College Counseling at St. Margaret's

The U.S.News and World World Report college rankings started just around the time  I took my first job in college admissions in 1985. I’m not a fan of the rankings and I don’t keep up with them. However, I randomly came across this list which caught my attention. I see a “teaching moment” in this list.

College counseling, to me, is part of the academic program at my school. My office is my classroom where I interact with students and their parents to learn about skills, talents, goals, dreams, and the like, and I help students uncover new knowledge about colleges and universities that might best nurture their future aspirations. The one “mountain of ignorance” I confront almost daily is the concern that I might introduce a college or university to the discussion that (usually) the parent will offer protest, “I’ve never heard of that school.” I respond in my best counseling voice and share the virtues of “unheard of university” and talk about my personal experience of having visited the campus and met with the admissions staff.

Some of the unheard of universities that I encourage students to consider are highly ranked on this list of best universities in the world. As students and parents at my school know, I actively encourage students to consider crossing borders in the college search. In the past few years since coming to St. Margaret’s, the percentage of graduates attending college outside of California has doubled and is now over two-thirds. While few students attend international universities, a number apply. I hope to see our students look beyond national borders as well.  As part of that effort, in recent years I have made five international trips to visit universities in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Canada.

I hope that you’ll look over this list of colleges and universities and consider stretching your college horizons.