The college-counseling philosophy at John Burroughs School is simple: we strive to counsel students in their search for colleges and universities which are a good match for them. Americans are most fortunate to have so many outstanding choices for post-secondary education, and the JBS college counseling team believes strongly that, with enough care and guidance, every student graduating from JBS can find several schools that would meet needs and accommodate interests. As with clothing, so with colleges: every person is different, and what looks good on one might not fit another. The college counselors work with students and parents to assess each child's particular desires and strengths, and from there can recommend schools that fit the individual's profiles; we do not attempt to fit every student into the same mold. Finally, though the search for a good college/university match is popularly conceived to be highly stressful, our attitude is that there should be joy in the journey itself: the thoughtful introspection essential to an intelligent exploration of options can be a benefit in itself, as each student can, by that very process, fulfill the ancient dictum "know thyself."
College counseling at John Burroughs is avowedly team-based. Although each student, in the junior year, chooses one of the college-counselors with whom to work throughout the process of searching and application, every student at John Burroughs actually enjoys the combined experience of the entire team. All the college counselors meet weekly to pool their expertise and deliberate together about the best advice to offer to every JBS student, who therefore enjoys both the advantages of one-on-one attention and the collective wisdom of the entire team. In addition, each of the college counselors actively participates in the life of the School outside of his/her duties as college counselor. Whether through classroom teaching, engagement in class sponsorship, or coaching, the college counselors at JBS frequently have the opportunity to get to know their advisees well before the formal search begins, and this is tremendously helpful to them in their advocacy on behalf of advisees.
Thanks to this combination of philosophy and method, the college-counseling process at John Burroughs is both distinctive and rewarding for everyone involved.