The College Counseling Office is electric with activity. Seniors are coming by to work on college applications, get help on essays, and meet with college representatives. Tammy Alt, Director of College Counseling, Margaret Farrell Brown ’97, Assistant Director of College Counseling and Student Life, and Caroline Paris, College Counseling Assistant support Upper School students in a variety of ways as they navigate—or begin to navigate—the college-search process. This summer the department shifted from a dean system to a more traditional college counseling model. Tammy, Margaret, and Caroline are fully focused on college counseling and supporting students and families throughout their Upper School years. This happens in a number of ways, each specifically designed to build upon one another and guide the student through the search with increasing independence and confidence. During the school year, age-appropriate activities and information are disseminated through classroom visits, test-prep courses, student and family seminars, email, and online communications, as well as a new summer travel opportunity for rising sophomores and juniors. Tammy visited the Freshman Seminar classes in October to introduce herself, the college counseling program and to get to know the students. She explained the importance of building their individual “stories” through activities outside of GDS and developing the personal qualities and skills that will strengthen their future college applications. Tenth grade students will take a strengths- based survey this year and will be able to use the results to start thinking about senior projects, majors, colleges and careers. They are reminded to continue building their “stories” through academics, sports, drama, volunteer activities and community service. Colleges look for a strong core of sustained activities. Junior Family College Night was held before Thanksgiving to discuss standardized testing, college visits, and the importance of the College Counseling partnership for the next 18 months. Individual meetings will take place throughout the spring as juniors ramp up their search. As is typical, seniors have received close attention since last spring. They attended newly designed seminars and help sessions specifically geared to help them with the Common App, essay writing, and other college-search questions. The goal is to support them as they drive the process—an important skill to master before college begins. The College Counseling Office has doubled in size and now has space for meetings with admissions representatives, hosting help sessions for students, and housing college-search resources. This fall, GDS hosted more than 60 college admission representatives ranging from Tufts University to UC-Berkeley, Vanderbilt to UNC-Chapel Hill—and many others. More than 100 students attended Walk-In Wednesday help sessions and Common App workshops. The College Counseling Office is committed to communicating frequently with students and parents through email, PawPrints, parent seminars, and the College Counseling Haiku page. A variety of helpful resources on upcoming events, financial aid information, essay writing suggestions, and general links and articles, are available there. The College Counseling Office Clarity of Focus, Expansion of Services By Caroline Paris CAMPUS NEWS 8 | Winter 2017