College Counseling Welcome!

Greetings from the Director of College Counseling

The college admissions game is more complex and competitive than ever. Many adults would not be admitted to their own alma maters were they applying today. In the climate, the college counselor has become an invaluable coach, ally, strategist and advisor. The NMH college counseling office takes on these roles with energy, expertise and insight.

Collectively, my staff has more than 100 years of experience working with young people. NMH counselors have been college admission officers in earlier careers.  We are parents, too, who have gone through the process with our own children. In addition to working as counselors, my colleagues in the office are active in other parts of school life—coaching, classroom teaching, advising groups, serving as an academic dean or class parent, and attending numerous student events during the course of the year. We come to know the many sides of each of our students. All of the members of the staff also visit college campuses during the course of a year, establishing important, personal connections with admission offices, professors and coaches. Our work ensures that we know both what is going on in the lives of our students as well as what is going on in the world of college admission.

Just as the most widely known schools have become super selective, there has been a marked improvement in the facilities and curricula at many schools across the country. Almost all colleges and universities have expanded or improved their offerings tremendously over the past ten, 20, or 30 years, giving our students many more choices now, choices that are the right fit for them. When our seniors and PGs look at Northeastern or Skidmore, at St. Lawrence or Dartmouth, they are looking at schools that are very different today than in earlier generations of NMH matriculants.

A part of our counseling we help students develop an accurate sense of themselves and their strengths as they navigate the college admission process. We do this partly through a college counseling class in the winter term of the junior year. In ten sessions, all juniors are introduced to the "language" of the application process, begin to refine their interests and define their passions. Then, in individual sessions throughout the spring, we refine the "list" and develop an application strategy.  Because each NMH student is an individual with unique talents and interests, our process is highly personalized.

This individualized process leads to a very wide range of colleges and universities for each matriculating class. You will see Ivies and “Little Ivies,” American and international universities, public and private institutions on NMH’s college matriculation list. You will see engineering schools and conservatories, you will see art institutes and traditional liberal arts colleges. There are many familiar names – schools long on tradition, rich with history – and also some less familiar names. The diversity and breadth of our list reflects the diversity of backgrounds and interests that has distinguished NMH students since the school’s founding in 1879.

While the application process comes to a close by the end of the senior year, the college experience is still ahead for our students. Our graduates report that they are extremely well prepared. They know how to handle demanding academics, and they know how to engage in a residential academic community. They know how to balance the many demands of college life in the 21st century. “College preparatory” isn’t just about getting into college; it’s about thriving once you’re there. NMH graduates do. And they make us proud.

Peter Jenkins
Director of College Counseling