College Counseling

College Counseling

The college application process can be complex and challenging. At Marvelwood, we begin the process junior year with a series of class meetings to introduce the Common Application and Naviance platforms, provide login information and initial registration codes, and address questions. After spring break, we take the junior class to the Kent School College Fair, an event usually attended by over 100 colleges and universities, and which parents can also attend. During our Spring Family Weekend, we meet with students and parents in small groups and one-to-one sessions. Together, we assess student interests, discuss career goals, weigh the importance of factors such as location, cost, size, and extracurricular activities, and gain a sense of the range of selectivity a student should have in mind in his or her college search.

For the remainder of the process, counselors meet with each student individually. We help identify schools that will meet his or her needs academically and provide an appropriate environment for continuing personal and intellectual growth. We do not, however, pick schools "out of the air." We enable students to see a match and then aid them in making that match with colleges throughout the application process. We visit college campuses, attend professional conferences and workshops, and host dozens of college representatives on campus each fall. We offer informed advice to students and their parents at every stage in the transition from Skiff Mountain to the future, and we value the relationships we establish with families over the course of our counseling efforts.