Fresh perspectives on college admission counseling foster student independence and individual goals
By Kevin Yaley, Head of Francis Parker School
With the New Year comes the anticipation of a changing of the guard for many high school juniors: and as the seniors gear up for graduation, the juniors begin the arduous yet exciting process of planning for college application and
- Soon, these students will find themselves slaving over a stack of applications and mailing them with care – only to sit back and wait until their fate is determined with the arrival of acceptance letters in the spring. In the meantime, however, they will first need to figure out just what they are looking for in an advanced education; and what academic, social and financial criteria are most important to them as they determine a path for the future.
By the time they reach their junior year, many high school students will already be familiar with the popularly accepted “essentials” for college admission: good grades, strong test scores, plenty of extracurricular activities and an impressive course load going into their senior year. But beyond that, there is so much more to be evaluated and considered before selecting a short list of complementary institutions. In order to stand out among an increasingly vast field of applicants while simultaneously targeting programs suited to their individual needs, students need to achieve an honest and ambitious set of personal priorities – and to assess their own talents and weaknesses in order to find a truly authentic fit for their college education. Such circumspection is not necessarily prioritized at all American high schools. But at Francis Parker School, it is one of our primary goals – and the focus of our approach to college admissions counseling that we believe is vital to student growth and success.
College preparation and admissions counseling at Parker: a road test for the real world
Parker students spend their entire academic careers learning to look beyond the basics when it comes to education, interpersonal relationships and even extracurricular activities; and in keeping with this philosophy, the same perspective applies when they begin exploring their college options with our college admissions counselors. At
, we pride ourselves on an individualized approach to counseling that signifies an investment in each student’s future. We challenge our Upper School students to reflect carefully on their time with us and to develop a strong awareness of their unique needs and strengths, weaknesses and leadership capabilities – and to use that awareness to forge an authentic path that will allow them to flourish and succeed after graduation.
As seasoned educators, we reject the notion that there is any one “best” formula for college admission counseling, and prefer instead to let the student shape his or her own destiny with the tools they’ve acquired over their years at Parker. To learn more about our college admissions counseling approach and other facets of our
curriculum, visit us online:
.