Campus College Visits Are Impacting the Future for Spartans

Fall is the time of year when admission officers from colleges and universities across the globe hit the road visiting a host of high schools to engage with students and share their campus uniquenesses, programs and school’s culture. An Austin stop at St. Stephen’s Episcopal School is always a guarantee.

 

“They prioritize us because they know our students are willing to look beyond Texas,” said Claire Fenton, director of College Counseling. 

Throughout this semester, juniors and seniors will have connected with more than 115 colleges and universities including Chicago’s DePaul University, Loyola Marymount University in California, the University of Puget Sound in Washington, the University of Florida, Rutgers University in New Jersey and many more. These visits are invaluable for students as they consider where to apply. Sometimes students narrow their decisions based on a single conversation with an admission officer.

Pearl Zhang '25 has attended three sessions so far and says, “Hearing a representative talk about their school in real life gives me a better sense of what the school’s actually like than scrolling and skimming through their website, especially aspects of student on student life.” 

The lunch visits, a hallmark of College Counseling support at St. Stephen’s, also gives college counselors an opportunity to build relationships with the admissions representatives, many of whom are reading and evaluating Spartan’s college applications. The convenient lunchtime meetings also mean students aren’t missing class.

“I think it’s a good way to get a feel for the school because I can’t visit all the ones on my list,” said Gemma Willy '25. 

Prior to joining the College Counseling team at St. Stephens, Director of College Counseling Alex Taylor worked as an admission representative for the University of Texas at Austin for six years. When visiting St. Stephen’s, she says those experiences shaped her decision to become a St. Stephen’s college counselor. During these visits, she met all of the college counseling staff who provided clarity on the school’s unique grading structure and specialized programs of study. The visiting admissions representatives, in turn, communicate these unique qualities to their admissions teams as applications are assessed. 

While the strong St. Stephen’s reputation continues to attract some veteran admissions officers to campus, Fenton says it is a great way for the mostly newer representatives to get to know our students and the St. Stephen’s campus. Fenton says they often exclaim, “Gosh, your kids were amazing!”