FWCD College Counseling: Superb Parent Opportunities

Kristin Larsen, as our Director of College Counselling, is often receiving my praise in these Notes and elsewhere. Her annual College Colloquium with three different College Admission Officers is a tremendous opportunity for parents and guardians to learn about the most recent college admission landscape. This year, those visitors were Dr. Stephanie Dupaul of the University of Richmond, Chuck May of the University of Missouri, and Andrew Linnehan of Northwestern University. 

Each year, I get to have dinner with these admission officers, then I get to hear them talk with our Upper School faculty, and, lastly, I get to sit in on the assembly Kristin runs with the College Admission Officers as a panel for our juniors, sophomores and freshmen. From this year’s group, my notes include this advice:

• “Find a school no one has heard of, but that is a match for you,” said one admission officer, trying to counsel against “bumper-sticker cache” as a primary motivator for a college choice.
• Asked by Kristin, “How is a teacher helpful to an applicant?” a panelist answered, “By providing that very unique IN-CLASS perspective. That does not show up anywhere else in an application.” 
• I liked the counsel of one admission officer this year about the value of virtual visits to their campuses. These video visits have gotten quite sophisticated with the use of AI and other technological tools. It is very expensive to travel to the campuses, and not all students will be able to do that. Perhaps the virtual visits can help a student narrow down to three or four highly preferred colleges or universities. 
• Ultimately, so much of the pressure our students feel is about finding “the perfect fit” and then gaining admission to that one school. This year, a panelist postulated that there were actually between 50 and 100 “perfect fits” for any student, but that they just needed to uncover those schools, some of which may not be on their initial radar. Kristin and her team of Sarah Casarez and Jordie Kavanaugh are incredible resources to be able to define “perfect fit” and to help uncover a handful of wonderful colleges for our seniors. 

The college search is going to have some stress. And, the process has lots to really enjoy … students learning about themselves through the process, parents and students learning about a variety of colleges and universities, students launching into their own “from here, anywhere …” experience. Our Counselors are seemingly always available, and they have incredible knowledge and wisdom to share.