The college application process can seem overwhelming. However, if you follow the systematic approach that is recommended and work closely with your counselor, you will successfully navigate the entire process, step by step. The process of applying to college is comprised of four major steps, with several sub-steps. Each step is outlined on the website. Please keep in mind that meeting all deadlines is critical to your success.

We look forward to working with you as you begin this new and exciting venture!

Sincerely,

Edgemont School Counselors

Before You Begin...

The Most Important Step

Some Food for Thought...

“Picking a college is an important decision because the experience can greatly affect the quality of one’s future. It can be the most exciting four years of your life. On the other hand, you can plod through largely untouched and unaffected... many teenagers give more thought to learning to drive than to picking a college. Confront yourself honestly. Why, really, are you going... for fun or for some other reason? What are your abilities and strengths? What are your weaknesses? What do you want out of life, or in life, something tangible or intangible? Are you supremely confident or hesitantly unsure of yourself? Do you want to give or to get? Are you a self-starter or in need of nurture and structure? Are you socially self-sufficient, marching to your own drummer, or do you need warm, familial support? Do you live in the fast track? And so on. If the student doesn’t look to him/herself, s/he is vulnerable to herd thinking--one of the principal causes of bad decisions. It takes both clarity and courage to look at oneself probingly and then to make decisions based on what one sees there and not be influenced by friends or classmates. After you have questioned yourself, you can effectively choose a college; but only after you have examined it, too.”

~Loren Pope (Author of Looking Beyond the Ivy League and Colleges That Change Lives)

“Most people think of college as preparation for a profession, a job, or graduate school. But it is also a chunk of life--six percent of our days and years. Here we make lifelong friends. We discover intellectual strengths. We begin to forge a philosophy. It can be a peak experience, exciting and enjoyable. Finding the right college is a project in itself, and is not one to be taken lightly. Since it is you who will attend, and not some statistical average, you must spend time determining your needs. What, for example, do you want out of college? What kind of person are you? What are your likes and dislikes, hopes and ambitions? Are you gregarious or solitary? Have you decided on a career, or are you still searching? Often students pick a college more or less at random, on the chance recommendation of a friend or because of a well-known name. They commit themselves to spending four crucial years in an environment chosen by accident. It’s four years of your life. With planning and forethought, you can make them the best.”

~Dr. John Brooks Slaughter (President, Occidental College