College Counseling
Philosophy & Outcomes
100% of students in the Class of 2022 were accepted and enrolled in a four-year college or university.
At Williams, everything we do is student-centered and individualized, and this approach is no different in College Counseling. Working with families we aim to find the best-fit college for each student by considering their passions and goals, their aptitude and abilities.
Students from Williams are well-prepared for college and generally feel their academics at Williams are of a similar rigor and difficulty of courses in their college or university setting.
9th-12th Grades
The Process
Entering Upper School
As students enter the Upper School they are guided by advisors to think ahead as they select their courses and co-curriculars to best present their accomplishments when they apply to college with a strong transcript and a demonstrated involvement in co-curriculars and service activities.
10th Grade
The office communicates with Parents of 10th – 12th graders monthly, offering essential information and valuable insights that can help keep the college process top-of-mind as students continue to advance towards eventual college applications and enrollment. Beginning in 10th grade students also have the option to take standardized test prep courses, offered at the School in the evenings, and take in-school pre-ACT and PSAT tests. Because the majority of colleges have gone test-optional since 2020, students are counseled on an individual basis to determine the benefit of testing and sending scores as part of their application.
Junior Year
Beginning in the Junior year, students and parents become significantly more involved in the College Counseling process. The College Counseling Office provides family programming beginning in September to introduce parents to the college application process, and again in January to prepare families for the application process in students’ Senior year. In the spring of their junior year, students are guided through several self-reflective exercises, mock interviews, and several one-on-one meetings to craft a preliminary college list, and to meet with a student’s family to discuss balancing the college list, and individualized strategies to achieve shared goals.
Before Senior Year
The summer before Senior Year, students remain engaged working with their College Counselor, with weekly workshops to guide them through the application process and preparing materials before the school year begins.
Senior Year
As seniors are actively applying to college throughout the fall and winter of their senior year, Mrs. Clark is available for individual meetings to answer questions and help to hone their application list. Students are counseled on the best strategy such as considering to apply early action or early decision. Parents are also guided through this process with personalized programming focusing on navigating Financial Aid.
Lena Rimmer
Class of 2022I loved working with Mrs. Clark during the college process.
She was always available to work with changing schedules and genuinely gave time to my personal college process. She was super helpful in building a plan and talking about the realities of stress during the process. I also feel that she built a good rapport with me before I had to worry about starting applications which made the process a lot less daunting during our first few official meetings. That is definitely a benefit of the small school environment at Williams. I know my peers share the same love for her because of the special relationships she was able to build with each of us going beyond strictly advising us on the college process.
Meet the Director
Dana Clark is a full-time college counselor and is a member of National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) and New England Association of College Admissions Counseling (NEACAC). She is on the Professional Development Committee with NEACAC and is also a member of the Association of College Counselors in Independent Schools (ACCIS). She attended Salve Regina University for her Undergraduate Degree in Psychology and Special Education, and then went on to Seattle University where she achieved a Masters’ in Student Development Administration.
She began working in higher education at Seattle University and went on to Roger Williams’ University to serve as Assistant Director of Transfer and International Admissions where she read applications and counseled transfer and international students. This experience from the “other side of the desk” has given her insights to the behind the scenes in the college admissions process. She began at Williams in 2016 and has become an invaluable part of our community. As she shared in the 2022 Commencement Address, “As a college counselor, I get to watch young people make one of their biggest decisions in life and we really only make a handful of huge life decisions: college, jobs, maybe a relocation or two, whether to get married or have kids. I’ve had the greatest opportunity to watch you decide on that first big decision. How lucky am I?” Her favorite part about Williams is the ability to get to know students and their families at a deeper level, beyond their academics and hearing about their interests, passions, and life experiences.
Dionne Butler
Parent 2023The Williams School College Counseling Program has been an incredible experience for our children during such a pivotal time in their lives.
One of the reasons we chose to send our children to Williams was due to the College Counseling services. This program provides tremendous support and thoughtful planning, which makes the college search and application process manageable as well as achievable during what can be a stressful time for students and parents. We are grateful to Mrs.Clark Director of College Counseling and The Williams School for providing such a vital program for high school students.
Thoughts? Questions?
Contact Dana Clark and the College Counseling Office.
Classes of 2018-2022
Matriculation List
American University (4)
Amherst College
Arizona State University
Augustana University
Bard College (2)
Bennington College
Berklee College of Music
Boston College
Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Boston University (5)
Bowdoin College
Brandeis University (3)
Brown University
Bucknell University (2)
California Institute of the Arts
Case Western Reserve University
Central Connecticut State University
Champlain College (2)
Claremont McKenna College
Clark University
Clemson University
Colby College (3)
Colgate University
College of Charleston (6)
Connecticut College (4)
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Davidson College
Dean College
Dickinson University
Drew University
Eckerd College
Emerson College (2)
Emory University (2)
FIDM-Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising — Los Angeles
Florida Southern College
George Washington University (3)
Gettysburg College
Goucher College
Hamilton College (2)
High Point University
Hofstra University
Johnson & Wales University
King’s College London (University of London)
Lehigh University
Leiden University College The Hague
Loyola Marymount University (3)
Manhattanville College
Marist College (2)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
McGill University (2)
Merrimack College
Mount Holyoke College (2)
Muhlenberg College (2)
New York University
North Carolina State University
Northeastern University (4)
Northwestern University
Norwich University
Oberlin College (3)
Ohio State University
Providence College
Quinnipiac University (2)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2)
Rhode Island School of Design (2)
Roger Williams University (2)
Rollins College (2)
Sacred Heart University (2)
Salve Regina University
Sarah Lawrence College
Savannah College of Art and Design
School of Visual Arts
Skidmore College
Smith College (2)
St. Lawrence University (2)
Stanford University (2)
Syracuse University (3)
Texas A & M University
The New School (2)
The University of Alabama
The University of Tampa (2)
Thomas Jefferson University (2)
Tufts University (4)
Tulane University of Louisiana
Union College
United States Coast Guard Academy
United States Naval Academy
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Davis
University of California-San Diego (2)
University of California-Santa Barbara (3)
University of Chicago
University of Colorado Boulder (2)
University of Connecticut (2)
University of Connecticut — Stamford
University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign (2)
University of Maine
University of Maryland — College Park
University of Massachusetts — Amherst (2)
University of Miami (5)
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rhode Island (2)
University of Rochester (3)
University of Southern California (2)
University of St Andrews
University of Toronto (2)
University of Vermont (7)
University of Virginia (3)
University of Washington
UNSW Sydney
Vassar College (4)
Villanova University
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
and State University
Wake Forest University
Wesleyan University (3)
Wheaton College
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (2)
Yale University (3)