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College counseling team meets with senior parents
It was part cold, hard facts, and part-therapy session. Director of College Counseling Marty Elkins and her team met Aug. 30 with senior parents, swamping them with information and then encouraging them to step aside and let their seniors – and capable college counselors – manage the process.
"Let us be the nag," Elkins said at the Lewis Family Auditorium. "Then you can love and cheerlead and support ... This is when they need to learn to fly on their own."
Elkins and counselors Blair Betts, Lyndsey Wagner and William Tran discussed the college-application process from beginning to end, laying out deadlines, explaining the admissions options, offering guidance on essays, and ... acknowledging how overwhelming it can seem.
"The best way to get through this is a careful, purposeful, individual, thoughtful approach," Elkins said. "Step by step by step."
On that front, all of them said: We got this. Elkins cited her years of experience (three decades at six independent schools) and her colleagues' previous employment in college admissions offices. They encouraged a mix of dreaming big, staying realistic and considering the big picture throughout.
"I like to make sure, in the worst-case scenario, that every student has five great choices by April, and they are paralyzed by the good choices," Elkins said.
The Ransom Everglades Parents' Association helped organize the event and provided hors d'oeuvres and refreshments. Elkins started the evening by outlining the philosophy behind the process, and how her team of counselors would consider the special attributes and interests of every senior as part of a holistic approach. She then passed the microphone to Wagner, who explained the nuts and bolts of getting started.
Betts guided parents through the various deadlines and expectations for September and October. Tran sorted through the process beyond October. Most students, the counselors said, would end up submitting 10-12 applications and writing a couple dozen essays.
The RE counselors repeatedly reminded parents: they would lead their students every step of the way.
"We operate as a team," Wagner said. "Every one of us, our door is open if we're not meeting with a student. Please feel free to come in and visit."
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Elkins and counselors Blair Betts, Lyndsey Wagner and William Tran discussed the college-application process from beginning to end, laying out deadlines, explaining the admissions options, offering guidance on essays, and ... acknowledging how overwhelming it can seem.
"The best way to get through this is a careful, purposeful, individual, thoughtful approach," Elkins said. "Step by step by step."
On that front, all of them said: We got this. Elkins cited her years of experience (three decades at six independent schools) and her colleagues' previous employment in college admissions offices. They encouraged a mix of dreaming big, staying realistic and considering the big picture throughout.
"I like to make sure, in the worst-case scenario, that every student has five great choices by April, and they are paralyzed by the good choices," Elkins said.
The Ransom Everglades Parents' Association helped organize the event and provided hors d'oeuvres and refreshments. Elkins started the evening by outlining the philosophy behind the process, and how her team of counselors would consider the special attributes and interests of every senior as part of a holistic approach. She then passed the microphone to Wagner, who explained the nuts and bolts of getting started.
Betts guided parents through the various deadlines and expectations for September and October. Tran sorted through the process beyond October. Most students, the counselors said, would end up submitting 10-12 applications and writing a couple dozen essays.
The RE counselors repeatedly reminded parents: they would lead their students every step of the way.
"We operate as a team," Wagner said. "Every one of us, our door is open if we're not meeting with a student. Please feel free to come in and visit."
Middle School
2045 South Bayshore Drive, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 250 6850
Upper School
3575 Main Highway, Coconut Grove, FL 33133Phone: 305 460 8800
Founded in 1903, Ransom Everglades School is a coeducational, college preparatory day school for grades 6 - 12 located on two campuses in Coconut Grove, Florida. Ransom Everglades School produces graduates who "believe that they are in the world not so much for what they can get out of it as for what they can put into it." The school provides rigorous college preparation that promotes the student's sense of identity, community, personal integrity and values for a productive and satisfying life, and prepares the student to lead and to contribute to society.