Many Fifth Formers have already had—or are thinking about scheduling—their second meeting with their advisor, during which they brainstorm potential college options and begin crafting an initial college list. When a student receives a list from his college advisor, please remember that this is designed to be the start of a long and focused research project—this should not be viewed as a final list or as a message as to where a student should apply or where he will gain admission.

Some students have already had their third meeting—which should happen before the end of the school year—this is usually a family meeting. Parents, please know that although we feel it is very important for our first family meeting to happen only after each student has been to see us twice individually, please do not hesitate to call or email us if you have questions or thoughts you’d like to discuss before the calendar allows for that meeting.

This sequence of meetings provides the opportunity for conversations that give each student the chance to discuss his interests and activities, his plans for completing his standardized testing, his priorities with regard to the future, and his ideas about colleges he might like to research further. While the students are busy with their college research, we will do our best to help them manage the process as a whole; in turn, we ask them to respond to announcements and notices, keep appointments, meet deadlines—in short, take charge, remembering it is they, not their college advisor or their parent, who will go to college. Students who have not yet met with their college advisor should plan to schedule a meeting immediately.