Collegiate Juniors Receive Advice From College Admission Experts

As part of an Upper School retreat day, Collegiate 11th Graders met with 15 college deans and directors of admission from across the country today for the annual workshop that offers a roadmap to navigating the college search and application process.
While Collegiate juniors participated in their workshop, 9th Graders took part in Community Engagement, their grade-level service learning project, during which they visit and work with Richmond-area nonprofits. Collegiate 10th Graders visited the University of Richmond to hear from youth motivational speaker Matt Bellace, Ph.D., and participated in sessions on mindfulness, self-defense, yoga and the dangers of juuling. Seniors met on campus for a keynote address from Linda Hancock FNP, Ph.D., director of the VCU Wellness Resource Center, on the transition to college and for a session on healthy relationships.

The daylong college search and application session for juniors featured representatives from the following schools: Bates College, Boston College, College of William & Mary, Davidson College, Elon University, Ferrum College, Gettysburg College, New York University, Radford University, Rhodes College, University of Delaware, University of North Carolina, University of Richmond, University of Virginia and Washington & Lee University.

The application workshop, one of the foundations of the School’s College Counseling Office, offers Collegiate students a chance to get an insider’s look from higher ed representatives about the college admission process.

Juniors broke into small groups, with one of the deans, directors or associate directors of admission leading them to look at the process from a variety of perspectives, said Collegiate’s Senior Associate Director of College Counseling Kim Ball.

“The students gain a broader and deeper understanding of the holistic nature of the process and the complexity of making difficult decisions,” she said. “This experience ultimately translates to our students' application processes, providing them with the ability to best demonstrate their authentic selves through their own college applications next fall."

One of the representatives present was Collegiate alum and Associate Director of Admissions for New York University Chelsea Duncan ‘05, who said the small-group work allowed juniors to better understand how the deans and directors make their decisions.

“We were talking about how this is not necessarily a fair process, but we do the best we can with the information we have,” she said. “I think participating today will help the students when they start applying to college.”

This evening in the Sharp Academic Commons, parents of freshmen, sophomores and juniors are invited to hear the representatives as they serve on a panel and answer questions from the audience.

"We are so excited to welcome the 15 deans from across the country, sharing their insights about the college admission process through their many years of experience in the field,” Mrs. Ball said.
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