College Counseling
College Planning
At Oak Hill Academy, college planning begins upon enrollment. Students meet with our dedicated counseling staff, who tailor individualized course schedules based on grade level and individual collegiate goals.
The College Counseling office also helps students—and parents—navigate the college admission process. Students work individually with college counselors throughout the process, from research to essay writing and application completion. We guide our students to target schools that are carefully considered based on their own goals and needs. We always encourage our students to “go where they can grow.”
Oak Hill honors articulation agreements with an array of colleges, providing security for our students to be accepted into college. The vast majority of our seniors are able to apply “Early Action” because of institutional relationships cultivated through articulation agreements.
College Lab
Oak Hill’s “College Lab” is our hub for all things related to the college admissions process. A large classroom, the lab is a dedicated space for individual and small group meetings with Oak Hill counselors.
Counselors provide personalized assistance with college research and the application process, helping students identify schools that are a good fit and guiding them through the application and admissions journey.
The College Lab also provides a space for students to meet face-to-face with college admissions representatives, who visit campus throughout the school year.
College and Career Planning by Grade Level
The below planning and testing benchmarks provide students and parents an idea of what the college-planning process looks like at Oak Hill. Detailed timelines and checklists are available from the Counseling Office.
Focus for Grades 8-10
- Placement into academic courses which fully prepare our students for college admission.
- Identification of academic strengths and weaknesses and creation of intervention plans to challenge our students to build on their strengths and improve areas of weakness.
- PSAT testing for diagnostic purposes and to prepare our students for college admission testing.
- Exposure to interest inventories and career information.
- Introduction to college search information and resources.
- Encouragement to pursue summer growth opportunities such as summer school, volunteering, camps or enrichment programs, working, mission trips, travel, and “shadowing” a professional in a career area of interest.
- Attending College Lab meetings during the spring to begin more specific college research.
Focus for Grade 11
- Continuation of the areas above, with a greater emphasis on the student’s particular areas of college and career interest.
- Taking the PSAT in October.
- Taking the SAT and/or ACT during the spring semester.
- Meeting with a counselor in the College Lab during the spring semester for research into “best fit” college options, and learning to identify colleges as “safety,” “target,” or “reach” schools.
- Developing a plan for summer vacation to prepare juniors for college application process when they return in the fall as seniors.
Focus for Grade 12
- Navigating the college admissions process, including doing research, completing applications, writing essays, and gathering necessary supplemental materials.
- Taking the initiative for the admissions process, with support from parents and College Lab counseling staff.
- Taking or re-taking the SAT and/or ACT in the fall semester.