Eight recent St. John's graduates returned to W205 on Thursday, January 9, to offer insights and advice on the college application process to current SJS Juniors. Haishat Alli (St. Louis University), Iman Charania (UPenn), Lily Brown (Cornell), Brett Gutstein (Rice), Rohan Ramchand (Texas), Elise Foote (Davidson), Sykes Yeates (Texas A&M), and Martha Daniel (USC) took time from their winter breaks to look back at the college application process and share the knowledge they gained from their own experiences. The panel, put together by Dr. Nick Accrocco and the College Counseling Office, is an annual tradition where juniors get valuable feedback from students who have recently gone through the application process.

After introducing themselves, the panel fielded questions from SJS Juniors. The first, "What do you wish you knew?" was indicative of a curious, and slightly apprehensive, junior class. Martha Daniel responded, "Make sure you give yourself a range of schools," and Sykes Yeates added, "Get to know your college counselor. They're your greatest asset."

Topics ranged from "how many schools should I apply to?" to "describe working with parents." In answering a question about parents, Brett Gutstein encouraged the students to "sit down and talk to them," and added that his own parents were "surprisingly chill" about the process. When confronted with the conundrum of "should I visit all the colleges I applied to?" Lily Brown advised that "It's always best to go visit if you can." Many of the graduates reiterated that there are opportunties to visit even after acceptance letters come in, so there doesn't need to be pressure to rush out across the country immediately. Also, since Houston is a large market, many colleges may visit and put together events where accepted students can meet other incoming freshman before school begins--these were mentioned as a great place to see if you felt you fit in.

Other advice offered was to consider the big picture of college, as "You're going to be living there as well as studying," voiced Daniel. Climate, closeness to home, and student body size were all listed as factors in college decisions. 

Also, the panel encouraged the junior class to not put too much stress or emphasis on only a few "dream" schools. Stories of Early Decision gone awry and the difficult balance between elation in acceptance and defeat in rejection underscored their insistence that the process was long and trying, but ultimately worth it--and each college student felt they ended up exactly where they belonged. 

It was a very informative and supportive event, summed up nicely by Yeates, who reminded the students, "The college application process will surprise you."

Thanks to everyone who planned and participated in the event.