the percentage of seniors who entered the University of California or the California State University system. The rates are for the Class of 1991, the last year for which the district had statistics available. The district does not keep data on seniors who attend two-year or private colleges.

Crenshaw: 34%

Granada Hills: 32%

Cleveland: 30%

El Camino: 29%

Van Nuys: 29%

Washington: 28%

Marshall: 26%

Taft: 26%

Roosevelt: 25%

University: 25%

Reseda: 25%

Kennedy: 24%

Lincoln: 24%

Grant: 23%

Birmingham: 23%

Westchester: 23%

Chatsworth: 22%

Palisades: 22%

Narbonne: 22%

Hamilton: 22%

Eagle Rock: 22%

Venice: 21%

Franklin: 20%

San Fernando: 20%

Canoga Park: 20%

North Hollywood: 19%

South Gate: 19%

Hollywood: 19%

Jordan: 19%

Belmont: 18%

Wilson: 18%

Dorsey: 18%

Los Angeles: 17%

Fairfax: 16%

Huntington Park: 16%

Bell: 16%

Gardena: 16%

Carson: 15%

Banning: 14%

San Pedro: 14%

Jefferson: 14%

Verdugo Hills: 14%

Monroe: 13%

Fremont: 12%

Francis Polytechnic: 11%

Manual Arts: 10%

Garfield: 9%

Locke: 9%

Sylmar: 8%

Source: Los Angeles Unified School District