Dear Students & Parents,
It is my pleasure to serve The Montfort Academy as this year’s Director of College Guidance and Admissions. Having advised college students for several years and having sat on a variety of academic committees, I understand applications and decision-making at the college level, and I will assist students and parents in every way I can to discern suitable choices, to take advantage of opportunities offered, and to make the best informed decisions. As a Catholic, I also have a special interest in the role our faith plays in higher education and I am especially aware of Catholic resources and communities on or near secular college campuses.
In recent weeks, I have been developing a plan for your application process, which will include study groups, a calendar of standardized tests and deadlines, a library of college promotional materials, workshops on writing your college essay, and an exploration of your personal experience. We will have periodic visits from college admissions counselors, and we will discuss how to analyze their presentations. I will provide individual counseling as well as application review for you, and I will visit homeroom on most Tuesdays and Thursdays to convey important information and to make you aware of approaching deadlines. Other vital information will be communicated on the website and the Montfort college blog.
But now let’s start at the beginning and outline a few of our goals. Before compiling your lists of potential colleges and filling out an application, students (with a little help from their parents) need to engage in some soul-searching, such as
* Discerning the total range of your talents, your abilities and your passions for particular subjects and activities
* Considering your how various experiences and choices have shaped you, providing insights into your own character, dispositions, and skills
* Imagining yourself engaged in a variety of professional occupations and activities
A thoughtful and reflective process into will bear a fruit of its own: students can learn more about themselves, while parents and students can learn more about each other. As Catholics we are also blessed to see self-exploration in a way which is spiritual rather than self-indulgent. God is calling us at every moment in our lives, inviting us to serve Him and others in accord with the talents and abilities given to us. But is our plan also God’s plan for us? Prayerful discernment is needed to answer this question as best we can.
Now for the application. I think you all realize that the college application is a bare-bones sketch of who you are and what you aspire to. Think of it as a long résumé, a profile, or a curriculum vitae (that is, a summary of your life’s main experiences and accomplishments). With this limited amount of information, a group of professionals will sit around a table, form individual impressions, and rank students according to their own criteria. As we all know, admissions committees are looking for students who have obtained good grades consistently and who have scored well on standardized tests; and that is the reason why it is so vitally important for students to study industriously for the SATs (or SAT1), subject SATs (or SAT2s), and ACTs, to be proactive in soliciting recommendations, to learn as much as possible about colleges of interest, and to pay careful attention to every aspect of the application.
But that is far from all! Statistical studies have taught admissions counselors that students are most happy and successful when the strengths and abilities of a particular student are suited to their chosen fields of interest, and when students are passionate about their work, well-adjusted to the campus, and hopeful about their future. Thus, in recent years, admissions committees have spoken less often about “getting the best students” (that is, the high-grade achievers) and more often about “finding the right match” between the student and the college. This “match” requires a more complete profile of a student’s individual characteristics and abilities, so that the admissions counselors might better assess whether a student will grow and flourish in their college’s learning environment. Therefore personal experiences, special skills, and character attributes (such as commitment, passion, creativity, insight, and individuality) are now gaining the attention of admissions readers.
Putting our philosophical critiques about “happiness” and “success” aside for the moment, I think we can still appreciate the recent developments in admissions policies. For us it means that we will be working n several fronts to insure that the application provides a more complete portrait of who you are, with your strengths, your passions, your aspirations, and your experiences.
That said, I also want to encourage you to apply to full range of colleges, including three or more from each category
1. dream colleges (“reach”): those which are highly competitive and selective but there is an “outside chance” of acceptance
2. promising colleges (“match”): those which you hope will accept you
3. sure-shot colleges (“safety”): those which will very likely accept you
We will begin working on your lists of prospective colleges right away. But allow me to make one important point here - please don’t be afraid of applying to competitive colleges! Most often, colleges with high ratings really do have a high-quality education, from top-notch professors, to competitive classrooms, excellent facilities, and numerous opportunities for internships, job experience, and study abroad. Moreover, you never know what aspect of your profile might attract an admissions committee. I know several ways to help you stand out in a crowd. That’s what I’m here for. And please don’t rule a college out just because you think it costs too much. A reputable college won’t accept you without providing a financial strategy to make it possible.
Be assured that I am committed to helping you find colleges which best nurture our students’ abilities, strengths, and passions. Grace, after all, builds on nature. Within the next couple of weeks, students and parents should begin to check our Montfort College Blog for important dates, information, and articles relating to colleges and college applications. I look forward to working with students in and out of the classroom and to communicating with parents by phone, by email, and at Montfort in person. Ad majorem Dei gloriam.
John Pilsner
Dear Parents,
