College Weekend helps families better understand the college process.
Last weekend, from Friday, February 16, to Sunday, February 18, the College Counseling Office held the annual College Information Weekend for both parents and students of the fourth and fifth form. The College Information Weekend gives fourth and fifth form students and parents an early look into the college process. The weekend has been going on at Choate for quite a while, and it predates all current college counselors here on campus. The structure of the weekend has changed over the years but has remained under the current structure for the past four years. The weekend began with a parent and guardian social gathering at the Sally Hart Lodge & Alumni Center. Sponsored by the Parent Relations Office, parents and guardians who were already on campus were invited to an informal get-together.
The weekend truly began on Saturday, when fourth and fifth form parents attended a number of events and sessions about the ins and outs of applying to college. The day began in the Paul Mellon Arts Center, where students and their parents were present for a panel of college admissions officers who talked about the college process. The admissions officers this year were Mr. Manuel Carballo, Director of Admissions and Financial Aid at Oberlin College; Ms. Joy St. John, Dean of Admission and Financial Aid at Wellesley College; Mr. Jon Westover, Senior Associate Director of Admissions at University of Massachusetts, Amherst; and Mr. Jonathan Williams, Associate Dean/Director of Admissions at New York University. Ms. Marcia Landesman, Choate’s Director of College Counseling, moderated the panel.
The panel spoke of what makes a good candidate and how students can showcase that to colleges. “We invite deans and directors of admission from a cross-section of colleges and universities,” said Ms. Landesman. “We like to have representation from urban and rural schools, research universities and small liberal arts colleges, public and private schools, and single-sex schools.” Dean St. John was the only panelist from this year to have spoken in years prior; all the other panelists have not spoken at College Information Weekend.
Ms. Landesman emphasized that the group came simply to help. “They are not here to talk about or promote the colleges they work for,” she explained. “They are here to provide general information and advice regarding the college admission process.”
After the first meeting, parents attended mock admissions committee meetings across campus, where an admission officer and a college counselor led parents through a simulated meeting. They reviewed several fictional applications, allowing parents an inside look at how certain admissions decisions are made. Later, parents of fourth-form students were given an overview of Choate’s college-counseling program. Although their children will not be given college counselors until winter-term of the students’ junior year, parents seemed excited to begin to familiarize themselves with what can often feel like a daunting process.
After the college counseling overview, the fourth form parents headed to lunch while the fifth form parents went to small group meetings, which were led by the college counselor of their child. “This is an opportunity for parents to learn about the counselor’s philosophy, counseling style, and what to expect over the course of the next year or so,” commented Ms. Landesman on the meeting. She continued, “While all of the programming is important, we find that this meeting is especially helpful for parents.” After this, all parents reconvened at the auditorium in the PMAC for an explanation on how to find the right college for a student and an introduction to Naviance, the software that the College Counseling Office uses. An emphasis was placed on how a student’s goals fit with a certain institution. The format of College Information Weekend was once much longer, where it took place all day on Saturday, with additional meetings for the parents on Sundays. As feedback was given about this former structure, the College Counseling Office learned that it was simply too much for those who came. Parents who attended found it to be too much information, which led to the shortening of the weekend. “The feedback about the current length and timing is positive,” stated Ms. Landesman on whether or not the structure would be changed in the future.
Brent Valentine ’19 attended the Saturday morning panel, and it exceeded his expectations. He said, “I was thoroughly surprised. It had good information, and I was definitely impressed by the team that they selected to talk and the diversity of the colleges that they selected as well.” Despite this, he added, “There was only one question about athletics, and I think athletics pertains to a large majority of the school.” Valentine had hoped that there would be more questions about athletics and their impact on admissions, something that will apply to many Choate students.
Though the students are the ones who go through the college process, the parents attended the majority of the weekend’s events. Ms. Landesman explained, “This weekend is beneficial for students, but geared primarily toward parents. Much of what is discussed during the weekend will be covered [with students] by counselors in group and one-on-one meetings.”
The parents of the students certainly received a large amount of information this past weekend, and when asked what parents could do now, Ms. Landesman answered, “Support their child through the college search and admission process.”
