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:
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Evening Programs for Sophomores, Juniors,
Seniors and their parents
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Junior and Sophomore Parent Coffees
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College Essay Writing Workshops
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Mock College Interviews and Workshops
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Mock College Admissions Application Committee
Workshops for students
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Washington Area Independent School College Fair
(co-sponsored by St. Andrew’s)
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Art Schools and Portfolios in the College
Admissions Process program
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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.