College Counseling

COLLEGE COUNSELING

St. Andrew's maintains a comprehensive four-year college counseling program designed to help students take the next crucial step in their development. The goal of the program is to help each student find the right "match," the place where the student will find the right environment to learn, begin the process of becoming an adult, and prepare for his or her unique future.

The College Search and Application Process

College counseling at St. Andrew’s is a four-year process that is managed by two college counselors.  During freshmen and sophomore years, the college counselors meeting with students by advisor group to discuss a range of topics:  commitment to academics and extracurricular activities, standardized testing, high school transcripts and online personality surveys.  The individualized program begins in junior year. At that point, students and parents complete comprehensive questionnaires and begin a series of individual and group meetings with the college counselors. These meetings help the college counselors learn more about each student's college plans and to become more effective advocates for them. The counselors assist students in developing their college lists and in negotiating the college research and application process.

This process requires each student devotes time and energy to developing a customized list of colleges based on research and realistic self-assessment.  To this end, St. Andrew’s utilizes the Family Connection Program by Naviance, a comprehensive website that helps students and parents make decisions about colleges and careers.  Naviance is a college counseling service that allows the college counselors to track and analyze data about college and career plans, so it provides up-to-date information that is specific to St. Andrew’s. 

The college counseling office also offers a variety of annual programs that provide developmentally appropriate information to students and parents, including:

• Evening Programs for Sophomores, Juniors, Seniors and their parents

• Junior and Sophomore Parent Coffees

• College Essay Writing Workshops

• Mock College Interviews and Workshops

• Mock College Admissions Application Committee Workshops for students

• Washington Area Independent School College Fair (co-sponsored by St. Andrew’s)

• Art Schools and Portfolios in the College Admissions Process program

• College Visits to St. Andrew’s:  Over 100 college admissions representatives visit St. Andrew’s every year to meet with students and with the college counselors.