Innovative college admission counseling champions individuality, student agency
College admission counseling can help high school students make the right choice for their future.
By Kevin Yaley, Head of Francis Parker School
With the dawn of a New Year comes a major milestone for the nation’s high school juniors, many of whom will soon be dealing with the excitement and anticipation of the college admissions process. Over the next few months, these students will prepare and send out carefully assembled applications – and wait with baited breath until discovering the results in the spring. But before all that, they must first figure out how to limit the countless options before them: and while there are plenty of popular resources available to help guide young people through the application process, customized college admission counseling is one of the best ways for students to navigate the vast array of college and university programs and find institutions to match their financial, social and academic needs with the benefit of individualized advice and assistance.
Conventional wisdom prepares most high school juniors for the many expectations they will need to meet before filling out college applications, such as strong grades and standardized test scores, diverse after-school activities and leadership roles and challenging course selections for their senior year. College campus visits and personalized search criteria are also essential to the process; and yet these considerations only scratch the surface when it comes to distinguishing one’s self – and selecting the right schools – in today’s highly competitive admissions arena. In order to boost the odds of both acceptance to a suitable program and satisfaction on the part of the student, it is critical to pinpoint programs that genuinely complement each student’s talents, areas of opportunity and leadership potential. This in turn requires a brand of self-awareness and circumspection rarely prioritized by high school educators; but at Francis Parker School, we make it our mission to foster such confidence and consciousness in our students, and to equip them with the tools they need expand their horizons and make authentic choices in pursuit of higher education – even at the expense of maintaining the status quo.
Building strong futures with college counseling at Parker: a unique approach to success
Our college admissions team at Francis Parker School rejects the notion that there is any one formulaic method by which to guide students toward higher education. As a renowned independent school, we take a different approach: one that champions each student’s individuality and challenges them to use their experience at Parker to inform their own estimation of priorities, strengths, weaknesses and opportunities as they undertake the college application process. With skilled guidance from our professional counselors, Parker students take ownership of their futures: and over the years, we have witnessed and celebrated our students’ choices with pride. We believe that all students should be taught how to think, and choose, for themselves – in choosing a college, a career, and every other major life journey. To find our more about our unique San Diego independent school program, visit us online today: www.francisparker.org.
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on Jan 30, 2012. Filed under Columns, Kevin Yaley, Sponsored Columns.
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