1. How do you think most college admission officers would characterize your students?

Quirky, unconventional, artistic, wonderfully unique, driven, smart, talented.

2. What are the three most important things a student at your school should know when he/she is considering and exploring colleges?

That they need to keep an open mind and not fixate that there is only a limited number of colleges to which they should apply.

3. What are the key factors you consider in advising your students to pursue particular colleges?

It’s all about fit. There are a million and one colleges at which our students can study their passions. What else is it that they want from a college

4. Please describe the kind of college that is most popular among your students?

Our kids apply to and matriculate at all kinds of schools. About a quarter of our students go on to some kind of conservatory, another quarter drop the arts altogether and pursue a very typical independent school student’s type of college search and application process to elite small liberal arts colleges and major research universities. Another 25% of our students want to attend institutions where they can pursue both artistic and academic courses of study simultaneously with either a double major or even a double degree. Finally the last sector of our senior classes have the desire to pursue a major in an art, but in the academic environment of a university setting.

5. Aside from the strength of the academic program, how do you assess a college’s appropriateness for a student?

It’s more the other way around. Is the student a good fit for the college? Is he or she up to the admissions standards of the particular institution. Does the college foster the kind of environment that the student seeks?

6. What do think most surprises students at your school about the college admission process?

Our students and their parents have a tendency to suffer from an acute case of lofty ambition syndrome, thinking that they are shoe ins for top institutions when in fact they are not.

7. Describe the specific ways your school effectively prepares its students for college?

Our school’s course curriculum both in the arts and academics do a good job of preparing our students for the rigors of college academics. The fact that we are a a boarding school prepares our students for life away from home from both social and extracurricular standpoints.

8. What do you think students most appreciate about their experiences at your school?

Students appreciate the artistic and academic training that they receive along with the nurturing and caring environment that pays a great amount of attention to each individual student.

9. Please add anything else that you would want prospective students and their families to know about college advising and placement at your school.

Our college admission and matriculation record is highly impressive for our kind of school. Our kids get in to everything from Ivy League institutions to the best art and music conservatories to great small liberal arts colleges to the so called “public Ivies”, that is, great public universities that are known for their scholarly and research accomplishments.