Page 29 - Alumni Horae: Vol. 94, No. 2 Winter 2014

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Powell of Princeton, which accepted only 10.4 percent of
applicants boasting a GPA of 4.0 in 2013, appreciates the
insightful conversations with Pratt and the other SPS
college advisers as his office tries to better understand
its applicants.
“Maybe there are circumstances that help inform us
about challenges a student has faced or overcome,” says
Powell. “There are a great many other schools where the
counseling is not as robust, so we may not always hear
those stories. It’s the kind of relationship we want to have
with every school.”
But Powell also cautions that “the name of the school
is not going to be the reason the student gets in, but the
opportunities the school provides may set the stage” for
what the student accomplishes.
“We always look at students in context,” Powell says.
“If a student attends a wonderful school like St. Paul’s,
we expect them to take advantage of those resources.
For students who attend a less well-resourced school,
it’s not the school that will make them less strong; it’s
what have they done with the opportunities available to
them. To do a lot with a little can be equally compelling.”
Chris Gruber is the dean of admission and financial
aid at Davidson College, where nine SPS graduates have
enrolled in the last three years. Gruber does not com-
pletely debunk the notion of so-called “feeder schools,”
and he acknowledges the benefit of a counseling staff
like the one at St. Paul’s to help provide context for the
School’s applicants to Davidson. In a small community
like St. Paul’s, says Gruber, adults are able to observe
students in many contexts, providing a better picture
of who that student is and why he or she might thrive
at Davidson, or elsewhere. The college counselors are
able to convey a more complete portrait of SPS students
through their letters of recommendation because they
have that opportunity to understand the SPS applicant
more completely and translate why he or she might
provide a good fit for a particular college.
“Students aren’t admitted for one reason – not
because they are from St. Paul’s, but they are from
St. Paul’s and they have demonstrated success there in
a variety of ways,” says Gruber. “We value the relation-
ship we have with your school; when I think of St. Paul’s,
I think of Tim Pratt. There is a higher expectation for
what I will have coming out of St. Paul’s. Our expecta-
tions can be moderated, depending on the environment
from which applicants are coming and the counselors’
ability to explain it. Do these relationships matter? Yes.
“What St. Paul’s is also looking to do is take a student
and find the best place for him or her. Does a place like
[SPS] help in making a difference? Yes, because it is the
attention students are getting, specific to them, coming
with years of experience and understanding previous
outcomes.”
In spite of everything – the strong SPS education, the
availability of the School’s college advisers to answer
questions and provide context for college admissions
officers, the high expectations, and the history that
guides SPS students in the process – there remains
one reality that may be difficult for students and their
families to hear, but it is true nonetheless.
“This process is not fair,” says Soule of Bowdoin.
“We don’t have enough places for all of the students
who are 100-percent qualified to be here. There are
always students who won’t get a spot for no good
reason. That’s hard for them to hear. It makes your
college counseling staff more important than ever.
If families listen, the student will still have a great
offer somewhere.”
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
SPS college advisers work hard to find the best institu-
tional match for students. Over the past four years (2010-13),
these colleges and universities have been most attended by
SPS graduates. Also shown are the overall 2013 acceptance
rates for those schools.
2010-13 2013
SPS GRADS ACCEPTANCE
COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY ENROLLED RATE
Georgetown University 30 17.0%
Brown University 20 9.2%
Dartmouth College 20 10.0%
Harvard University 20 5.8%
Columbia University 18 6.9%
Stanford University 14 5.7%
University of California, Berkeley 13 20.8%
University of Michigan 13 33.0%
Middlebury College 13 19.0%
Colby College 12 26.0%
Davidson College 12 25.6%
Princeton University 12 7.4%
Yale University 12 6.7%
Trinity College 11 31.1%
Tufts University 11 19.0%
Bates College 10 24.2%
New York Unviversity 10 30.3%