The College Counseling Process

The College Counseling Office discourages students and parents from focusing prematurely on college, and encourages students to follow their personal passions.

The college counseling process spans three years with an emphasis on providing support to students and their families as they determine their goals, assess their strengths, and determine which schools will offer the best opportunities for growth. Although their are specific milestones, the college search is highly customizable--one size doesn't fit all.

Sophomore Year

Fall 

• Students take PSATs.

Winter   

• Families meet with college counseling staff to get information about end-of-year standardized testing. 

Spring 

• Students are asked to visit one college before the end of the school year.

Junior Year

Fall 

• Students take PSATs.
• The College Counseling Office holds an informational evening for parents emphasizing the importance of continuing focus on high school.

• At Junior College Night, college counseling staff introduces students and parents to the college guidance calendar, outlines areas of responsibility, and answers questions about the process.
• Students receive college counseling handbooks and begin a series of writing assignments designed to help them discover who they are and what they want in a college.
• Counseling staff meets with each junior to discuss college options and review testing schedules and strategies. Students receive a customized list of colleges to research.
•  Weekly college counseling classes begin.

• Deans of admissions representing roughly twenty colleges and universities from across the nation present a case studies program (cosponsored by Prep, Webb, Westridge, and Polytechnic). The deans lead groups of students and parents in a discussion of four sample application files. The evening ends with a college fair for the participants.
• Parents may meet with college counselors if they wish to do so.

Senior Year

• College counselors begin meeting with seniors and their parents.

Fall 

• Parents attend an evening coffee with the Director of College Counseling.
• Seniors meet with their college counselors within the first six weeks of school.
• Weekly college counseling classes help seniors answer questions about elements of the application process, and answer college-related questions.
• In November, college counselors evaluate the college list of each senior in light of that student's grades, scores, strengths, and activities to insure that each student has a balanced list in terms of admission opportunities. Parents are asked to sign off on these lists.
• The Assistant Director of College Counseling writes a letter of recommendation for each senior designed to distinguish each student from others in an applicant pool. The letters include information gathered from student assignments, faculty evaluations, peer and parent comments, and the college counselor's observations.
• From mid-September through mid-November, more than eighty college representatives visit the campus to recruit students.

Winter and Spring 

• College counselors remain available to seniors throughout the second semester, helping them with college decisions and the emotional highs and lows of notification by the colleges.
• In May, seniors and parents gather for the annual Senior Celebration, where the prospective graduates announce their college destinations.