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The deepest fears — and hopes — parents harbor about their kids applying to college

February 20th, 2017

February and March can be tense times in the world of college and boarding school admissions. Many students are filled with great anxiety and excitement as regular decision admission letters begin to arrive. This moment can lead to joy, or disappointment, as students learn their options for the coming year.

At this point, students should feel confident about the hard work they have put in to get this far. We find it most important for parents and students to remain focused on identifying which school is going to be the right fit and bring about the kind of personal development you seek. In the article link we post today from The Washington Post, author and independent school counselor Brennan Barnard goes deeper into understanding the parents’ perspective of their child applying to college and how to turn fears and worries into something positive. We feel that this article is equally valuable for parents of boarding school applicants.

We are always so grateful to share this experience with our students and parents, and we love to hear when news arrives. Please keep us updated so we can celebrate together or work through next steps or redirection if necessary.

Article below published by The Washington Post on January 4, 2017

Written by: Brennan Barnard

In the next several months the 2016-17 college admissions season will play out, with the majority of students who have applied as freshmen for this coming fall learning which schools have accepted and which haven’t. Parents will be waiting too, many of them wrapped in fears about the future of their children. In this post, Brennan Barnard, director of college counseling at the Derryfield School, a private college preparatory day school for grades 6-12 in Manchester, N.H., addresses parents’ fears around the admissions process, sharing some that he hears from students’ parents every day. Do you see yourself in any of these?

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