Navigating Futures: Inside the World of College and Career Counseling with Mrs. Keating

Feeling the weight of college decisions? You’re not alone in that boat. But here’s the real deal: Mrs. Keating, our College and Career counselor, is here to help steer you through the storm, turning confusion into clear pathways for your future.

From Admissions to Counseling

After completing her undergraduate program at Siena College, Elizabeth Keating began working at Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh as an admissions counselor. She was eventually tasked with recruiting on Long Island in a counseling office with students and a school counselor.

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘I love what I’m doing, and I love creating relationships with students,’” Keating said in an interview. “But, my relationships were very short-lived as a recruiter because you bring students into the college, and then you pass them off to the academic advisor.”

It was at that moment that she decided to go back for her master’s degree in counseling at Long Island University, Rockland Campus.

After having her children, Keating stepped away from the school building and opened her own private college consulting business for roughly seven years. When she decided her children were old enough, she began looking for counseling positions back in the school environment. “There’s something about working in an actual school that’s very different from anything else,” she says. “I wanted to cultivate the relationships in the school building and work with students in a different component.”

While applying for counseling positions, the Wappingers Central School District happened to be looking for a College and Career counselor. Keating’s experience in admissions, coupled with her work in her consulting business, made the position a seamless and obvious choice. She stated in the interview, “I get the best of both worlds because I get to do what I love and what I’m passionate about, but I get to do it in a school building.”

Course Rigor

“The number one thing any college is going to look at when reviewing your application, first and foremost, is course rigor.”

Course rigor, also known as the strength of curriculum, increases as a student elevates the difficulty of their courses. Top colleges and universities are looking to see if a student has taken the most challenging courses that they are able to take at the academic level they are at. This may seem daunting at first; however, Keating adds, “I’m not saying that every student should be taking AP Statistics. But, have you challenged yourself year after year to show that course rigor?”

A good way to demonstrate this course rigor is to take a fourth year of math—a step beyond the state requirement of three credits.

Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities are also central to a strong application, and getting involved in various activities is key to figuring out what a student is passionate about. Mrs. Keating states, “Too many students think they want to go into a certain profession based on what they think that profession looks like.” Volunteering is a great way to gain experience in a field to determine if it is truly suitable for an individual or not.

If you are committing to an extracurricular activity for the sole purpose of making your application look more appealing to colleges, then you have the wrong approach.

“I tell students all the time: be yourself. When you create and craft a person that you truly aren’t and submit that application based on things you don’t necessarily love, is that going to be a great match for you when you get into that college?”

For instance, if you’re interested in pursuing business, you may want to explore the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA). That way, you can get a feel for what it’s like to be surrounded in a business environment through their competitions in areas such as public speaking, financial math, and sports management.

Standardized Tests (SAT/ACT)

Recently, colleges and universities such as Dartmouth and MIT have been moving past the educational predicament caused by COVID-19 and have reinstituted the requirement to submit standardized test scores (SAT/ACT) in college applications. This is because many schools find a student’s SAT or ACT score to be a reliable predictor of a student’s success at their institution. For this reason, Mrs. Keating recommends that all students take the SAT or ACT; “I would rather you have it and not need it than need it and not have it.” Though a school may appear to be test-optional in the application process, a particular program within the school, such as a nursing program, may require an SAT/ACT score to be submitted.

If you are not satisfied with your SAT or ACT score, then you may always retake it. Additionally, most schools will superscore your results—that is, they will take the highest score achieved in each category out of all your retakes when considering your total score. It doesn’t hurt to take both the SAT and ACT, but do note that they are different tests which favor different skills. Many students prefer one test over the other, but both scores are interchangeable in the application process.

Recommendation Letters & College Essay

Letters of recommendation are another component of the application process. They are essential to bringing a different light to your application beyond your transcript, highlighting your character and who you are as a person.

“Don’t pick your favorite teacher; pick the teacher who knows you well. It’s okay to pick a teacher in which you struggled in their class because if you persevered over something that was difficult, that says a lot about you as a person.”

Your college essay is also crucial to showcasing your personal qualities and core values that a college committee can not see anywhere else in your application. Give them a compelling narrative of your identity, which shines a light on your personal fundamentals and passions.

Your Path to Success: Utilizing Mrs. Keating’s Expertise

If you have any questions about your post-secondary plan, then do not hesitate to arrange an appointment to visit Mrs. Keating at her office in Room 218, Suite 6. Looking to go to a 2-year or 4-year school? Mrs. Keating can walk you through the process and will know all the details about the Common Application. Trying to go right into the workforce? She has a database of roughly 500 colleges and vendors who are looking for the talent of our student body.

“Our district deems your future important. There’s a reason that I’m here working with the senior counselors. Not every district has this resource, so utilize it.”