College counselor Jane Bauman will be hosting the annual junior counseling night on Thursday, Feb. 6, in the Kitty Perkins Multipurpose Room from 7-9 p.m.
Bauman stresses the importance of the event and said attendance is mandatory for juniors and their parents.
“It is not just an introduction to college counseling—it is the starting point of college counseling for juniors,” Bauman said.
“It’s the kickoff to the college search.”
Bauman said she would be handing out materials such as surveys and “College Knowledge,” a handbook that contains helpful information on the college-application process. The handbook was compiled and written by ex-college counselor Patricia Fels and is regularly updated.
“I will be giving practical advice and showing how the parents, students and I can all work together,” Bauman said.
Despite calling it the starting point of college counseling, Bauman has gotten a headstart and already had two C Day meetings with the juniors. She said junior year is a good time to start the application process because the process doesn’t become concrete until the students receive their fifth-semester grades and SAT scores in spring.
“Until then, it’s just prep,” Bauman said. “Now it’s intense. We move from aspirations to focus, and it’s going to be real.”
Bauman said even though the counseling starts in junior year, Country Day students have had numerous exposures to the college search.
“In our school we’ve introduced students to various colleges early on. Freshmen and sophomores are welcome to attend visits by college representatives, and we talk about colleges through the alumni panel and the freshman focus,” she said.
This is Bauman’s second time hosting the event since replacing Fels as the college counselor.
“The class of 2015 begins their college search and application process in earnest on this night—it’s where it all begins,” she said.
