College Counseling
College Counseling

College Counseling

The College Counseling program at The John Carroll School is designed to assist students through the college search and application process. Although the college admission process is often perceived to be highly stressful and daunting, our belief is that through proper education, self-knowledge, and access to our professional resources, the stress will be alleviated and our students can take ownership of the process.

While each student will have a School Counselor to help them with academic and personal issues, they will also be working with their College Counselor whose sole objective is to work with the students during their college search and application process.

Through individual conferences, classes in both junior and senior year, and a variety of special events, the College Counselor teaches research and decision-making skills while helping students better understand themselves and their options. The goal of the program is to support each student in identifying colleges and universities which are a good match for his or her interests, needs, and aspirations, while also supporting the student and family throughout the application process.

While well-supported every step of the way, students are given increasing responsibility for this process over the course of the junior and senior years. It is our objective that the students have complete ownership of the process in the end, and that they are on their way to a college that is right for them when they graduate.

Timeline

9th grade:

  • Access to the College Center
  • PSAT exam in October
  • Paying for College Information Night
  • NCAA Athletics Information Night

10th grade:

  • Access to the College Center
  • PSAT exam in October
  • Paying for College Information Night
  • NCAA Athletics Information Night
  • John Carroll College Fair in the spring

11th grade:

  • Access to the College Center
  • PSAT exam in October
  • Paying for College Information Night
  • NCAA Athletics Information Night
  • John Carroll College Fair
  • Access to Family Connection through the Naviance program
  • Junior College Planning classes built into the schedule
  • Individual student meetings with the College Counselor
  • Junior Parent College Information Nights (fall and spring)
  • SAT practice test and score review session
  • Small group meetings with college representatives
  • Family meetings with the College Counselor
  • Access to summer Head Start application and essay writing class

12th grade

  • Access to the College Center
  • Access to Family Connection through the Naviance program
  • Senior College Planning classes with the College Counselor
  • Individual student meetings with the College Counselor
  • Family meetings with the College Counselor
  • Financial Aid Information Night
  • Small group meetings with college representatives
College Fairs

John Carroll has a college fair in the spring semester for sophomores and juniors. We bring in schools from all over the nation to meet with and inform our students about colleges and universities. Information regarding fairs will be provided to students via all communication methods and more information can also be found in the College Counseling offices and College Center.

College Rep Visits

Each fall representatives from different colleges and universities visit John Carroll to present information about their school and meet with our students. The reps are often the admissions counselor that will be reviewing your application to their institution. These visits are open to both juniors and seniors and you can attend up to 6 visits each year. Visit dates and times are located on Naviance and student must register via Naviance to attend the meetings.

If you are a College Representative looking to schedule a visit time, please log on to RepVisits.com. Visits are limited to 30 minutes.

College Center

The College Center at John Carroll School is a resource room for students in all grade levels to complete college research. With bookshelves full of college related books and SAT/ACT study guides, a wall shelf displaying hundreds of college brochures, a large meeting table lined with several office style chairs, an additional work table, and a bureau with several college/testing/financial aid related magazines and brochures for the taking, John Carroll students have every college-search related item they need at their fingertips! Students are free to use the College Center on their free mods, before school and after school. College repetitive meetings with students are also held in the College Center, as well as family meetings with the College Counselor.

Communication with College Counselors

Meet your College Counselor

Mrs. Kelly Smith A-K - Mrs. Smith comes to John Carroll from having spent 9 years working in undergraduate admissions at 2 Maryland state schools, UMBC and Towson. Mrs. Smith will be working with students with last names beginning A-K. Her office is located off the College Center and she can be reached at ksmith@johncarroll.org as well as via phone at 410-879-2480 X 2053

Mrs. Carrie Siemsen L-Z – Mrs. Siemsen has been a School Counselor for the past 16 years and has been at John Carroll for 9 years and will be working with students with the last names beginning L-Z. Her office is in the Guidance office, and she can be reached at csiemsen@johncarroll.org or via phone at 410-879-2480 x2055