We always say to families that their boys should be “healthy, happy, and engaged.” Grade 9 is not the time for boys to focus on activities that will look good on a college “resume.” Rather they should do their best in their academic classes, and select extracurricular activities that they are legitimately interested in pursuing. Starting in Grade 10, families might start looking at schools with their boys, and of course the Grade 11 and 12 boys are in the thick of the process.

At Browning, all students will take the PSAT and PreACT in their second year of Upper School so that they get experience with both. Many will have additional experience with these kinds of multiple choice questions and essays from their Advanced Placement classes. We tell students that the best standardized admission test is the one with which you feel most comfortable and we remind them that colleges accept either (and schools do not require testing at all).

We offer 13 advanced placement courses, and sometimes more, depending on demand.

We have conversations about how to ask good questions about things like majors and requirements or study abroad. We find that as boys visit with colleges they are well prepared to engage with the representatives.

These classes are weekly in Grade 11 and 12, and biweekly in Grade 9 and 10. Students start out in Grade 9 and 10 students don't really know what they are looking for or how to look at a college. In Grade 11, there's a lot of emphasis on the mechanics of creating a list, testing and completing the applications and that continues until the end of the first semester of Grade 12. In the second half of Grade 12 we start focusing on the college transition—how to register for classes, find the bursar or navigate typical first-year issues. 

Where we visit is less important than having students experience big schools, small schools, urban, suburban and rural schools, in a scenario where they are surrounded by classmates and I can share with them the important attributes to look for in a college. It's an “academic field trip” because we are teaching them how to visit colleges. We typically visit six to eight colleges each year.  

Each student is given a “Research List” of 40-50 schools and asked to read about them. Then he comes back to the college guidance office with likes and dislikes and we can generate some new suggestions. College Kickstart helps students create a well balanced list as well. 

Parents should spend more time investigating schools that they have never heard of and go beyond their understanding of what a "good school" can be. They should also purge words like “reject” from their vocabularies, and think about how the college process connects with their son's mental health and sense of self-worth. This can be a very challenging time for students and families shouldn't make it more high stakes than it needs to be.

It’s easy to see why Sanford Pelz, ‘71, is Browning’s longest-serving college guidance counselor. The son of an admisssions officer at Allen-Stevenson School and Grace Church School, and former tour guide at Colorado College, Mr. Pelz proclaims, “this work is in my blood.” Still brimming with enthusiasm after 30 years in the role and 45 years as a faculty member, he spoke to us about why most selective doesn’t necessarily mean best, the myth of the feeder school, and how he got managed the college process with his twin sons at Browning.

People think that “selective” always mean good---that’s a myth that colleges perpetuate and entrench because they are judged and rewarded by U.S. News & World Report (and therefore families and students), for having low admit rates. A 20% rate is not better than 30% admit rate. 

You can go to name-brand places and get a bad education.You can go to a lesser known place and come out with a fabulous education that leaves you prepared for great things.

A second myth is that the boy has no control. But he gets to build his transcript, he gets to pick who writes his recommendations, he chooses how many extracurricular activities to pursue, and he chooses where to apply. This control doesn’t determine whether he’ll get in or not. It’s like a roulette wheel --- even the most privileged kids may have a lot of spots on the roulette wheel, but they don’t get to cover them all. 

Families should be doing more research; this is a process with introspection at its core, and families should spend time looking at their student and looking at their transcript and asking, “What do you want to study?” These are big questions. Parents should stop looking for the “secret sauce”--this isn’t any. Parents often don’t consider the big element of chance. And unfortunately, families sometimes hear---and pass on---very inaccurate information.

I think our kids are a little less anxious coming into Grade 11 because they’ve known me since Grade 9 so they are more comfortable. A lot of them are coming into the end of Grade 11 and the beginning of Grade 12 with a clearer pathway of where the process is going to lead them.

The answer is partially in the question here, and a misconception that families may have. This job hasn’t been about placement in decades. Placement is figuring out who is sitting where at a wedding. Families assume that counselors can place students at certain universities but colleges admit kids, not schools. In a fair number of cases there’s legacy advantage or another “hook” for the student. In those cases, counselors can help and if the kid didn’t shoot himself in the foot, he’ll get in. I’m confideng that students may not always end up exactly where they want, but they almost always end up exactly where they should be.

The college tour, which takes our Grade 11 and 12 students to six to eight college a year, is a big differentiator—not many schools do a tour. I also will meet with families at any point in the Browning experience. I’ve met with Grade 4 parents and Grade 8 parents. In 30 years, I’ve never turned a family away.

When college reps come to see our school, I sit with them when they present to students; that’s a great way to keep up with trends. If I’m at conferences or even on vacation, I love to visit colleges.

It was 50% luck and 50% years of planning! I let colleges know that my sons considered themselves a package deal and that the admissions officers could speak to me as a father or as a college counselor—I didn’t mind either one. I was fortunate in their senior year that there weren’t other students who were interested in their areas of study or the particular colleges they desired. By the way, I ask all twins to tell me whether they want to be apart for college or not - even if the other twin isn’t at Browning. It’s also possible to be considered a package deal for some schools but not others.

I remember one kid who was still waiting to hear from a couple of schools. It happened that I was walking through the lobby and saw a great piece of artwork done by the student that really spoke to something meaningful that wouldn’t have shown up in his application materials. I snapped a picture and emailed it the admissions officers right away. Pretty soon afterward I got a call saying, “this is great, he can come.”