Common Application

Elsa Heydenreich Clark, Immaculate Heart High School

Elsa Heydenreich Clark is the Director of College Counseling at Immaculate Heart High School in Los Angeles, California, a private Catholic college preparatory school for 555 young women in grades 9 through 12.  A graduate of the University of Southern California, Clark also holds a Master of Science in School Counseling from California State University, Los Angeles.

Since 1988, Clark has counseled juniors and seniors at Immaculate Heart, a unique institution with a storied history in Los Angeles. Founded in 1906, today the school ‘s student body includes many who are the daughters and granddaughters of graduates. It is also known for its diversity, reflecting the demographics of the Los Angeles population — two-thirds of those attending are students of color and many are first generation.

Tre Hadrick, Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy

This month's Counselor of the Month is actually not a high school college counselor. Ernest "Tre" Hadrick, III, is a guidance counselor at Eisenhower Science and Technology Leadership Academy, a middle school in Norristown, Pennsylvania. But one of his priorities is encouraging the students at Eisenhower -- many of whom would be the first in their families to attend college -- to strive for a college education.  Such students have a different timetable for the college application process -- they must be extremely purposeful as early as middle school. And in Tre Hadrick, they have a lot of what is needed to achieve the goal of a college education -- a mentor.

Charlene Aguilar, Lakeside School

Charlene Aguilar is Director of College Counseling at Lakeside School, an independent day school for grades 5 through 12 in Seattle, Washington.  A graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara and Harvard University's Graduate School of Education, Aguilar has worked both sides of the desk in college admissions during her career.  She began as an admissions counselor at her alma mater in Santa Barbara and served as Associate Director of Undergraduate Admission at Stanford and Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Santa Clara University.  For ten years prior to coming to Lakeside, she was Director of College Counseling and Dean of the junior class at Castilleja School, an all-girls independent school in Palo Alto, California.

Parents and the Common App

For those of you who haven't yet finished submitting applications -- and your parents -- here's some great guidance from one of our favorite deans: Jeannine Lalonde of University of Virginia. We couldn't agree more with her recent post on Notes from Peabody. Check it out here. And, FYI, we have extensive and detailed commentary on the Common Application in our book, Chapter 14, The Application Form.

Pages