College Counseling

Cheryl Geerhold, Director of College Counseling, meets with a senior The goal of the college office at Berkshire School is to find a college or university that best matches a student's academic, social and extra-curricular interests. We work with advisors and Form Deans to encourage students to take the most challenging course load in which they can experience success. Students in every form should feel free to meet with us at any time during their years at Berkshire to ask questions about the college process. We begin to meet formally with students during the second semester of their Fifth Form year. In addition to meeting with the class as a whole to distribute general information, the college counselors meet individually with all of the Fifth Form students prior to March Break. The goal of the initial meetings is to identify those areas on which the student will base his or her college search and to compile a list of colleges for the student to visit during March Break of the Fifth Form year. The remainder of the Fifth Form year is spent on refining the list of schools, standardized test registration, academic counseling in preparation for Sixth Form year, and reviewing the "homework" assignment for summer vacation: working on essays and visiting colleges. In the fall of the Sixth Form year we help students register for the appropriate standardized tests, further refining their college list down to the list of schools to which they will submit applications, reviewing applications and essays, and helping the students stay focused and organized throughout the process. While it can be a very stressful time for students and their families, our goal is to make it as stress-free as possible by being available to offer advice and answers to the smallest questions, and to assist the student in forming an overall plan for submitting their applications. We encourage parents to contact us regarding their child's academic progress through Berkshire School and the college process. Parents' Weekend in the Spring of students' Fifth Form year and the Fall of the Sixth Form year offer opportunities to meet with college counselors on an individual basis. Parents are encouraged to meet with the college counselors at other times if they have questions or concerns. More information on the College Process is available at The College Timetable.

Members of the Class of 2009 have enrolled at these and other leading colleges and universities:

Babson College Bard College Bates College Bentley University Boston College Boston University (4) Bowdoin College California Institute of Technology Carnegie Mellon University Chapman University Claremont McKenna College College of Charleston Connecticut College (2) Cornell University (2) Denison University Dickinson College Drew University Elon University Emmanuel College (2) Georgetown University George Washington University Gettysburg College Hampshire College Hartwick College Hobart and William Smith Colleges (3) Hofstra University Johns Hopkins University Johnson & Wales University Kenyon College Lake Forest College Lehigh University (2) Loyola College in Maryland Loyola Marymount University Marshall University McMaster University Middlebury College New York University (2) Northeastern University Northwestern University Occidental College Ohio State University Pace University Paul Smith's College Pitzer College Providence College Reed College Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2) Roanoke College (4) Rollins College Saint Michael's College Springfield College St. Francis Xavier University St. Lawrence University (3) St. Thomas University Stetson University Stonehill College Suffolk University SUNY College at Cobleskill SUNY College at Geneseo Syracuse University (3) Union College University of Alabama University of Arizona University of Colorado at Boulder University of Connecticut University of Denver University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2) University of Miami University of Michigan University of New Hampshire (2) University of Rhode Island University of San Francisco University of Tampa University of Vermont (2) "University of Wisconsin Villanova University Washington College Wells College Wesleyan University Westfield State College Wilfrid Laurier University Williams College