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This qualitative study explores the lack of African American students enrolled in AP Calculus courses in North Carolina public high schools. It considered the perception of student-counselor relationships, academic advising practices, and sense of identity of high school counselor participants. In-depth interviews were conducted with three, African American, female high school counselors with five to twenty-four years of experience in high school counseling. The data yielded five domains: characteristics of a school counselor, expected duties of a school counselor, criteria to become an AP Calculus student, student-counselor relationships, and academic advising practices and the outcomes. From the domains, twenty-seven themes were generated: empathetic, open-minded, organized, flexible, creative, knowledgeable, serving the holistic needs of students, classroom guidance activities, non-counselor duties, resource, enrollments, interventions, advocacy, completion of prerequisite courses, exceptions to the rule, teacher recommendation, AP agreement, importance, trust, connections, race, alternatives, methods, encouragement, benefits, awareness, and partnership. Recommendations include universal access to Math I for African American students in 8th grade, update all stakeholders of the role and purpose of school counselors, professional development for school counselors, and an integrated curriculum for school counselors and administrators.