Directors of Admission Address Students, Parents, and Faculty

On Monday evening, the College Counseling Office hosted directors of admission from three selective colleges: Florida State University, Bucknell University and the University of Notre Dame. The evening officially kicked off the start of the college search and application process for juniors and their families. The college application process was discussed in its entirety including the responsibilities of the students, parents and college counselors.

Each panelist discussed, with great transparency, their school’s process for reviewing students for admission. Hearing the perspective from three very different institutions was invaluable and helped to contextualize the process at each school. In addition, advice regarding essay writing was shared. Panelists relayed some of their favorite and not so favorite essay topics.

The evening ended with each panelist imparting one piece of advice for students as they embark on this journey: respect the process, admissions decisions do not define who you are, and be sure that all pieces of the application should be used to tell their story.

The following morning, the panel addressed members of the upper school faculty, fielding questions regarding recommendations, course selection, the evaluation of a student’s transcript, the use of SAT scores in the admissions process, and more.

Suggested reading:
Where You Go Is Not Who You’ll Be by Frank Bruni
Crazy U by Andrew Ferguson
There is Life After College by Jeffrey Selingo
I’m Going to College Not You by Jennifer Delahunty