“Our college office is about the process not the product,” Kathleen Martin, College Guidance Counselor, quotes Head of School Brian Garman. The college process begins as soon as the students walk through the doors on their first day of Upper School at Friends. Kathleen says that the college office encourages students from the very beginning of high school to think about who they are and what is important to them. Kathleen also encourages the students to push themselves academically, (“shine.shine,shine”) to be the best that they can be throughout their high school careers. One question in particular that Kathleen tells students to ask themselves is “Who am I?” This allows students to already have some level of understanding of themselves when junior year rolls around and the college office begins meeting with the students and their parents.

During these meetings Kathleen asks questions like, “what do you want out of college?” and “what are your priorities?” Based on each individual student’s answers, Kathleen and Ms. Smith work to develop a college list. From then on, students can investigate colleges by visiting their campuses. By the spring of junior year, the list will narrow as the students cross off options or keep colleges that they have liked. Also, to help the students research colleges, the school has more than 150 colleges visit. All juniors and seniors are welcome to attend any of the meetings to a college of their liking with a three-day notice to the teacher whose class they will miss during the meeting. During the summer before senior year, all students are encouraged to take part in an Application 101, a boot camp that helps students with college preparation.

By Halloween time of senior year, almost all college applications are submitted. On average, most students apply to six or seven colleges. Generally, at  least three quarters of the Wilmington Friends’s senior class applies early action to at least one school. Whether or not a school is test-optional is an important variable to investigate in the college process, as many students look into it each year. Test-optional schools do not require students to send in their SAT or ACT test scores. Recently, more schools have transitioned to a test-optional approach. Being able to use the Common Application makes applying for several schools at the same time easier. The Common Application  allows students to use one form, with the same questions, for each school that offers it. Final decision occurs in the beginning of May of the student’s senior year.

 Kathleen says she loves the amazing range of colleges that students end up applying to.  “Our kids range from a 2.0 GPA to a 4.6 GPA and 400 to 800 for each SAT section. There are 2000 four year colleges in the U.S, alone, and everyone finds a college that is perfect for them.”