Junior Family College Night
Dr. Robert Alexander speaks to junior families about the college admissions process. He polls the audience to see whether students feel anxious or excited about this time, or even both. The meeting was held at 7:00pm on January 3rd in Allen Hall.
Besides meeting once a cycle for the Intro to College class, the Class of 2024 kicked off the college process by attending a family night meeting with Dr. Robert Alexander – Dean of Admissions, Financial Aid, and Enrollment Management at the University of Rochester.
Dr. Alexander received his doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania conducting dissertation research on higher education and governance. He graduated from Tulane University with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Paul Tulane College and an M.B.A. in Marketing and Management from Tulane’s A.B. Freeman School of Business. He has worked on the Tulane Alumni Association Board of Directors and is the class fund chairman for his alma mater, Regis High School in New York City.
The meeting opened up with introductory speeches by Hackley’s Director of College Counseling, Peter Latson, and Associate Director of College Counseling, Rebecca Hall. The meeting was also recorded for any junior family who was unable to attend.
Dr. Alexander started off the meeting by posing some questions to the audience, including whether or not they have siblings that already went through the college admissions process, if this is their first and only time, or if there is more to follow.
One important point that he kept emphasizing is that the college process is “a match to be made, not a prize to be won”. He wanted to open up the students’ and families’ eyes to the idea of finding a match with a college that is most suitable for them.
He urged families “to give different campuses a shot, you might not know what to expect”. He also drew on the University of Rochester’s motto “Meliora” which is Latin for “even better” and pushing oneself.
He then discussed the different facets of the college admissions process including student transcripts, possibly sending in the SAT or ACT, as well as the essay. He broke each of these topics down piece by piece and showed how each part is important in selecting students for their university.
He concluded the meeting by saying “where you go is less important than what you do there” and made the audience repeat it a couple of times to really let that sentence sink in.
