York School's College Counseling Philosophy

The College Counseling Program educates York students in the process of decision-making with a goal of helping students find colleges where they will be challenged, where they will be happy, and where they will succeed. We want to do this with as little stress and pressure on students as possible.  Therefore, we have created a new College Planning Class for juniors and seniors, Pathways.

In helping students find colleges where the aforementioned will occur, we focus on developing a match between the student and the colleges. We want students to find the best colleges for them individually. As a result, we do not push students to apply to specific schools. In the words of Frank Sachs, the former President of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, “College is a match to be made, not a prize to be won.”

While we educate and assist, we expect students to take control of the process. Our job is to guide, counsel, question, recommend, refer, suggest, and inform. We do not decide, require, command or package. Decisions about where to apply, what to write about in their essays, whom to ask for recommendations, must, in the end, be the students’. Students are given guidance and guidelines about the process at York not only in Pathways but in many other venues throughout the year. Students are responsible for submitting applications and signing up for tests on time, asking teachers for recommendations, acquiring applications and completing forms. We do not do these things for our students—nor should the parents. We do not get students into college; they get themselves in.

In the end, students who are happiest about the college process are those who ask themselves the hard questions, understand their abilities and needs best, and who are, therefore, able to find schools that match those abilities and needs. These students have researched their lists well, asked challenging questions, and, as a result, have found good matches, schools they truly embrace. York students traditionally have had the fortitude and self-awareness to make such matches. They listen to their hearts and their heads; they let insight, not college rankings, guide them.

If you have any questions or would like to meet with our Director of College Counseling, please contact Ellen Masten, NCC at emasten@york.org or leave her a voice message at extension 119.  She looks forward to meeting and working with all York families whenever they would like to start the college process.