The Answer - A blog about Education, Preparation, and Commitment.

YES Prep hosts Deans of Admissions from the Nation’s Most Selective Colleges

September 21, 2010 by Donald Kamentz

At this time of year, fall in the admissions cycle world consists of hosting colleges who conduct high school visits for prospective students.   Last week at YES Prep was no different as our four high school campuses – Southeast, North Central, Southwest and East End – hosted over 20 colleges and universities on their campus.   In fact, by the end of this fall season, YES Prep Public Schools will host well over 250+ colleges and universities between individual high school visits and our district-wide college fair – a true testament to the widespread support YES Prep has nationally.

However, last Monday, YES Prep hosted a different type of visit – a roundtable discussion and visit by 4 of the most selective and prestigious colleges from the East – Swarthmore College (Philadelphia, PA), Davidson College (Davidson, NC), Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) and Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD).

Following up on their citywide event last Sunday here in Houston, the Deans of Admissions from these four institutions decided to do something a little different and do a specialized visit solely for YES Prep’s college counseling team.   The morning started off with a brief presentation of each college by the Deans, followed up by an introduction to all the YES Prep campuses by the college counseling team.   Afterwards, we reviewed applications submitted to these campuses from past YES Prep seniors to better understand how admissions decisions are made in the context of the college’s charge to craft their incoming classes.   Even though we spent all morning together, the prevailing comment from all involved was that the time went too soon and that more time together would have been ideal – it’s not every day you hear that for sure.

In the ever-crazy world of college admissions and with schedules maxed out, opportunities like these to openly dialogue and share don’t come along to often.  Makes you wonder if were able to stop for a little and take time to really build on these relationships how much farther relationships and partnerships would be on both sides of the desk.   YES Prep, for one, will continue to ensure we take full advantage of such possibilities, always looking for ways to create opportunities that would not otherwise exist.

To learn more about how YES Prep will triple the number of low-income Houston students that complete a four-year college, visit our College Initiatives blog: http://yesprep.org/TheAnswer/topic/college_initiatives/

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