College Counseling
How Burroughs Prepares Students for the College Search
This
material was originally created for a JBS publication
available
in hard copy in the College Counseling Office.
The
college counseling philosophy at Burroughs is straightforward: we
strive to counsel students in their search for colleges and
universities that meet their academic, social, emotional, financial
and geographic needs. Since our students are quite different from
each other, we recommend schools that fit each student’s
individual needs as they have developed and matured at Burroughs.
This is consistent with our approach to their education at Burroughs
– we do not attempt to twist students into a prescribed mold as
they consider their next destination. Students are asked to discover
who they are and what they think. Together we explore what is
available for post-secondary education, and they discover the vast
number of choices available to them. The journey belongs to the
students. College counselors are here to work with them and their
parents.
In
the fall of the junior year, the college counseling team meets with
parents to outline a schedule of standardized testing, to describe
trends in the college admissions world, and to give an overview of
the application process that families will undertake in the next 18
months.
The
formal process kicks off in January of that year with a joint
student-parent meeting which features an admissions director from a
major college or university who discusses the national admissions
picture as well as some of the specifics of his or her school. At
this meeting, we introduce our college counseling team and
distribute the JBS College Handbook – a primer on the application
process which includes a planning calendar for students, parents and
counselors; a detailed explanation of terms and criteria to help
students develop their own college lists; information on required
standardized testing, college essays and financial aid; and a
discussion of various college admission plans that provides some
insight into how colleges make their admission decisions.
Within
a few weeks of the kick-off meeting – well in advance of junior
spring break when some families like to make college visits – we
ask each student to request a college counselor. Our counselors
actively participate in the life of the school outside of their
duties as college counselors and may know their advisees before the
formal search begins. This partnership is enhanced by the attention
paid each student by the full team of counselors who meet weekly to
pool their expertise about colleges and to help strategize about
every student.
Once
assigned to individual counselors, students and their parents meet
with their counselors for a general discussion about the students’
academic, social, geographic and financial needs. During this
meeting, families are shown the JBS scattergram, a tool that
anonymously charts the results of the last three years of Burroughs
applications to more than 120 schools across the nation. This tool
allows students, at a glance, to make preliminary assessments of
their chances at a university by virtue of previous students’
grade-point averages and standardized test scores. Of course, many
other factors affect a student’s prospects at any college.
From this point until all students have selected their next educational home, the students and their counselors are in close and regular contact. As mentioned before, the process belongs to the student. Counselors initiate the critical first planning meeting and others as necessary, but no student (or parent) should fail to seek additional input or guidance from a college counselor.
During
the junior and senior years, while we sustain our commitment to
personal development, we also facilitate the logistical demands of
the college application process.
The next few pages sketch what we believe is the appropriate
focus of college preparation (though it may not be labeled as such)
at each grade level, culminating in a summary of the junior and
senior years when college preparation merges with college
application.
7th and 8th Grade: Starting Out
At
the seventh- and eighth-grade levels our challenge is to take
approximately 95 new students who come to us from more than two
dozen different schools and make them feel comfortable and connected
– with each other and with the rest of the JBS community.
We seek a delicate balance, nurturing and guiding them while
increasing their confidence and independence.
Their course requirements expose them to a core curriculum
and expansive extracurricular activities.
This allows them to begin exploring and developing their
interests and talents. They are given responsibilities as members of
the larger community which will put them in good stead as potential
future leaders of our school. They
are introduced to community service by example and by immersion.
Throughout the middle school years, students are given
substantial support in developing the good study and organizational
skills necessary to succeed at Burroughs and beyond.
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| Seventh Grade Drey Land |
Students
in seventh grade are placed in untracked classes in all subjects
except for mathematics. Math
placement is based on the results of a test given the
previous spring, after admission decisions are made.
It is our experience that elementary and middle schools’
mathematics curricula – more than any other subject – vary
significantly. Placement
in “regular” track math versus “high” math can be a function
of what a student has been exposed to every bit as much as his or
her ability. By the end
of the seventh-grade year, the mathematics teachers are able to make
recommendations about each student’s likely achievement level in
eighth-grade mathematics classes and beyond.
Placement
in the eighth-grade “Introduction” math course, which is
demanding and appropriate for many of our students, is not as
fast-paced as the eighth-grade Algebra I course, but will lead
students to proceed, albeit more slowly, through most of the same
material through high school.
At
the end of the eighth-grade year, students are prepared for high
school and thus are given the opportunity to begin to make their own
course selections. The
choice in mathematics is generally dictated by the choice made for
eighth grade. The choice for ninth-grade science requires similar
consideration. Students who want to apply to the most highly
selective colleges and universities should take the achievement
biology class and be able to do well in that class. The science
department will make recommendations about this choice for each
student. Unlike math, however, there is no fixed sequence of courses
in science. A student
who does not take achievement biology might very well take chemistry
achievement or physics honors – there is no track per
se.
Throughout
their high school years, we recommend that students take the most
demanding course load that they can comfortably carry, because it
has been our experience that students are more engaged and more
stimulated when they are challenged.
Although building a college profile should not be the primary
focus when making decisions, the most highly selective colleges and
universities will favor students who take the most demanding courses
appropriate for them and achieve highly in those courses. Most
students will continue to take five academic courses. Four academic
courses are recommended for those who have difficulty in one
academic subject, who want to concentrate their work in four
classes, or who want to concentrate their work in the arts,
athletics, activities, or other pursuits. Such students will be
significantly less competitive if they choose to apply to the most
highly selective colleges and universities.
During
the ninth- and tenth- grade years, students are working to develop
strong study skills, a sense of independence, and a sense of
identity. As they progress through the core academic classes they
work at higher and higher cognitive levels and expand their
capacities as thinking and questioning individuals. As they sample
electives, they begin to expand their sense of who they are and
where their interests lie. College is not an immediate vision, but
as they become stronger students, they are laying the foundation for
their future academic path.
Beginning
in ninth grade, letter grades and activities are recorded and appear
on student transcripts. Students
have independent free periods, in which they learn to study on their
own, while seeking help from their teachers when they need it.
Students continue taking courses in the arts and are
encouraged to participate in community service activities and
competitive athletics.
Increasingly,
they consider – and are advised on – course selection as it may
have an impact on college admissions.
At the ninth-grade parents’ meeting in January, the
director of college counseling informs parents of the stated and
unstated admission expectations of colleges.
Students who take Biology Achievement in ninth grade are
encouraged to take the SAT II biology exam in June.
In
tenth grade, students begin to take specific steps towards the
college application process.
• In October of the sophomore year, students take a PSAT test as practice for the one they take in October of the junior year.
• College counselors give students small group “tours” of the college conference room resources, and they encourage questions.
• In the winter of the sophomore year, the principal discusses summer activities. In the spring, the director of college counseling meets with sophomores at a class meeting to discuss course selection for junior year.
• Interested students are welcome to attend the annual Four School College Fair (Burroughs, MICDS, Clayton and Ladue) in April, and some attend the St. Louis Metro Fair in May.
• Students are encouraged to visit colleges when they travel with their families or visit friends and family members at other schools.
• Those students who take Chemistry Achievement in tenth grade are encouraged to take the SAT II chemistry exam in June.
11th Grade: Turning toward the Future
The
junior year is frequently regarded as the most important year in
high school in terms of college admission. Most students consider
the year their most challenging academically, and in many cases it
represents the final grades earned before applications go out. It is
the year in which students are assigned an individual college
counselor and begin to construct a college list based on their
academic, social, and geographical interests. Self-examination and
conversations with their counselors help students understand their
desires and their goals, and they begin to think about which schools
would match them well.
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Regularly-scheduled
as well as impromptu class meetings are used to communicate college
search information. Students
are prompted through the following steps:
• Students may attend meetings with college representatives who visit Burroughs during their free periods.
• Parents are invited to a meeting in the fall for an overview of the college search process.
• In October, students take the PSAT, the qualifying test for National Merit/Achievement Scholarships.
• Counselors encourage students to consider selecting one or two activities that they enjoy and in which they might achieve leadership positions from among the many which they, in earlier grades, had been encouraged to try.
• A financial aid seminar is held in November for interested parents of juniors and seniors.
• Students register for the January (or March) SAT I as well as the May SAT I unless otherwise advised. They also register for the ACT, if advised.
• Students and parents attend College Night in January, the kickoff for the formal counseling process.
• Each student is assigned to a college counselor based on the student’s preferences. The college counselor becomes the student’s primary advisor.
• Students and their parents meet with their college counselors in late January or February.
• Students are encouraged to visit colleges and are allowed two excused absences to do so.
• Some students and their families plan college visits during spring break with guidance from the college counselors.
• Students and parents attend the Four School College Fair in April. College counselors are present to guide them if they need help.
• In the spring, counselors offer a program for juniors and their parents to discuss college admission trends and to help make summer plans.
• Juniors consult with their counselors before registering for the SAT II subject tests in June.
• Students register for AP examinations, if appropriate.
• Counselors help plan summer visits. Families make appointments for tours and interviews.
• Parents write “recommendations” about their children to help the college counselors better know their advisees.
• Students conduct independent college research during the school year and in the summer. Counselors are available for consultation throughout the school year.
• Students refine their college lists during the summer. They request applications and other materials from colleges and begin to draft college essays.
12th Grade: The Closing of One Chapter – The Opening of Another
While
college applications and senior grades are significant, we urge
students to take time to consider their roles as leaders of the
community. The senior class sets the tone of the school and should
seize the opportunity to make that tone as positive and healthy as
it can be. Students devote tremendous time, thought, and effort to
writing college applications and then devote emotional effort to
understanding both positive and negative decisions rendered by
admission offices. At the same time, we constantly remind students
that this is their final year at Burroughs and that they need to
take advantage of the opportunities afforded them. Many students
find that they do their best work in the classroom, take more
chances in the arts, and have deeper and more meaningful
relationships than ever with faculty now that their applications
have been sent.
The
following list highlights the college admission process which is
fully explained in the Handbook distributed junior year:
• Students (or students and parents) meet with counselors during the first three weeks of school to finalize their college lists and discuss application plans.
• Counselors speak to parents during Mini-School.
• Counselors and English teachers help students polish college essays.
• A twelfth-grade meeting in the fall is held with students and families to familiarize them with senior year, drawing attention to those things that need to be addressed regarding college applications.
• Counselors make sure that students turn in the Secondary School Reports (provided in college application forms) according to Burroughs deadlines. Due dates are posted and announced to students.
• Students ask teachers to write recommendations. Counselors also write recommendations.
• Students fill out applications for schools that have Early Action, Early Decision and Rolling plans.
• Counselors check with colleges to be sure that all applications have been received and to advocate for our students.
• Students may take up to
three days off from school for college visits if approved by their
counselors.
• Parents are invited to
schedule phone or personal conferences with their child’s college
counselor as needed.
• Counselors meet with college
representatives to hear their presentations and talk about specific
situations when necessary.
• Counselors advise students
to send the official SAT and/or ACT Score Report to all colleges to
which students are applying.
• Counselors remind students,
if advised, to retake the SAT I or ACT or both.
• Families fill out the CSS
Profile if they are applying for financial aid.
• Students make sure that applications are proofread and mailed on time with application fees.
• After January 1st students or parents fill out FAFSAs (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and send it along with the college’s application for financial aid.
• Seniors take the SAT I/SAT II/ACT in October, November or December. Some register for the SAT I/SAT II in January, if advised.
• Students receive Early Decision/Early Action decision letters by the end of December and discuss results with college counselors.
• By the end of April remaining decision letters are received and college counselors are available to help students choose their colleges.
• Students send in one deposit to a college by May 1.
• Parents and students attend the “Transition to College” meeting.
