Commonwealth is not a means to an end, a pitstop on the path to college—or so we fervently hope. Yet, we’re immersed in a college-going culture, and students and families come to us brimming with excitement and ambition about what their post-Commonwealth future may hold. As our Director of College Counseling, Gena Rodriguez has helped students harness those college ambitions since 2022, striking a balance between “shooting for the stars and a really great place on Earth,” as Head of School Jennifer Borman puts it. Listen in as they discuss the evolution of college counseling at Commonwealth, how families can best support their children during the admissions process, how the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) imploded this year, and what to expect when you have high expectations for higher education. 

Gena, what led you to Commonwealth, and what does your work as Director of College Counseling entail?

GR: So my work is about supporting students and families in reaching whatever their post-Commonwealth dreams are. More often than not, that involves college, and I help with all of the things that go along with the application process. (Details below.)

My path to working in the higher education space started when I was a high-school student. I was very fortunate to have a wonderful college counselor. She came to my high school as part of an AmeriCorps program, and I gained so much from her experience and her expertise. When I graduated college, I wanted to give back in a similar way and joined that same National College Advising Corps program, working in a rural Pennsylvania school, primarily with first-generation and low-income students. We tackled all things related to future planning but certainly with emphasis on college applications and creating a college-going culture. It touched me personally, as a first-gen student, and also professionally, working with students who might not otherwise believe college is for them. It also led me to graduate school to study how higher education works as a system. After coming out of the Harvard Graduate School of Education, I worked with college admissions offices, helping them shape their strategy and reach all kinds of students. As much fun as that was, I really missed working with high schoolers, which is what eventually brought me here. 

Students everywhere have things to teach you—but maybe nowhere more so than at Commonwealth. I always learn from our students, and just hearing about all the things they’re involved in and passionate about broadens my horizons, too, which is awesome.

What was the college search process like when you were a student here, Jennifer, and how has it shifted?

JB: Oh, I definitely got some wonderful essay coaching from [legendary Commonwealth English teacher] Mary Kate Bluestein, for whom I'm eternally grateful, but there wasn’t much systematic help with college exploration. There certainly wasn't a dedicated full-time staff person providing the kind of support Gena does, nor were my parents particularly involved. I think many, though not all, of today's families are very invested in the college-search process and very involved. And, Gena, I know you frequently work with families as well as students to talk about college aspirations, constraints, and choices along a tier of selectivity. That requires fantastic listening skills and empathy and relationship building—as well as all your expertise about the college landscape!

That landscape and the assumptions people have about college have undergone generational shifts at Commonwealth and nationally, I think. For the most part, my classmates and I were always excited about college, but I don't think we were as hyper-focused as high-school students aspiring to attend elite colleges are today. The acceptance rates were much more generous back then: schools with 12-, 15-, 20-percent acceptance rates are now at 4 and 3 percent. And the applicant pools were much smaller with less competition from international students when I applied. Students of today are playing in a much tougher arena and thinking much earlier about how to position themselves to have the college choices they want. It's become a really strange landscape in the last twenty years, I would say.

How do you balance students’ high college expectations and ambitions with that increasingly competitive admissions landscape? 

JB: I teach seniors, so I get a front-row seat to their college process and college psychology.  They're pretty honest about the stress of college, and that makes my heart ache for them. I know how incredibly skilled they are, how strong they are in so many domains, and they feel the weight of anonymous rejection for seemingly, if not actually, arbitrary reasons. 

I try to tell them that their Commonwealth education has positioned them to flourish at college in ways that many, many students are not able to and that they will be able to accomplish things in college that will allow them to be incredibly successful however they define that success. Of course we want them to get into the college of their dreams, but—and they don't always believe me on this—it's not going to matter nearly as much as they think. I know, we all know, that they are going to soar at many, many schools. Yes, there's a small number of colleges that have gotten intensely selective, but the vast majority of colleges in the U.S. are hungry for and aggressively marketing to find students like ours. 

GR: That is absolutely true. People do focus a lot on those forty or so schools that continue to get more selective. However, the vast majority of colleges—thousands of schools—are not in that boat and would love to admit Commonwealth students. At the end of the day, we help students put their best foot forward and send in the strongest application they possibly can—and with those highly selective, highly rejective schools, that doesn't guarantee anything. I don’t have a crystal ball or a magic wand, as much as I wish I did. 

I'm heartened to hear more from the juniors now about the excitement they have for all sorts of different possibilities post-Commonwealth. My hope is that, while there are stressful parts of the admissions process, overall they are excited about their next steps and going out into the world. What's wonderful is that so many colleges already know Commonwealth and know the kind of students Commonwealth produces and know our kids will be successful at whatever they put their minds to—which is exactly what every college wants: students who are driven and passionate and well-equipped to jump right in.

Speaking of legendary English teachers, Eric Davis once said, “What is the purpose of success at Commonwealth? Is it to get into the best college, leading to the best career, leading to the best family, house, stuff, leading to the best spot in the best cemetery?” How do you see that ethos playing out in college advising at Commonwealth today?

GR: What stood out to me about Commonwealth and what really drew me in is our philosophy about students’ time here: Commonwealth is not just a stepping stone to whatever comes next. These are four formative years. There is a lot of growth and a lot of learning. By the time fall of senior year comes along, they can make really wise decisions about what they want their future to look like. They’re reflecting on the ways they learned and grew here, and how they want to continue to learn and grow.

JB: I had a long conversation with my seniors about learning for the sake of learning versus doing well to get into college. They are aware of the complexities and tensions of pursuing their passions and admissions competitiveness, but they still feel really torn about some of the pragmatic advice—and it’s advice, not dicta—that we give them. We tell students to develop their capacities and that college will take care of itself, but the reality is more complicated than that, especially if students have their hearts set on those top-tier colleges. 

GR: We try to find a balance. We tell students, “Stretch yourself. Take classes you're interested in”—and they do. We would also not be doing our jobs if we didn't explain the possible implications of their choices on their college options. For example, you can take that philosophy elective, but I have to tell you that colleges would rather see a fourth year of language instead. It can be challenging sometimes, and there isn’t always a “right” answer, but empowering students to make well informed decisions for themselves is my goal. 

JB: Two of my seniors just made a documentary where they interviewed eight recent Commonwealth alums. They asked about the social and academic transitions into college—especially coming from a tiny high school like ours. And it was just so inspiring to hear alumni/ae say they felt like college was a snap and that it wasn't hard to go from a very small social world into a larger arena, whether these students were going to small liberal arts colleges or big state schools.

In broad strokes, how do we prepare and guide students through the college search and admissions process?

GR: So our ultimate goal is to help students find their college match and fit—and that can be at several different schools. We work with kids to build a really strong college list from the start. That means having those dream “reach” schools and a mix of schools that they’re really excited about and feel pretty confident will admit them. 

Our small size helps in a number of ways. Certainly, I get to know students very well—during the college search, of course, and I also get to see them a bit over all four years, which is lovely. But helping students through the college process is not a one-person job. Lots of kids have the same teachers more than once, and they have their advisors. So we get to see kids in the classroom, obviously, and as club leaders and musicians and actors and scientists and community members and all of the wonderful things they are. We guide them in thinking about what their next step might be as far as a college list, and we can reflect, in recommendation letters and such, on them as individuals. That is not something most students get at most schools.

We have formalized test prep, even though our students have mostly covered all of the material on the SAT and ACT by the time that they get to spring of junior year and senior fall, when they're taking these tests. We also know the test is one piece of the college application puzzle, right? It is one score from one or two days. And one test score does not tell you all you need to know about a student and, thankfully, colleges know this too.

JB: Which is why we spend so much fruitful time on application essays. We assign students an essay advisor/coach, who helps with brainstorming and revision and being a sounding board. I know you do a workshop in the spring of junior year to help get creative juices flowing and jumpstart essay-writing over the summer, Gena. And then there's lots of opportunity for feedback and review in the fall, too. Again, I think that it is so rare to have that level of mentoring for what is the hardest part of the process for many students.

GR: In some ways, the essay feels like the counterbalance of the standardized test score, because students have a chance to say something about themselves directly to the college, in their own voice. Colleges take that very seriously, and I take that very seriously. 

Since students take the lead in the college-search process at Commonwealth, what role do their families play?

GR: We absolutely want students to be the drivers of this process. They are the ones going to college, they are the ones who will spend their next four years there. And the hope is that they are the ones most invested in the college-search process. As a side note, that is also exactly what colleges want to see: students who are really excited self-advocates! That said, parents and families certainly play a really big role. 

Most if not all students will encounter some disappointment during the college search. And there’s nothing more helpful than when a parent or family member can help put that disappointment into perspective, reiterating, like you were saying, Jennifer, that wherever they go, they get to define their future success. 

College is also obviously a big financial investment for most families, and that’s often a large part of the reason why it’s important to have families involved. 

JB: I know that, as part of your conversations, you're asking parents as well as students about preferences and constraints, whether those constraints are financial or their preferences are geographic. We always tell students and families, “We will be your biggest champions with your application, no matter where you're applying. And you need to be realistic: shoot for the stars and a really great place on Earth.”

GR: Absolutely. I kick off the college-search process with parents in January of their child’s junior year, and I have them reflect on what their goals are. We can have thirty families in the room with thirty different goals: I want my kid to stay close to home, to get into a “nice” school, to stay at a small school like Commonwealth. I’ve noticed many parents saying their goal is for this process to not be stressful. And we try to make those goals as manageable as possible, using them as the guiding light throughout the process, so even if things get frustrating, you can look back and say, “Here’s why we're doing this.”

College admissions has always been media fodder but it seems to have been dominating the headlines in recent years, such as with the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard Supreme Court Decision and the more recent FAFSA delays. How have they impacted this year’s admissions cycle?

GR: Fortunately, nothing in the SCOTUS ruling changed how we are able to speak about our students or how they're able to speak about themselves. They can include in their application and in their essays all of the activities they're involved in, all of the pieces of their life and their person that are important to them. And so can we in our recommendation letters. Really, the onus is on the college side. I think the most notable impact we have seen is that many colleges have added additional supplemental essays to try to learn more about each student. We’re also seeing that admissions officers have changed how they read and evaluate applications. I expect that will continue to evolve, and we’ll be staying on top of these updates as colleges set their plans in place. 

FAFSA has been…a ride this year. Every high school and every college has been trying to figure it out and navigate every new issue that keeps popping up. Certainly, students and families have been dealing with FAFSA delays on an individual level. But, system-wide, we've seen many colleges push back enrollment deadlines and have longer waitlists, because they’re unsure about what their ability to meet financial need will be. Our hope is that by October 1, when the next cycle starts, FAFSA will have resolved these issues. 

JB: I think about the Class of 2024 and the amount of upheaval in our world that has transpired in the past four years. They have seen not only the SCOTUS ruling but this FAFSA fiasco and uncertainty with regard to their ability to pay for college. They’ve seen wars, and they’re heading to campuses that are currently riven by really intense protest. They started high school during COVID and have been through a lot of its permutations. They’ve seen the emergence of generative AI as a feature of the educational landscape. And I just marvel at the amount of resilience I see in this class. I think it is really rational to be anxious about the state of the world. But they are also optimistic and make the most of what opportunities they find or can create. I'm pretty awestruck by what they've experienced in their four years here and how they are going forward with a lot of pizzazz.

What other college admissions trends are you seeing, in general and among Commonwealth’s recent graduating classes? 

GR: Certainly, this senior class had phenomenal outcomes, especially considering what the past four years have looked like in their educational journey, like you said, Jennifer. 

One notable change is that more and more students, not just at Commonwealth, are utilizing Early Decision applications, because those highly selective schools are admitting more and more of their class though those binding rounds in order to reduce their own uncertainty and keep their yield numbers high. And that earlier push is not going anywhere.

JB: A third, if not more, of our seniors knew where they were headed next year by January. It’s interesting, though, because we had a few apply to U.K. and Canadian schools, with timelines that are often much later than U.S. schools. They couldn't make a final decision until spring AP scores were available in late May. 

GR: And I think that trend will probably grow, too, especially with more students interested in Canadian schools—many of which are actually much closer than California or other West Coast schools! College is also, obviously, getting more expensive. More schools than ever offer 100 percent need-based aid, and that relies on the FAFSA and sometimes the CSS Profile, which is part of what made this year’s FAFSA issues so stressful for many families.

Another trend we’re seeing is the return of testing requirements. With COVID, we saw many schools go test optional. Now we’re seeing that start to reverse a bit. Almost all of our students plan to take these tests anyway, so not much will change for Commonwealth students. But, certainly, more schools are going to require the SAT or ACT this coming fall or perhaps the next cycle. 

Part of my job is to stay on top of this continually changing landscape, and I don't think there will ever be a point at which I say, “This is the perfect college admissions model. We're done!” In the future, we might rethink timing, moving some steps earlier for many students. There’s always more on the horizon.

This article originally appeared in the summer 2024 edition of CM, Commonwealth's alumni/ae magazine.

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