College Counseling

 Welcome

 Preparing for the Search

 Junior/Senior Calendar

 Burroughs Profile

 Counseling Team

 Matriculation

 JBS Handbook

 Frequently
 Asked Questions

 External
 Resources

 College Reps on Campus

 2007 Class Site

 2008 Class Site

Member of NAIS,
ISACS and ISSL

Welcome to College Counseling at Burroughs!

John Burroughs School is by definition a college preparatory institution. That is a primary reason students and families choose us. But what does college preparation mean?

At Burroughs it means a liberal arts education that balances academics with arts, athletics and activities. It means the attainment of a rich body of knowledge and strong skills in each academic subject. It means the opportunity to explore possibilities and develop talents. It means working closely with other students and faculty in a respectful and supportive atmosphere that values and fosters individualism and diversity of thought and action. It means exposure to and, in many instances, immersion in a community service ethic.  It means development of talent and character, independence and direction.

There is distinction between college preparation and college application. We make college preparation the centerpiece throughout the secondary school experience and encourage students (and their families) not to focus on the application process until the winter of their junior year when formal individualized college counseling begins. That said, as early as seventh grade, teachers, principals and faculty advisors help students develop skills and make decisions which will ultimately facilitate and support the college search and application process.

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.

The Search for a Genuine Match

We are flattered that you would ask John Burroughs School to discuss our college admission process. . .

We do not send statistics to national publications, however, because of the danger that they will be taken out of context or used for comparisons among schools. Furthermore, we do not want to contribute, as Stanford admissions director, Robin Mamlet, puts it, to “the exaggerated sense that everyone is engaged in a high stakes game,” rather than trying to find a genuine match between students and colleges.

No matter how many discussions like the one you propose say that different colleges serve the needs of different students, by choosing Harvard, Princeton, and Yale as their focus, the real message shouts that the status/prestige game is everything. But the status/prestige game poisons learning for its own sake at both the high school and college levels, subverts values of integrity, simplicity, and common sense that we are losing as a nation, and in the end, self-defeats the applicant and the applicant’s family.

The truly best colleges want students who have genuine passion and spirit; they see through efforts by schools or parents or applicants to “market” themselves. The “strategies” you ask for do not exist except in the minds of the game players . . . .