Dalton School

Launched by a Junior College Night program in early January, the college counseling process begins for juniors at the beginning of second semester. Juniors meet with an assigned counselor who works with each student individually throughout the college process, from exploration and initial planning through application and decision. Following an initial conference with their child's counselor early in the second semester, parents may arrange additional meetings with the counselor throughout the college planning and application process. During the course of the cycle, other evening programs are offered to students and parents, including a special presentation on financial aid and a major spring college fair. The Dalton College Counseling Office employs a team concept in supporting each student's college planning and admissions process, involving parents, House Advisors, and faculty.

In addition to individual college counseling and conferences with both student and parents, regular group counseling meetings will involve all juniors during the second semester of eleventh grade through the fall of senior year. After students complete a thorough self-assessment and sample college application, individual and group meetings introduce them to topics such as college exploration, essay writing, campus visits, applications, financial aid, and early admissions programs. Together, the student and counselor will develop a broad list of colleges to consider by end of junior year and narrow the list down to an appropriate group of colleges by early fall of senior year.

University of Pennsylvania (34), Cornell (21), Yale (20), Harvard (18), Brown (16), Columbia (16), Northwestern (16), Wesleyan (16), Amherst (15), New York University (14), Princeton (14), Colgate (13), Boston University (12), Dartmouth (12), Michigan (12), Duke (11), Washington University in St. Louis (11), Tufts (10), University of Chicago (10), Bowdoin (9), Syracuse (9), Brandeis (8), George Washington (8), Hamilton (8), Indiana (8), Wisconsin (8), Barnard (7), Connecticut College (7), Emory (7), Oberlin (7), Stanford (7), Johns Hopkins (6), Trinity (6), Vassar (6), Bard (5), Georgetown (5), Middlebury (5), Skidmore (5), Williams (5), Bucknell (4), Carnegie Mellon (4), University of Southern California (4), Vanderbilt (4), Bates (3), Bryn Mawr (3), Fordham (3), Kenyon (3), Rice (3), Swarthmore (3), University of Miami (3), University of Rochester (3), Claremont McKenna (2), Colby (2), Franklin and Marshall (2), Haverford (2), Hobart and William Smith (2), Hunter College (2), Lehigh (2), Mount Holyoke (2), Muhlenberg (2), Pomona (2), Reed (2), Sarah Lawrence (2), Smith (2), University of North Carolina (2), University of Vermont (2),

These 497 matriculations represent 92% of the Dalton graduates for the last five years.