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| ACADEMICS |
| College Counseling
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Overview
College counseling at the Global Leader Program (GLP) is a long-term, individualized process. We begin counseling our students from the 10thgrade because we believe this allows students to make the best possible choices and greatly reduce the stress of applying to colleges. Whereas college counseling normally begins in the middle of the junior year, at the GLP we begin when students enroll in their sophomore year. Additionally, because we have developed our college counseling program in conjunction with our subject teachers, our counseling reinforces the spirit of inquiry and critical thinking that runs through the GLP¡¯s academic curriculum.
Throughout a student’s three years in the GLP, we value
active participation from their parents. We believe that our
parents are quite special in their own right and we also have
a great respect for their choice to send their children to
our school. In addition, parents know our students in ways
that we do not and this makes them invaluable assets in our
endeavors to guide the students. Parents can act as sounding
boards for their children’s thoughts, help their children
come to know themselves better, and support their children’s
carefully considered decisions.
The goal of our program is to empower our students to make
and execute the best possible plan for getting into the most
competitive colleges that match their individual needs. If
you believe a certain school is the best possible place for
you to learn, we will offer all our support to help you get
there. With that in mind, let’s look at an overview
of how you will spend your three years of college counseling
at the GLP.
Sophomore Year
College counseling in the sophomore year is designed to be
a fun, interactive, group-learning experience. Specifically,
our students will begin to prioritize their main interests,
consider their strengths and weaknesses, begin researching
schools and learning how to make strong applications and,
crucially, learn how to evaluate college applications. This
final point is very important because learning how to evaluate
applications helps students understand how admissions committees
judge applicants. This knowledge certainly does not guarantee
admission to a particular school, but it does give our students
an advantage over other applicants.
For those students interested, we will also help plan a schedule
for taking standardized tests, such as AP exams, PSAT, SAT,
SAT Subject tests and TOEFL during the sophomore year.
Junior Year & First Semester Senior Year
Throughout the junior year and the first semester of the senior
year, students will meet one-on-one with the college counselor
on a regular basis. Their communication with the counselor
will become more directly related to their own needs and desires
for the future. For example, students will begin identifying
criteria for the type of school they expect to attend and
will then search for colleges that match these criteria. Students
use their creativity, self-awareness, and interests developed
through the GLP to set the objectives for counseling meetings.
Rather than tell our students what to do, we prefer to listen
and support them as they find their own paths in the world.
That said, we also recognize the need for balance. Therefore,
even as we teach our students how to take advantage of freedom
and independence, we will nonetheless guide them on very practical
matters, such as when and which standardized tests to take,
what sorts of elective courses and extracurricular activities
will make their applications more competitive and, over time,
the counselor will require them to rigorously explain how
their prospective colleges can best meet their needs.
Summer Holiday & Second Semester Senior Year
By the summer break of their senior year, our students will
have a solid list of schools that they are considering. Ideally,
they will be able to visit a number of these schools during
the summer break. By the start of the second semester of their
senior year, they will have a finalized list of colleges and
begin writing applications. In reality, many students may
have already made some of these decisions and begun their
applications, although this certainly is not necessary.
The GLP’s students can expect a relatively smooth time
filling out applications and writing application essays. The
counseling they underwent in their sophomore year will have
prepared them for this, as will the skills and knowledge they
will have developed with their parents, teachers and peers.
Nonetheless, students will continue to meet regularly with
the college counselor and should expect to write multiple
drafts of their application essays. Although this will be
a challenging and time-consuming period, our students will
be ready for it.
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