College Planning (spring trimester)

Required of all juniors. Juniors will learn about the elements of the college application process. Topics covered include identifying suitable colleges, the role of the transcript and standardized testing, recommendations, communicating with college admissions offices and visiting college campuses. Students will register for the ACT (with Writing) and the SAT Reasoning test, and will learn how scores from these tests are reported to the colleges. They will also review the Common Application, and use the Internet to research colleges. At the end of the semester, each junior should have a tentative list of colleges to investigate over the summer. The course meets once a week.

College Applications (fall trimester)

Required of all seniors. Seniors will finalize the list of colleges to which they will apply, identify recommenders, prepare portfolios and auditions as applicable, take any standardized tests needed to present themselves well, and write essays. The Putney School dedicates a weekend each October, with the help of the English department, to generating two personal essays suitable for applying to college; faculty come to campus on the Sunday to give an initial read of student drafts and the English teachers review the essays, which are the only assignment given seniors that weekend. Seniors also review mock admissions files, in simulated admission committees, to experience the viewpoint of an admissions reader. Individual meetings with the college counselor are always encouraged, and are more important than ever this semester. The course meets once a week.