The College Counseling Team at Kiski is committed to helping our boys with the entire college search process. We work in conjunction with the administration, faculty, students and parents in an attempt to find a proper fit for the college bound student. Accordingly, there is a specific agenda that we follow for each group of our boys along the way.

The freshmen and sophomores have relatively similar responsibilities. They need to focus on creating a strong academic foundation of courses. It is also important for them to be civil minded; colleges like to see that they are volunteering their services. It is also expected that our boys will take advantage of the many extracurricular activities offered here at the school. Colleges and universities like to see that their applicants are well rounded individuals. Currently, sophomores and juniors take the PSAT in October.  Juniors take their first SAT exam in May.

The junior year is the most important year with respect to the college search process. Each junior will select their college counselor and meet with them in early January. At this point we will begin discussing their thoughts about college and where their interests and desires are. At this time, we like to meet with the parents in order to get their thoughts about the process. From both interactions, we attempt to put together a list of schools that each student feels comfortable exploring. It is expected that each one of the boys visits potential schools during breaks and summer vacations. They also will have the opportunity to meet with representatives as they come to Kiski during the fall. Throughout all of this, it is expected that juniors maintain a strong academic and extracurricular record. Obviously, this is the year that colleges look at when they begin to review applications.

As we mentioned before, the junior year is the most pivotal in this entire process. However, the senior year is also important. Hopefully by this point, each boy has decided on five to seven schools to apply to. Our international students have a few more requirements that they need to fulfill for this process in addition to devising a list of potential colleges. We expect all regular decision applications to be in by November before Thanksgiving break; early decision candidates should have their information in by October 1. This creates enough time for the office to process the appropriate information. With the major portion of the application process done, each student can concentrate on ending their senior year strong.

Clearly the college search process is an important one to all people involved; certainly we take our role quite seriously in the College Counseling Office. Working as a team with the administration, faculty and students, we aspire to place each one of our boys in the college or university that offers the best “fit”. Throughout this entire process we will be here as an advocate for each one of our boys and their parents. We are available for any questions that may come up along the way. Also, please take some time to peruse the list of helpful internet sites as well as some helpful forms that we’ve developed which should provide additional support during this process.