News

After the grueling waiting period comes to a close, seniors in the class of 2024 begin to lay out all their options for where they want to attend college. The past 12 months have been more than crazy for seniors applying to college. Some would say that junior year really doesn’t end until around Christmas break of senior year; this is because of taking standardized tests, writing college essays, working hard to maintain grades in school, and trying to pull together a culminating list of extracurricular activities for a resume. Once students hit submit on their Common Application, you would think it's all over; however, most seniors you talk to would say that waiting is the hardest part. Senior Claire Price says, “You have to see other people get into schools so early; it stresses you out. You could be the last one to find out. You know your future for so long until you reach senior year, and it's all up in the air from there.”

College counseling is a huge part of senior year at St. Andrew’s, and starting next year and really kicking in in the fall of 2025, the college counseling program at St. Andrew’s will look a lot different. 

After a wild year for college admissions, Directors of College Counseling Mr. Chadwick Fulton and Ms. Elizabeth Guice sit down to really reflect and talk about how to provide the best support to students throughout their high school years, keeping college in mind starting at a young age. Ms. Guice says, “The changes are being made for the students. The only reason we make changes to the system is to support the students better; they are what matter most at the end of the day.” 

In the past, college counseling at St. Andrew’s has been led by Ms. Guice and Mr. Fulton up until students reach the end of their junior year, and then they are assigned their advisory for senior year, where the advisor is those students' college counselor. Depending on grade size, there are 10/12 senior advisories, meaning 10/12 senior college counselors. Students work with their respective counselors throughout senior year to prepare resumes, essays, and more to achieve their hopes and dreams of attending high-profile colleges. Prior to receiving senior-year advisors/counselors, students are welcome to talk to Ms. Guice or Mr. Fulton about their future plans, course scheduling, and more. 

As the college admissions process becomes more and more competitive, students have become more enticed to begin college planning at a younger age. Ms. Guice says, “The change is something we have been thinking about for a while as we have watched the shift in the timeline.” Beginning during the fall of 2025, senior advisors will no longer be their advisees' college counselors. St. Andrew's plans to hire two additional associate directors of college counseling by the end of our current school year. These hires will spend the 2024-2025 school year on campus helping where they can and getting to know students before the new system officially launches in the fall of 2025. Thus, beginning freshman year, students will be assigned to one of the four counselors who will guide them until they graduate from high school and decide where they will attend college. Students additionally will remain in their same advisories from freshman to senior year, and current advisors will get to advise at each grade level with their same group, an additional change along with the new counseling system. 

 All four of the college counselors will have roughly 100 students, 25 from each grade. Students will be able to meet with the counselors whenever they have free time. Additionally, all four counselors will have an office where students are welcome to pop in and get assistance when needed. “The current system is wonderful and amazing because of the college counseling team, but there isn't a long runway to build trust and rapport with students and families when those matches aren’t being made until spring of junior year,” Ms. Guice said. “Knowing your counselor from freshman to senior year really helps build a strong personal connection, which is vital for the college admissions process,” Mr. Fulton chimes in. The four college counselors will work hard to get to know all their students so by the time senior year rolls around, they will be ready to hit the ground running with college applications and resumes instead of trying to catch up on the past three years of a senior's life.

Additionally, counselors will be able to help their younger students with course planning and extracurricular activities so they can prepare a clear line of interest to demonstrate in their future applications. Senior Emily Gregg notes, “I think the new system will be successful if the people are available for all 100 students to be able to meet with them. The beauty of the system now is that you have your advisor as your counselor, and you are required to meet with them three times a week.” 

The four college counselors will primarily focus on their seniors while they are in the midst of tough application questions and personal essay edits. However, they will each simultaneously be working with their younger 75 students to ensure they are on the right track and all of their questions regarding college and their futures are being answered. This new system aims to familiarize students with the college process at a younger age so they can keep it in the back of their minds as they progress through their high school years. Sophomore Olivia Brown says, “I am excited to be in the first grade with the new counseling system. I have heard how crazy it is to apply to college, and I am excited they are preparing us sooner.” 

When current senior advisor and college counselor Ms. Linh Tran is asked about the new system, she says, “As the college admissions process changes, the school needs to introduce and incorporate new flavors into the system. Everything is bound for change.” 

In the rapidly growing world of social media, Snapchat Plus and Instagram have recently incorporated new ground-breaking technology, integrating Artificial Intelligence to redefine the user experience. Snapchat’s AI usage enhances the functions of the platform, but also is a prime example of AI’s involvement in social media. Instagram is using AI to help customize the user’s feed to tailor everyone's experience. 

Snapchat Plus uses an AI-powered content recommendation system. By heavily using advanced data analysis, the platform delivers tailor-made content suggestions based on users' preferences, behavior patterns, and interests. This feature is called MyAI and is like a built-in friend, but it's just a computer. You can ask MyAI anything, and even give it a name! Kelly Sooch, the lead data scientist at Pennybacker Capital and a family friend, says that “Snapchat and Instagram are improving with more advanced AI capabilities. Snapchat is using AI in its filters with facial recognition software.” 

This MyAI feature sounds fun at first, but some students have experienced difficulty. Ava Sweeney, a Snapchat Plus user says that “at first it was fun to play around with, but eventually it started sending me pictures and complimenting the color of my outfit…it creeped me out!” She goes on to say that the filters on the other hand “are so fun– my friends and I love sending them back and forth with each other!” Snapchat Plus also has groundbreaking AI filters and photo effects that elevate the creative potential of its users. By analyzing facial features, the platform generates filters in real-time. Snapchat Plus offers an unparalleled level of customization and immersion. 

Many social media platforms are picking up this AI technology. Sooch says that “Instagram is growing and changing rapidly. They’re continuing to add new features which can replace other apps and remove the need for the user to leave the app. For example, you can now shop within Instagram itself, rather than be redirected to an online store.” It is constantly growing to adapt to the user. 

Instagram on the other hand similarly uses AI in their filters as well, but the biggest difference is in their ads. Sooch discusses how “Instagram uses AI to improve user recommendations and targeted ads, showing users content that they’re more likely to be interested in and purchase.” Sweeney adds that in her experience ads “feel like my phone is listening to me sometimes. I will talk about something and then later it will pop up on my phone.” This feature is not only used to customize the user experience, but also to help instagram and the ads they promote generate revenue. 

With these new developments, come new safety and reliability concerns.  Because AI is a computer, you never really know where the information it is giving you comes from. Mr. Adam Starbuck, who works in the tech office at St. Andrew’s, has some serious concerns. “Oh, it's just all the misinformation. It just makes up stuff on the spot. It'll spit out a lot of stuff that's really good, and then occasionally, it'll just start spewing nonsense, but you can't tell the difference.” Along with this, he gives his best advice on how to navigate the safety around AI: “Don't believe the first thing that you read. Your AI is programmed to not tell you how to do unsafe things. People can get around it if they're smart, but the most unsafe thing I think is just taking it for face value.”  Beyond enhancing user engagement, Snapchat Plus and other platforms claim to demonstrate a commitment to safeguarding user privacy and security. 

AI is unavoidable, but it can be seen as a good thing if you know how to use it and understand why AI is designed to improve the user experience  as time goes on. Sooch says that “definitely when these recommendations are in deployment, with more time the company collects more training data, since they will learn which recommendations are then purchased and which are ignored. This data/feedback allows them to further improve their AI models and recommendations, resulting in a continuous feedback loop in which the AI is constantly growing and improving.” AI is clearly here to stay and will no doubt transform our experience in social media.