The goal of Westover's College Counseling Office is to help all of our students matriculate to colleges where they will thrive and from which they will emerge prepared to be leaders and agents of change in the world.
While students and parents are encouraged to work with the College Office at any time during their years at Westover, we begin the process with several events in the sophomore year. In the junior year, we gain intensity as we gather for an eight-week college seminar that is followed by individual meetings. As we continue our journey to find schools that "fit” our students best, we strive to provide individual assistance and to build relationships with students and families.
Working hard throughout your high school years is something only you can do. What we do is strive to empower our students with knowledge of the college process and help them find “good fits” for their next academic journeys. We work to match students with schools where they can be successful students, athletes and artists.
FOUR-YEAR CURRICULUM:
Our four-year, comprehensive program allows us to build strong connections with students. Focusing on a growth mindset, we work with students to find their own path to college. We do this by teaching them how to set goals, look at summer programs, course planning, and lots of snacks! We believe that students need all the support they can get so our communication wraps around with parents and families, advisors, and the students themselves so everyone has a clear picture of the journey ahead.
The College Office also partners with external programs to ensure all aspects of the college process are covered. Our partnership with “The College Money Method” allows parents and families to learn about the financial aid process from the first year of attendance and follows you all the way to senior year. College Kickstart is our data analytics program that pulls not only from Westover historical data but also from national data as well, to show our students where colleges fit on their lists. Several times a year the office hosts parent and family presentations to give updates on what’s new and what everyone can expect going forward in our office.
Ninth grade at Westover is full of new and exciting things. Because of this, we let the students settle in for a semester so they can fully immerse themselves at Westover and start to build foundations for the future.
The students will meet with their respective counselors beginning in the spring of their Freshman year. This meeting is designed to get to know the student: who they are, what they like, how they’re feeling, etc. Students might discuss course selection and summer plans as well to start them thinking about the path they’re going to create while at Westover. They might even begin working on a resume with their counselor!
For families of 9th graders, the College Office offers a parent presentation in the spring to ensure that all families are up to date and know what to expect. We also offer a financial aid series, “The College Money Method,” that starts in the first year at Westover and is designed to walk families through the financial aid college process from freshman through senior year.
In the students' second year at Westover, the College Office helps students to think seriously about their goals and aspirations. The College Office meets with sophomores in the fall and in the spring to check in and work on resume building and course selection. Sophomores also attend Career Panels and College Fairs. These experiences are for exposure rather than strict planning. Our series with “The College Money Method” also continues to help families and their students understand college finances.
At this time students might begin thinking about visiting colleges and thinking about their preferences. Do they want a small, rural school or a large university in the middle of a city? Finding out their own preferences for college now will help streamline their list-making in their junior and senior years.
Junior year is when the pace begins to pick up. Counselors will meet with their respective students in the second half of the fall semester. At this point, the counselors and students will work together to create a plan of action. This may include looking at extracurricular activities, creating a college list, and signing up for testing.
In the Spring, juniors will attend the Junior College Seminar. This is a 10-week course that meets weekly with the entire junior class. This seminar is designed to demystify and deconstruct all aspects of the college process from the very basics, like do you want a small college or a large university, all the way to how financial aid packages vary based on the schools I apply to. During this time, the College Office will continue to host seminars with Paul Martin in the “College Money Method” to talk about the financial side of college and how it can affect families
and guardians.
Counselors will meet with the Junior class after the seminar concludes to finalize summer plans,
testing, and their senior class schedule, with a reminder to still take the most rigorous course
load possible for that student.
Senior year is 'go time'. All the work the students have put in over four years comes to a conclusion this year. In the Fall of their senior year, students will meet in the first week of school to attend College Boot Camp, where they have dedicated time to work on applications, essays, and supplements. During the semesters, students will meet with Representatives from over 80 colleges and universities from around the country. This demonstrates interest and can help their applications. Soon enough, November 1st is rolling around and seniors are busy submitting applications. At this point the College Office will give the students space and follow up with individual meetings as needed.
In the Spring, counselors will meet with students as needed. These meetings are also a reminder to finish out the year as strong as they started.
Meet Our Team
Westover Students have been accepted to the following Colleges and Universities in the last 5 years:
| American University | St. John's University-New York |
| American University of Beirut | St. Lawrence University |
| Bates College | St. Mary's College of Maryland |
| Boston College | State University of New York at New Paltz |
| Brandeis University | Suffolk University |
| Carnegie Mellon University | Syracuse University |
| Clark University | The College of Wooster |
| Advancement of Science and Art | The University of Alabama |
| Cornell University | The University of the South |
| Dickinson College | Toronto Metropolitan University |
| Duke University | Tufts University |
| Emerson College | Union College (NY) |
| Emory University | United States Military Academy |
| Fairfield University | University of Alberta |
| George Washington University | University of Arizona |
| Georgetown University | University of California-Davis |
| Gettysburg College | University of California-Irvine |
| High Point University | University of California-Los Angeles |
| Howard University | University of California-San Diego |
| John Cabot University | University of California-Santa Barbara |
| Johns Hopkins University | University of Connecticut |
| Keio University | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Macalester College | University of Louisiana at Lafayette |
| Manhattan College | University of Michigan-Ann Arbor |
| McGill University | University of New Hampshire-Main Campus |
| Merrimack College | University of New Haven |
| Muhlenberg College | University of Richmond |
| Pratt Institute-Main | University of Rochester |
| Princeton University | University of San Francisco |
| Purdue University | University of South Florida-Main Campus |
| Reed College | University of Southern California |
| Rhodes College | University of St Andrews |
| Roger Williams University | University of Toronto |
| Rollins College | University of Vermont |
| Sacred Heart University | University of Washington-Bothell Campus |
| Saint Anselm College | Vassar College |
| Santa Clara University | Wake Forest University |
| Sarah Lawrence College | Waseda University |
| School of Visual Arts | Washington College |
| Siena College | Washington University in St Louis |
| Skidmore College | Williams College |
| Smith College | Worcester Polytechnic Institute |
| Southern Methodist University | Yale University |
| Springfield College |