College Counseling
Please watch our College Visit Dates and Local College Events pages for the latest information on visits to our campus and the greater New Orleans area by colleges and universities from across the country. Upcoming visits are updated often.
While our seniors prepare for the 2009-2010 college application season, members of the Class of 2009 are preparing to attend colleges and universities arouond the country. They were accepted at the following colleges and universities:
American University, Bard College, Barnard College, Bennington College, Bentley College, Boston College, Boston University, Brandeis University, Brown University, Clark University, Clemson University, College of Charleston, Columbia College, Chicago Duke University, Emory University, Fordham University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Georgia Tech University, Goucher College, Guilford College, Hampshire College, Johns Hopkins University, Lake Forest College, Louisiana State University, Loyola Marymount University, Loyola University, New Orleans Marquette University, Maryland Institute, College of Art, Memphis College of Art, Middlebury College, Mount Holyoke College, Northeastern University, Parsons School of Design, Pomona College, Radford University, Reed College, Rhodes College, Savannah College of Art and Design, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Scripps College, Sewanee, University of the South Southern Methodist, University Texas Christian University, Tulane University, University of Alabama, University of Chicago, University of Colorado, Boulder, University of Georgia, University of Kentucky, University of Maryland, College Park, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor University of Mississippi, University of North Carolina, Asheville, University of South Carolina, University of Tennessee, University of Texas, Austin, University of Vermont, University of Virginia, Washington & Lee University, Washington University, Wesleyan University, Williams College
Please click a link below for information on:
- Director of College Counseling
The College Counseling Process
The college counseling process in the Upper School is a four-year program. The process for each grade level is described below.
Seniors
Juniors
Sophomores
Freshmen
College Counseling Process for Seniors
Senior Seminar involves the following: initiating the process of requesting and securing recommendation letters from relevant teachers; tackling the requesting of, receiving of, the filling out and sending out of college applications; revising activity sheets; outlining a system for requesting transcripts and for submitting the proper documentation to the college counselor's office and to our Registrar's office; working fastidiously on college essays apropos of sending in applications; and, if need be, registering for more standardized tests. We will also address, on an ongoing basis, the crucial topic of meeting application deadlines, while reviewing admissions policies such as Early Decision, Early Action, etc.
Our first order of business in Senior Seminar is to schedule one-on-one conferences, outside of the classroom, between the college counselor and each senior, as it is time for her to inform me of her summer's research. Parents, please respect that these initial conferences are conducted without your presence, as it is important that we establish your daughter as the primary source of responsibility for the first semester's work.
Senior Seminar is the engine for the first semester's workout; however, the actual vehicle that will smoothly transport each student to her goal is the time she devotes to this process at home. It is imperative that the students and their parents devote substantial at-home time to work on applications, as the total task can not possibly be completed in Senior Seminar alone. However, please keep in mind that we additionally offer our seniors the benefit of Application Day, a full day free of classes that is devoted to working on college applications. Application Day is scheduled in October; we will spend the full school day in the library working together - so the students need to be sure to have her applications in process by this day!
Aside from our weekly meetings in Senior Seminar and our all day workshop in October, the students are encouraged to attend the many information sessions that will be taking place on our campus as well as around the city. Many Deans of Admissions and representatives from admissions offices will be visiting McGehee to meet your daughters and to answer their questions. These sessions are for students only. The autumn also boasts many local information sessions, often hosted by more than one college at a time, that are open to the public. The students are strongly encouraged to attend these sessions if they intend to apply, or are just considering applying to any college visiting McGehee and/or any college offering a local information session. Admissions representatives LOVE meeting seniors.
The most significant aspect of the college counselor's job in the fall is carefully crafting each senior's counselor recommendation letter. We work to paint each student's portrait in print so that colleges are given a clear window through which to view her strengths, her character, her individuality, her potential. This is when the Parent Questionnaire submitted in the spring of junior year comes in handy; likewise, if parents have any additional information to share with us about their daughter, they should not hesitate to email our college counselor. Any information or anecdote is welcome!
Seniors are allowed five excused days this year in the name of visiting colleges; they should first contact Ms. Wargo or Ms. Whitfield to gain official approval for their intended travel dates. They may then pick up a planned absence form from the college counselor's office.
Communication is hugely important. With this said, if a senior intends to seek, or has already hired, the guidance of an independent college counselor, it is our request that she communicate this intention to our college counselor as soon as possible. It greatly behooves everyone involved that we all be "on the same page" as a means of diminishing room for error. For the record, we remain confident that each senior will receive more than enough individual attention at McGehee to successfully see her through this process.
Fall semester is an exciting time for our seniors and their families. If we work together, keeping our eye on the ball, we should eventually be able to enjoy a winter break free of college applications, hopefully with good news awaiting us around the corner, if not already in our pockets.
College Counseling Process for Juniors
Beginning in the 2nd semester, juniors will meet with our college counselor once a rotation in a class listed on her schedule as Junior Seminar. Junior Seminar is a course dedicated to the first stage of "the college process." Inside Junior Seminar, we will broach and discuss such topics as why college? How to choose a college, how to plan a college trip, what colleges look for in their applicants, the admissions process, and we will introduce them to the many parts of the college application, placing emphasis on the college essay. It is worth noting that when these students are seniors, they will continue her time with our college counselor in a course entitled Senior Seminar, which picks up where the juniors leave off in May. The majority of Senior Seminar is dedicated to the actual application process.
In addition to Junior Seminar in the second semester, each junior's family will meet with the college counselor. This semester each family will receive two important documents necessary to our initial family conference: a Parent Questionnaire and a Parent Evaluation. Parents should fill these out thoughtfully and thoroughly. Upon completion and return of the questionnaire and evaluation, our college counselor will send you a conference date and time; our conferences will begin in mid-January. Without the questionnaire and evaluation, it is difficult for us to adequately prepare for our meeting, so parents should turn them in to us before winter break.
In our initial conference, we will, as a family, talk openly about the student's college aspirations, trepidations, enthusiasms, and indecisions. We will begin to form a game plan if one has not been formed already. Our college counselor will attempt to answer any questions the families may have about standardized testing and the more general process of applying to college, and we will review the student's current academic transcript, which is often the most significant part of her application. FYI: it is not necessary for the student to begin taking the SAT or ACT until the spring of her junior year!
College Counseling Process for Sophomores
Our college counselor meets with sophomores in their advisory grade level meetings to re-introduce them to their current transcripts, as it is important to continue stressing the significance of their academic record. In our meetings, we will revisit topics of goal-setting and smart decision-making as it concerns their school work and co-curricular activities.
In the third quarter, we will shift our focus to one of self-evaluation. In terms of college admissions, while it is no longer crucial for each girl to participate in a plethora of activities, colleges do recommend that students "find an area of interest" and develop it over their high school career; thus, it is time for each sophomore to begin or to continue exploring her perceived identity as it connects to how she spends her time. Together we will pose such questions as: how do her co-curricular interests define her character, do her activities reveal a particular "passion," and what, in her opinion, are her strengths and weaknesses? This kind of self-analysis will take center stage in our meetings in the third quarter. Undeniably, greater self-awareness makes for a more successful college search in her junior year.
In the fall, sophomores will take the PSAT, which is a practice test for the SAT, here at McGehee. Advisors will distribute practice booklets with test taking tips.
College Counseling Process for Freshmen
During the freshman year, the purpose of our time together is to introduce the transcript, that is, the crucial academic document that acts as register of each student's efforts for the next four years. The transcript is often viewed as the most important piece of her application packet once she becomes a senior; therefore, it is smart to begin stressing the significance of this academic record in the first quarter of her high school tenure. In meetings with the college counselor, we will also address goal-setting and smart decision-making as it concerns school work and co-curricular activities.
In the fall, each student will take a mini PSAT in order to introduce her to the standardized testing format used on the official PSAT and SAT. This test is unofficial, that is, her scores are not calculated by the College Board.
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