Congratulations, Seniors!

This past Saturday, the Class of 2014 graduated from Holy Innocents'.  Our newest alumni will head off to 58 different colleges and universities in places as far flung as Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Miami, and Montreal.  Some will leave the US to begin college on study abroad programs or to pursue international gap year experiences.  This is the second graduating class I've worked with and the first group I counseled all the way from junior year through graduation.  It's a group with so many different personalities, strengths, interests, and quirks.  Collectively, I'll miss the Class of 2014's tremendous sense of humor.  Not shy about ridiculous costumes, quick to loudly congratulate one another (and surprised underclassmen) on having had a great day at school, and always ready to embrace a moment of silliness, this year's graduating class filled HIES's hallways with life.  Individually, I'll miss the regular visitors to my red couch - the discussions about essays and applications and where to ultimately attend college, but also the conversations about things completely unrelated to college counseling.  You all have much to be proud of, and it has been both fun and rewarding to watch your growth over the last year.  I wish you all the best as you embark on the next chapter of your young lives.  Seek opportunities for growth, have the courage to chart your own paths, don't take yourselves too seriously, and come back to visit us on occasion.  Congratulations!

Senior Guest Blog: Michael Henley

Michael Henley, Lela Johnson, Alyson Wright

            If I could give one main piece of advice regarding the college application process, it would probably be this: remember who you are and who you want to be. If you follow this one rule, then I believe that the whole process should go a lot smoother for you. I see so many people (many of my close friends included) who apply to a lot of schools that they don’t really want to go to. They just apply anyway, almost as if for no reason at all. Make sure you have a reason to apply somewhere. Not only will this help you remember who you are and who you want to be in the future, but it will also make things a lot easier in regard to your time management, essay writing, and decision-making.

            Personally, I ended up applying to seven different schools. While this list may appear rather large at first, it is actually a lot smaller than it was when I first started my college search back at the end of sophomore year. Originally, I wanted to apply to twelve different schools, which while it could have been done, it would have been a lot more overwhelming. Now you can see the great importance in narrowing down your college choices by thinking about why you really want to go there.

            On a different note, another piece of advice I would like to give would be to ask as many questions as possible. The college application process can be extremely confusing at times, and it is greatly important that you ask questions whenever they need to be asked. More specifically, never forget to consult your college counselor at Holy Innocents’ when you have these questions. They’re there for a reason, and they’re really really good at what they do.

            Next, as you go through this process, I strongly encourage you to stay positive. Don’t doubt yourself about the schools you’re trying to get into. In my experience, I ended up getting rejected from some schools that I didn’t think I would get rejected from, while also getting accepted into a few schools I didn’t expect to get accepted into. In this process, you never really know what’s going to happen, so keep your head up.

            Lastly, I’d like to encourage you to keep your studies up, even after you’ve already applied to college. So many students nowadays decide to ditch their grades as soon as they’ve applied to college, and this isn’t necessarily the smartest decision. Colleges are able to see your grades at the end of your second semester of senior year, and if they see that your grades have not met the same standards as when you applied, then they might have second thoughts about your college decision. That being said, you would really have to mess up for your acceptance to be rescinded, so just try your best, don’t get too lazy (because believe me, I definitely got lazy), and you should be fine.

            All right, well, I hope this helped. Good luck next year! It’s really not as bad as everyone says it is (but it might be just as stressful), and I can’t wait to see where everyone ends up! In the meantime, I’ll be starting the next chapter of my life at the University of Southern California in the fall, and I am incredibly excited. Hopefully I’ll see some of you out there next year! Until then, I wish you all the best.

Senior Guest Blog: Mary Hollis Schmidt

Hello all! 

                  Senior year was the most stressful year I’ve had to go through in high school, but also the most rewarding. My experience with applying to college was a little bit crazier than expected. I had absolutely no clue where I wanted to go to college at the end of junior year or what I wanted to study for that matter. My parents kept nagging me asking me if I wanted a large University or a small Liberal Arts College or if I wanted to go out West or up North, but I had absolutely no idea what I wanted. It made the process a little bit more difficult.

                  I had friends at Sewanee: The University of the South and University of Georgia and I visited both schools. After these two visits I knew I wanted a rural setting because I didn’t like all of the hustle and bustle of a college town and also that I wanted to move far away from home. That narrowed it down, but not quite enough. I am much more of an English/History person, so my parents suggested looking into Liberal Arts schools. I looked everywhere from Pitzer College in California, to Ithaca College in New York; Lewis and Clark in Oregon and Colorado College, and I loved all of these schools. They were small, outdoorsy and far enough away from home. I really appreciated the colleges that did not look strictly at test scores and GPA, but really took into account the holistic view of the applicant. For example, I applied “Test Optional” to three out of the eleven schools I applied to, and I also chose to do an interview with these schools.  If you are very outgoing and a people person you should definitely consider an interview. If your school isn’t close enough to visit campus, most schools conduct phone interviews. This interview gave me the chance to speak a little bit about my high school career and explain my accomplishments in a way that wasn’t quantitatively calculated. 

                  At the start of senior year I had it narrowed down to around fifteen schools (not very narrowed down)… I began to start my applications and realized this process was going to take a lot of essay writing. That being said, I really enjoyed writing my essays. It was very personal and I opened up in my writing. I strongly suggest writing about something you are passionate about. It can be something minuscule and not significant to the people around you, but something that affected your life in a major way. Colleges really do appreciate when you are able to “bleed on the page.” Also, do not wait until the last minute. I decided two nights before the deadline to apply to Sewanee and they had five essays on their application… Let’s just say those two nights were filled with lots of coffee and not a lot of sleep.

                  When it was all said and done I applied to three large Universities and around six smaller ones. I applied to all schools Early Action mostly because I had all of my essays written, but also because I wanted to hear earlier from schools in January rather than April. As the acceptance letters started to come in, I had to make a final decision. I decided my top schools were Ithaca College, Lewis and Clark College, Colorado College, and Denver University. The best advice I have to all of you is to go and visit the college. You need to get a feel of the campus and get to know some of the students to fully understand if you are going to fit in there. On paper they can make it sound great, but you don’t actually know if you are going to like it or not until you have visited.

When I visited Colorado College I knew it was right for me. They have a unique learning system based on the Block Plan where you take 1 class for three and a half weeks and then have a block break for four days. This allows travel and exploration, but also allows me to focus on one class at a time. When I went up there for admitted student weekend I felt a connection and was completely at ease with my decision. I cannot wait to spend the next four years there! 

                  My best advice for you youngsters is to start writing essays early, there is nothing more stressful than having schoolwork AND an essay deadline all in one week. Also talk to people; don’t be shy. Everyone loves talking about the school they go to, so ask them questions and even go and stay with them. It will definitely help you narrow your choices. It’s the first big decision you are making on your own and it’s emotional for everyone. Last thing: do not be afraid to apply to different types of schools. I am so glad I applied to a wide selection of schools because it gave me options that I was extremely happy about in the end.