Jasmine Liu ‘25
Photo from the St. Mark’s School website: College Counseling.
The start of September marked the beginning of the new school year with new student orientation week, convocation, Fall sports, and the start of classes. However, for current Vth and VIth Form students, this month also signaled the beginning of that infamously daunting task: the college application process.
Ever since its founding in 1865, St. Mark’s School has been focused on preparing students of grades 9-12 for the leap into college life. The Episcopal boarding school carries out this mission through numerous programs such as the Advanced course curriculum, college counseling (for Vth and VIth Form students), mandatory afternoon sports/extracurriculars, and most recently, college visits.
Thanks to the St. Mark’s college counseling department, admission officers from numerous colleges and universities from around the US will be visiting the school throughout this fall. College visits allow Vth and VIth formers the opportunity to discover and learn about various colleges and universities through the lens of an admissions officer. These information sessions give St. Markers the opportunity to hear about the college, ask questions, and get to know someone from the admissions office before applying.
Since September 14th, colleges have begun visiting St. Mark’s campus. These visits typically happen in the evenings before study hall, although a college would sometimes pop in during a community block. Although the counseling office did send out an organized list of the times and meeting places for the different information sessions, the office will still keep students updated each week on the upcoming college visits. Typically, these information sessions occur in the Forbes Presentation Room, Admissions Conference Room, and College Office, but always check the list to stay updated on each location.
If you are a Vth or VIth Form student and have not gone to any of the college visits yet, then do not worry. There are many more colleges to come, including institutions like Oberlin College (10/2/23), Washington University in St. Louis (10/2/23), Colby College (10/3/23), Boston College (10/5/23), University of Chicago (10/10/23), and Emory University (10/10/23). However, even if you do not recognize a college’s name, the counseling office thoughtfully included a list of similar colleges for each institution to help students gain a better preview of the visiting college. The whole point of these meetings is to encourage students to learn about different colleges and consider where their interests lie.
In general, St. Mark’s upper formers are rather satisfied with the college visits and information sessions. “I think it’s a great way for us to learn about the different colleges to gain a better sense of where to apply,” One VIth Form student remarked. Yet, another Vth Form student mentioned that she wished she “knew about this opportunity as an IVth Form student as well.” However, overall, college visits are a great opportunity for students to discover more colleges, build up their potential application list, and better prepare for the years ahead.