It was spring of his junior year when they first met. Mrs. Cooperman listened carefully to Herb to understand his interests, academic and otherwise. 

"I'm interested in studying business management, and she has definitely focused on schools that are known for being well-versed in business," he says. A member of Pingry's Baseball Team, Herb is also interested in pursuing baseball in college. Having worked with many student athletes in the past, Mrs. Cooperman was more than prepared to make suggestions for how he could broaden his search to include athletics. 

She also helped him with his senior-year course selections, ensuring that he will be well positioned when it comes time to apply to colleges. "She makes sure you have enough rigor, but not so much that it will be too difficult, especially with the schedule of a student-athlete. For example, she wanted to make sure I took a precalculus class. And she helped me to decide between an honors class over a regular track class in another subject," he explains. 

As his senior year approaches, what is Herb most looking forward to? "Seeing where all of the work I've put into this process so far gets me."

He feels reassured knowing that Mrs. Cooperman will be beside him every step of the way. "It helps with my confidence in what I'm doing," he says. "It's not just something my parents and I are working on. I now have an academic ally in the process."

A few months after he arrived, he periodically checked in with Mrs. Cooperman, now his college counselor, to make sure he was setting himself up for the path he knew he wanted to pursue. "She was 100% helpful and able to give me guidance because has been through the process before with other students applying to military academies," he says.  

She told him about two events in particular that she felt would be helpful. One was a virtual military academy fair, which he "attended" the fall of his junior year. "Senator Malinowski and Congressman Menendez both spoke—it gave me a really cool, in-depth view into the academies," he recalls. Mrs. Cooperman also told him about the West Point "Field Force" informational session, which was held remotely as well, the following spring. Due to the pandemic and the resulting changes to the application process, the procedures covered were especially useful, he says.

One of Big Blue's top wrestlers, Jack is also considering pursuing the sport he loves in college. Mrs. Cooperman, in addition to Mr. Lear, Dean of College Counseling and Director of Student Support Services, have been making suggestions on this front, too. "They have helped me figure out schools that would be a good fit, and how and when to reach out to coaches, for service academies as well as other schools," he says.

It's still early in the process, but Jack—who received the Dwight Dr. Eisenhower Leadership Award from the USMA Field Force and the West Point Society of New Jersey—says he feels confident that with the help of the Office of College Counseling, he'll end up where he's meant to. He has only to think back to the Zoom meetings he had last summer with Mrs. Cooperman to know he's in good hands. "That level of commitment to me has been really appreciated," he says. "Their personal sacrifice for the students has been amazing."

Dilan did end up tweaking his schedule, but the changes were judicious, reasoned, and personal. A varsity water polo player since his freshman year, he really wanted to give fencing a go his junior year, which, he says, ended up being one of his best decisions. "It's like an art. There's so much grace and strategy to it, and the connections I made on the team are invaluable." He loves the sciences and has doubled up on science classes the past three years, including Honors Physics and AP Chemistry. Feeling a bit less pressure his senior year, he's excited to branch out to AP Psychology, an in-depth English class on Shakespeare, and Creative Writing. Dilan also considered dropping Spanish, which he had taken for several years. Mr. Lear, offering gentle but persuasive guidance in his course selections, convinced him otherwise. "It surprised me that he didn't just say take this class or apply to this college. He doesn't just tell me what to do. He guides me through my options and opens up a discussion to let me decide."

Thanks to Mr. Lear, Dilan feels ready to take on the college admission process. "College applications have always been in the future, something to tackle later. Now, it's here! As a senior, there's a lot that's finally here. It's scary, but it's also exciting."

He has also appreciated being able to turn to any of the six other counselors in the office for feedback, including assistant football coach and counselor, Mr. Garrow, who he has gotten to know both on the field and off. With 20 years of experience coaching Division I ice hockey before arriving at Pingry, Mr. Garrow's perspective on college sports has been helpful to Patrick. "All the counselors are very well prepared and well organized, with a lot of experience," he says. "It's really easy to go to them and talk about what you want and what you need. They'll always have an answer for you, or they'll get back to you within an hour if they don't." 

A rising senior and soon-to-be captain of the Varsity Football Team, Patrick is looking forward to the season—and school year—ahead. "I'm excited to get into college, to settle down and know what my next step will be."

The art class anecdote exemplifies a larger philosophy among all of Pingry’s college counselors—getting to know the whole student, or, as Ketaki puts it, “not just our activities or super college-related things, but who we are.” A Peer Leader and co-Editor-in-Chief of The Pingry Record, Ketaki remembers a planning meeting held recently by the newspaper’s faculty advisors, one of which is a member of the College Counseling team. When the meeting concluded, the conversation seamlessly turned to college essay ideas. “That really showed me that you can talk to any college counselor in the office,” says Ketaki. “They are always working together.”

What is she most excited about as she enters her senior year? Her answer reveals just how painless—perhaps even productive—Pingry’s college counselors try to make the application process. “Parents and other adults tell you to think about who you are and what you want to do, but it’s something that you kind of push away. Before, I wasn’t ready to think about it. Now that it’s time, I’m excited to learn about what I like and who I am,” she says. “I’m excited to watch my friends and my peers go through the process, too. It’s a way for our grade collectively to find out who we are and what we stand for. To have us all go through that together feels very unifying.”

Kevin has come to find calm and quiet in the pool—whether he’s stroking at top speed during a championship meet where everything is on the line, or shaking off pre-exam nerves. He finds the same sort of calm in Pingry’s College Counseling Office. “The counselors guide you through the process so you don’t feel as stressed. Their message is ‘We’ll help you get through it, you’re not on your own,’” he explains. “It definitely takes some of the burden off.” As a sophomore, he applied to a summer program at Wharton and remembers his counselor, Mrs. Reynolds, helping him step-by-step through the application process. “It was a great preview to the college application process. Any questions I had, she was always there to answer them,” he recalls.

With his senior year—and senior swim season—looming, Kevin admits to feeling a little nervous about the college process, and is undecided about what field most interests him. But, as with his senior swim campaign, he’s also very excited. He just returned from a month-long internship doing artificial intelligence work in China; up for grabs next winter is a twelfth straight state title for his team; and Mrs. Reynolds will be at his side throughout the year. Oh, and his mother was right. His asthma is cured.

An avid climber, Gabe had long wanted to visit Everest Base Camp in Nepal and El Chaltén in Argentina. Using those two destinations as focal points, he proceeded to design a year of remarkable travel and experience. Climbing Aconcagua (the tallest mountain in the Western Hemisphere); visiting Patagonia; working for two months at a hotel in El Chaltén, Argentina; volunteering for six weeks at Heaven Hill Academy, a school in a rural Nepalese village; and trekking the Annapurna Circuit were just a few of the experiences that followed (he ended up spending three months in Nepal and four in Argentina). From there, he visited Israel—Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the Negev Desert, and the Dead Sea—and London, Amsterdam, Cophenhagen, Berlin, and Budapest, are on his itinerary this summer, all before he settles into college life as a freshman at Dartmouth. When his travels are complete, he estimates he will have spent 108 hours on planes, visited four continents and each of the four hemispheres, and eaten 124 meals during which he conversed only in Spanish.

"Over the past year, I’ve sacrificed chickens, eaten hallucinogenic honey, surfed the Chilean coast, and drank some of the world's finest wines. Even more memorable than those experiences are the countless friends I made from every corner of the globe," he says. "I list all of these experiences not to say, 'look at how interesting and well traveled I am,' but hopefully to demonstrate how many possibilities there are if you decide to take a gap year. For the first time in my life, I can honestly say that I have absolute confidence in my ability to adapt to, and even thrive in, almost every situation imaginable. I’d also like to add that, for the first time in a long time, I’m actually excited to go to school."

What would they discuss? Everything from his SAT, ACT, and AP scores to the Common Application to what Pingry class selections would be most beneficial to his desired field of study in college (economics). Mr. Lear also drew up a list of colleges and universities, tailored to Michael’s strengths and interests, that he might wish to visit. Perhaps most appreciated, Michael says, was Mr. Lear’s help with his college essays. “He suggested many edits and corrections and made my essays more personal, more me.”

Michael also cites as very helpful the College Jump Start Program that the College Counseling Office held for rising seniors the week after Commencement. For a full day, 100 students from the Class of 2018 had at their disposal college admissions deans, directors, and representatives from six different schools, all of whom offered insider tips on a variety of topics, from how to write an effective college essay to how to prepare for an admissions interview.

“I don’t know how you can not visit the College Counseling Office,” says Michael, circling back to his mention of visiting Mr. Lear on multiple occasions his junior year. "He has always been so available and provided me so much guidance. I was interested in a particular school and he helped connect me to a Pingry senior who had recently been admitted, as well as an alumnus who graduated from the school.”

Does he envision leaning on the College Counseling Office while he’s in college? “I’ll definitely come back,” he smiles, “if only to thank Mr. Lear for all he has done for me.”

“I know she had to read about 35 senior autobiographies,” says John (Jake) Patterson ’18, “but she was able to remember and pinpoint random facts about me. She genuinely cares.”

Jake is referring to his college counselor, Mrs. Amy Cooperman. Thanks to that exercise, and talking through his answers with her—in addition to a lengthy discussion about his recent service trip to Costa Rica—Jake says he identified the topic of his Common App essay. What’s more, six pages flowed easily when he returned home that night, so excited and eager was he to start writing.

A thoughtful read of his autobiography isn’t his only compliment of Mrs. Cooperman. “She is the easiest person to talk to. I go into her office for five-minute meeting and we end up sitting and talking for an hour, about all kinds of things,” he adds. “It’s not a relationship that’s solely focused on the college counseling process. It’s a friendship. I always leave her office feeling like I should give her a hug.”

With Mrs. Cooperman’s help, the four-year varsity lacrosse player hopes to pursue an undergraduate program in Business upon graduation from Pingry. Will he be back to visit her? “Definitely,” he smiles.

He tested his dramatic mettle by trying out—and landing a part—in the school musical, Cabaret. He also discovered a knack for throwing shotput, and joined the spring track & field team. Padding his transcript wasn’t necessary; Princeton had already accepted him. But in his 13 years at Pingry, he came to understand that leaving his comfort zone was ok, even smart. “I've learned that I like a lot more than I thought I did; my interests are more diverse than I could have imagined,” he says.

He credits his Pingry college counselor for helping to nurture those interests, giving him honest feedback and clear advice while allowing him to think for himself. He plans to pursue a major of mechanical engineering at Princeton (perhaps double-majoring in astrophysics, if time allows, he says), and a minor in East Asian studies.

With all of his interests, why Princeton?

“The Princeton info session I attended my sophomore year was a typical one. However, the woman who spoke—she graduated from Princeton the year before— stood on stage and gave a 1.5-hour talk without using notes or stuttering once. I was so absolutely floored and impressed by her eloquence, her persona, and her intelligence. I turned to my family and said, ‘If this school can shape me into a young adult like her, I need to go here.’”

UPDATE: "I was lucky to have a college counselor [Mr. Tim Lear] who attended Princeton, and so knew my experience from a first-hand perspective. Over the course of my freshman year, whenever I was in a rut, he offered support and encouragement that was really great to hear. Honestly, my freshman year was such a great experience. I 100% feel like Princeton was a great fit, and I know that I have met lifelong friends and will continue to do so for the next three years. For that reason I’m extremely grateful that Pingry's College Counseling Department, and Mr. Lear, took such care in the process. I really do feel at home here, and they all played a big role in helping me to find this home."

Her instincts were right. The unedited version caught Dartmouth’s attention, and now, she’s a happy New Englander, pursuing a subject that has long been of interest to her: neuroscience. Helping to nurture that interest was Ms. Torres’s AP Anatomy and Physiology class, which, as a freshman, Nia had heard Pingry upperclassmen exclaim over. “I heard intriguing things about getting to sit in on surgeries and having the opportunity to participate in several dissections, and I knew it was the class for me. It was everything I expected!” she raved. “I definitely tried to take advantage of the opportunities that Pingry gives its students, doing my best to participate in anything having to do with biology or neuroscience, and Ms. Torres’s class was just one of those opportunities.” Thanks to the patient guidance of college counselor Mrs. Ananya Chatterji—“she helped me to stay as calm and organized as possible”—Nia is now diving deeper into the sciences at a college she feels is the perfect fit.

“Pingry’s college counseling office is amazing and so helpful. Their patience and firm guidance helped me keep a level head during some of the most stressful months of my life,” she said.

Her advice to seniors? Perhaps alluding to her penchant for human sciences, “Stay organized, hydrated, and well-rested. Those three things are key.”