College Counseling

Living the mission beyond graduation

In alignment with the core of our educational program, the Ethical Culture Fieldston School’s College Office prepares and compels our students to take care of themselves, each other, and the world as they leave ECFS and enter their respective undergraduate institutions. Working primarily one-on-one, counselors empower students to look carefully at the ways they learn best in order to choose a college that matches their educational aspirations.

The College Office is an academic department that partners with students and their families through the path of self-discovery that defines the college admissions process. It consists of four full-time college counselors who bring years of experience working in undergraduate admissions at highly selective colleges and universities. Following an informal parent program in the fall semester of junior year, the college process formally begins in the spring semester, when each junior is assigned a college counselor who will schedule a family meeting to outline the structure and resources of the College Office. In April, ECFS hosts a Junior College Symposium with over 70 college representatives for an interactive day of case studies and admissions panels. This program serves as a catalyst for the fall semester of senior year, when students officially submit their applications to colleges.

Working primarily one-on-one, counselors empower students to look carefully at the ways they learn best in order to choose a college that matches their educational aspirations.

Through individual meetings and formal class presentations, the College Office aims to provide extensive information and individualized support for each student as they navigate the college process. The office assists with researching colleges, creating college lists, essay writing, standardized testing options, early admission plans, and interview preparation. The office also provides economic assistance to help students visit colleges, finds support for standardized testing, and works with students when they apply for financial aid at the college level. Every student will have an experienced, empathetic counselor and advocate ready to assist with every aspect of the college admission process.

College destinations

The college list below represents the wide array of educational institutions our students have attended over the past five years.

College destinations for the Classes of 2018–2022

American University	Indiana University	SUNY–New Paltz
Amherst College+	Ithaca College*	Stony Brook University
Babson College	Johns Hopkins University	Swarthmore College
Baldwin Wallace University	Kenyon College+	Syracuse University+
Bard College*	King’s College London	Trinity College
Barnard College*	Lafayette College*	Trinity University
Bates College	Lehigh University	Tufts University+
Bennington College	Lewis & Clark College	Tulane University+
Binghamton University	Macalester College*	Union College
Boston College	Manhattan College	Universidad de Navarra
Boston University*	Maryland Institute College of Art	University of California, Los Angeles*
Bowdoin College*	Massachusetts Institute of Technology	University of Chicago+
Brown University+	McGill University	University of Colorado, Boulder*
Bryn Mawr College	Middlebury College+	University of Kansas
Bucknell University	Morehouse College	University of Miami*
Carleton College	Mount Holyoke College	University of Michigan+
Carnegie Mellon University	Muhlenberg College	University of New Haven
Case Western Reserve University	Naropa University	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Claremont McKenna College+	New York University+	University of Oregon
Colby College+	Northeastern University	University of Pennsylvania+
Colgate University+	Northwestern University+	University of Pittsburgh
College of William & Mary	Oberlin College*	University of Rhode Island
Colorado College+	Occidental College+	University of Richmond
Colorado State University	Oxford College of Emory University	University of Rochester
Columbia University+	Parsons School of Design	University of Scranton
Connecticut College*	Penn State Erie, The Behrend College	University of Southampton
Cooper Union	Pitzer College*	University of Southern California+
Cornell University+	Pomona College*	University of St. Andrews
CUNY—John Jay College	Pratt Institute	University of Texas at Austin*
Dartmouth College+	Princeton University*	University of Toronto
Davidson College	Quinnipiac University	University of Vermont
Deep Springs College	Reed College*	University of Virginia*
Drexel University	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute	University of Wisconsin—Madison*
Duke University+	Rhode Island School of Design (RISD)	Ursinus College
Emerson College	Rice University	Vanderbilt University+
Emory University+	Rochester Institute of Technology	Vassar College*
George Washington University*	Rutgers University	Villanova University
Georgetown University+	Sarah Lawrence College	Wake Forest University+
Gettysburg College	School of the Art Institute of Chicago	Washington and Lee University
Goucher College	Scripps College	Washington University in St. Louis+
Grinnell College	Skidmore College+	Wellesley College*
Hamilton College+	Smith College	Wells College
Hampshire College	Southern Methodist University	Wesleyan University+
Harvard University*	Spelman College	Wheaton College (MA)
Harvey Mudd College	St. Lawrence University	Whitman College
Haverford College+	Stanford University*	Whittier College
Hobart and William Smith Colleges	SUNY-Albany	Williams College*
Howard University	SUNY–Binghamton	Yale University+
Illinois Institute of Technology	SUNY–Cortland

* denotes colleges where 5 or more students matriculated.
+ denotes colleges where 10 or more students matriculated.
100% of our students who apply are accepted to college