Director of College Counseling Mr. David McCauley and Registrar/College Counseling Assistant Ms. Sandy Baker (photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge).
Northwood takes great pride in where its students attend college, so it is no surprise that the faculty does all they can to ensure every student is prepared to take on the journey. I interviewed David McCauley, the head of the college counseling office, and Turner Jackson, a student who has applied early action, to share more about the process at Northwood.
Mr. McCauley is the head of the college office here at Northwood, and he is one of the reasons the school is so prepared to help its students with applications. Mr. McCauley shared that a huge challenge for the office has been working with a senior class with so many new seniors. Thirty-two members of the class of 2023, half of the class, are new to the school, and that has been tough for the office to organize. Despite this challenge, McCauley said, “the students have done a great job being prepared, and we have 29 students applying early.” That’s quite an achievement for the office.
Mr. McCaulley also mentioned that he was glad that they could offer in-person and virtual sessions for schools such as Notre Dame, Cornell, and Stanford. The college office goes to great lengths to provide the students with such fantastic opportunities. The students here are fortunate to have faculty so excited to help them advance to higher education.
Turner Jackson ’23 (photo: Mr. Michael Aldridge).
Jackson is a 3rd year senior from Hong Kong, and he is an excellent example of being prepared for the college journey. As I mentioned earlier, Turner has already applied early action to Northeastern University. Although he has only applied to one school now, he shared that he expects to apply to a few more later in the year, depending on soccer and his academics.
As a senior myself, I know how stressful it is to work on an application, and I was curious to see how Turner was feeling. “The college office has done a great job helping prepare me for the submission process, and Reno [Mr. Steve Reed] was great in helping me develop my essay.”
Jackson also gave a lot of credit to starting early in the summer. An early start helped take some of the stress off his shoulders. It was also encouraging to hear how much Turner liked having the help of Northwood teachers. He said, “All the faculty have been willing to help in the process,” which is a testament to how involved the school is.
Christie-Ann Nelson ’23 smiles after submitting an early application in October 2023 (photo: Mr. David McCauley).
As we get later and later into the school year, more and more students will be applying to colleges. It’s exciting to watch this process unfold, and we hope the students get the success they are looking for.
Thank you to the college office and Turner for sharing their perspectives, and we wish him, along with all the other seniors applying, the best of luck in their journey to and through college.
