Sitting in Centennial Hall, many parents and some responsible students listened to college deans, directors, and officers remark on the admissions process, providing tips and tricks.
One speaker at the Tuesday, February 4th event wondered so many parents and so few students attended, when, after all, “the student is accepted to college, not the parent,” according to one speaker.
The question arises: how do we get more students to attend such a helpful event? While a portion of Centennial Hall filled, many students did not attend. Perhaps the Haverford versus Malvern basketball game played a role.
The value of supporting one’s school is important, and fans are crucial to the success of the Fords sports teams. Evidently, this is one of the highest priorities a Ford has.
College Counseling’s goal is always a higher level of attendance. “We certainly wish [attendance] was higher,” Director of College Counseling Mr. Damian Long said.
“These events are very deliberately designed to be student-centered, student-focused, with a parent playing a support role.”
Mr. Damian Long
When it comes to planning, College Counseling isn’t at fault. According to Mr. Long, this event was likely planned months prior to the Malvern game. “We started planning in the summer…and we picked the date in early September,” he said.
Mr. Long explained that this program is part of “our first year returning to in-person events”—a change implemented to increase attendance. “The partnership piece was also new,” Mr. Long said, referring to the collaboration between Haverford, The Agnes Irwin School, and The Baldwin School.
Fifth Former Jay Tyson thinks he knows the reason why student attendance wasn’t so high: “Two other events on the same day…the Malvern game…and a dinner.”
Tyson noted that he “saw a lot more people” at a college counseling event in the fall, so he believes that the low turnout was simply due to the conflicting events.
As mentioned earlier, the college admissions process is designed for the student with parental support.
“These events are very deliberately designed to be student-centered, student-focused, with a parent playing a support role,” Mr. Long said.
But parents’ attendance was still higher than students’.
In an effort to raise student attendance, College Counseling has considered the idea of a mandatory event during the school day. But Mr. Long is hesitant to make the change. “Traditionally, College Counseling events have run in the evening so that both parents and students can hear the same information,” he said.
Mr. Long notes that the key is not “creat[ing] unnecessary stress,” because the office wants to avoid “interrupt[ing] the academic day.”
One might think that a virtual event would work better for attendance; however, according to Mr. Long, they didn’t.
It seems as though the event could and should have been better attended by those just beginning their college search process. That timeframe could be anywhere from Fifth Formers beginning the process to others including the Fourth or even Third Formers.
The idea of doing something during the school day, such as a mandatory event, keeps Mr. Long and the College Counselling Office thinking. How can we get more students involved, potentially in a mandatory manner?
It seems that, while the event wasn’t necessarily all new information for Fifth Formers, it would certainly be helpful for Third and Fourth Formers—which is why the idea of a mandatory event shouldn’t be thrown away immediately for students’ benefit.
According to Fifth Former Jack Ford, the material discussed at the event was “pretty surface level,” so it would be a great event for “students who are just kind of thinking about the college process now or looking into it.”
“Obviously that was a great event for them and a great time for them to hear it from an admissions officer,” Ford said.
Tyson agreed, stating that everyone “had useful information to share,” however “it seemed more for beginners into the college search” which is “what we’re all, all of us [Fifth Formers], are kind of doing right now… but I know some people, me included, have already started working toward that.”
Tyson concluded that if it was “your first college counseling meeting or your first time starting the process, it was very helpful.”
For someone like Ford, it was an opportunity to ensure that he knows and explores all his “options and opportunities.” Even though the material wasn’t all new for him, it was still a great resource and ensured that he is “well prepared and well educated,” which is his “number-one priority.”
Ford reiterated the value of having other grades, particularly Third and Fourth Formers, attend these events. “The focus was on [Fifth Formers]” because they are the ones who are applying to college, however “promoting this to all ages, but especially younger grades,” is the most important for this type of event, Ford concluded.
Gaining an excellent student attendance is quite the balancing act, there are so many factors present to try and promote a healthy attendance level.
Tyson doesn’t necessarily think we need a mandatory event for everyone to participate in because “everybody’s at their different stages” and so therefore no one has to be forced into “learn[ing] something you already knew.”
Ford also mentioned how even the College Counseling seminars that students attend have information that could be valuable for younger students because someone like him has “already taken the SAT”—so therefore, this could be more beneficial for those outside of Fifth Form year.
Ford argued that if he had been introduced to College Counseling events at a younger age, he wouldn’t have had to “deal with these problems” in the summer and had to do his “own research” which was ultimately “more annoying than if somebody had done this” for him in the past.
Gaining an excellent student attendance is quite the balancing act, there are so many factors present to try and promote a healthy attendance level.
