COLLEGE COUNSELING PHILOSOPHY (continued) won’t support a student’s desire to apply. Students and their families need to be armed with accurate information as they make decisions. If a student decides to take a high degree of risk, that is a choice; our responsibility is to point out the possible fallout, not to make the final decision for the student. Parents, too, must be voices of reason and reality. Ridiculously high expectations can create all kinds of psychological issues for the students. If, in response to outsized expectations, students focus only on the top and then simply add schools to which they have paid no attention, they can end up emotionally devastated. Ultimately, students who are happiest about the college process are those who understand their abilities and needs best and who are, therefore, able to find schools that fit them best. They have researched their lists well, they have asked the tough questions, and, as a result, they have found good matches, schools they can truly embrace. Historically, Milton students have had the gumption and the self-awareness to make such matches. They listen to their hearts and their heads; they let insight, not college rankings, guide them. No Procrustean bed awaits them in their college dorm room. They sleep comfortably.
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