College Counseling
College counseling at Lakehill Preparatory School is a highly-individualized process designed to assist students through an exciting time in their educational journey. The focus is on assisting students in being accepted at the colleges and universities that will best match their personal and academic goals.
8th Grade
- Students will have a meeting about their four-year plan in the spring ahead of course selection.
9th Grade
- Students and their parents/guardians attend a meeting early in the school year to learn about the upper school experience and subsequent college preparation timeline.
- Students attend the fall college fair at Lakehill and can attend college representative visits to learn about different colleges and their programs.
- Students attend college counseling workshops focused on extracurricular activity logging and academic/career exploration.
- Focus is on starting off strong in upper school and exploring everything the Lakehill community has to offer in 9-12th grade.
10th Grade
- Students are required to attend the fall college fair at Lakehill and several college representative visits to campus.
- Students will take the PSAT in October, and are provided with an opportunity to take a practice ACT exam after their sophomore year spring semester.
- College Counseling workshops ramp up with emphasis on exploring actual institutions alongside continued academic/career interest exploration.
11th Grade
- College fairs and college representative visits become a priority.
- Students meet one-on-one with the college counselor to review initial college preferences.
- Students will take the PSAT in October, and plan a junior year testing strategy with the college counselor.
- The focus is on shaping the college list and attending application preparation workshops, including essay brainstorming and formation, resume building, and more.
- Parents are invited with their students to a college counseling cohort meeting early in the fall, and will meet with the college counselor individually early in the spring semester.
- Students will meet one-on-one with the college counselor multiple times over the year.
- Faculty recommendation letter requests are completed by the end of the spring semester.
12th Grade
- Rising seniors will work on application essays throughout the summer with the help of the college counselor.
- Application workshops will be hosted the first week of August.
- Senior College Night is hosted within the first month of the school year.
- Students must submit applications by mid October at the latest for rolling and Early Decision I and Early Action fall application deadlines, with Early Decision II and Regular Decision applications being submitted by mid December.
- Continued guidance is provided throughout the spring semester as decisions come in.
- A professional resume and successful college transition workshops are hosted.
- At the end of the semester, a two week internship is completed by students.
- End of year celebrations include a Senior Day, an annual luncheon for juniors and seniors, Baccalaureate, and Graduation.
Heather Clift, B.A., M.Ed.
Director of College Counseling
hclift@lakehillprep.org
