College Counseling

Students begin to explore their academic and extracurricular interests and learn to engage  with the Dana Hall community. Through class meetings and drop-in hours or 1:1 sessions, college counselors help students navigate course selection, explore summer opportunities, and develop their academic and co-curricular interests.

In collaboration with the Athletic Department, we begin conversations with potential athletic recruits and their families, to help them consider and prepare for potential recruitment opportunities. We also provide general programming for 9th grade families to introduce them to our office, facilitate communication, and initiate them to the ever-changing college admissions landscape.

We believe that strong relationships between Dana Hall college counselors and students are imperative to a successful and rewarding college admissions process. As such, we assign college counselors to 10th graders, using a holistic process that matches students with the counselor who will be the right fit for their goals and interests.

Students begin meetings with their college counselors to discuss their course and co-curricular planning. We help sophomores choose appropriately challenging courses and cultivate their individual interests, whether in the classroom or through co-curricular activities. College counselors also offer programming for 10th grade families regarding the college admissions process, standardized testing, and emerging questions about financial aid.

We are fortunate to have the opportunity to integrate college counseling programming and readiness into our curriculum. College counselors work with juniors each week in 11th-grade Forum, a small seminar dedicated to the college admissions process and the work of self-reflection that it requires. In conjunction with those weekly group meetings, we hold one-on-one meetings with students and provide multiple parent and student events and communications throughout the year, including admissions panels, financial aid support, and advice from alumnae.

With our guidance, students think strategically about their goals and interests while reflecting on what they want from their next intellectual home. We partner with them and their families to develop appropriate testing plans, college lists, and unique and exciting frameworks for students’ essays and other application components while answering any and all questions that arise.

College counselors offer comprehensive, hands-on support, meeting regularly with students and families throughout the summer and into the fall and winter of senior year to ensure that a student’s strengths and application strategies are woven into every part of the application.

We review essays and other application materials, we prepare students for interviews, and we assist them in engaging with admissions officers, and especially the admissions representatives who visit Dana Hall through the fall season. Our office provides significant support for the financial aid process, helping both students and parents or guardians complete the necessary forms and navigate the process of both need-based and merit-based financial aid.

Our goal is to meet families where they are and provide support from start to finish — helping students write, complete, manage, and submit compelling applications and ultimately choose the college that is the right fit in every way!