Each semester a new crop of SEGL students begins our college counseling curriculum. Although some students are stoic or even excited, many are weighed down by family, peer, school, and personal expectations.  

Let's face it: the college process is tough.

The good news is that SEGL students have an important advantage in the college process.  

Part of the advantage is the college counseling experience that we provide here. All students receive at least two college counseling sessions each semester. Our consulting college counselor, Dr. Pamela Ellis, is a leader in her field (and an SEGL parent). Nearly all of our students ask us to write a college recommendation, because they know that our faculty are able to speak to both their academic and interpersonal leadership in those letters.

In these sessions, we share our five tips for navigating the college process successfully:

1. This is about me, and no one else.
2. Be the consumer, not the consumed.
3. Stay clear of the college gossip.
4. Apply to a range of schools, some of which are hard to get into, and some of which are easier, but all of which have values and characteristics that you prize, and then go to the best school that accepts you.
5. It's not about getting in; it's about what you do when you get there.

(You'll have to ask a student to explain what each of these means!)

Equally important is our reputation. In fact, our sending school college counselors, as well as many noted college admissions officers around the country, tell us that they believe SEGL is special. Acceptance at SEGL, and the commitment that a semester with us requires, demonstrates something important about our students' potential for academic excellence and campus citizenship.

This is even more important in an era of rapid change in college admissions.  

In the old days, colleges prized top grades in rigorous courses and high standardized test scores. In the post-COVID era, it is harder than ever to parse students' transcripts, and nearly 80% of schools are test-optional.

In the old days, schools also had similar approaches to race in college admissions. In the wake of SFFA v. Harvard (by the way, lead attorneys on both sides of that case speak at SEGL each semester!) affirmative action is in flux.

What's a college admissions officer to do in this new era?  Well, at SEGL we believe that we can help these officers cut through the uncertainty. Our curriculum is rigorous - matching wits alongside the best and brightest means something at SEGL. Our community is diverse - our students learn to live alongside a diverse cross-section of the United States (and in Johannesburg, of the African continent!).  And, perhaps most important in this age of undergraduate acrimony, our students learn to bridge differences, not to burn bridges. They pitch in rather than bringing pitchforks.  In short, they learn to be the leaders that colleges want them to be.  

And we hear from colleges that these things are true. Our most frequent college destinations last year were Harvard, Stanford, Yale, and Brown.  (To be clear, the goal is a good fit, not U.S News & World Report glory.) Last year an Ivy League admissions officer told a friend that our college recommendations are among the strongest in the nation.  And this year an officer at one of the nation's top liberal arts school said SEGL applicants are widely viewed as having accomplished something impressive.  

Ultimately, the benefit of an SEGL education extends beyond the admissions process. We want students to enter college with a purpose, with preparation, and with hope. The goal is never admission, it is changing the world. But it is always gratifying to send our graduates on their way.