Fieldston added two new members to the college counseling team this year: Fritz Burgher and Noelle Bellamy. With infectious energy and refreshing perspectives, the new Associate Directors of College Counseling help guide students through the application process– one of the most defining moments of high school. This week, I sat down with Burgher and Bellamy to discuss their roles at Fieldston in a cozy admissions office nestled on top of the 100s building.
Both Bellamy and Burgher worked in admissions at their alma maters; Burgher was an admissions officer at Northwestern, and Bellamy was a student tour guide and interviewer at Bowdoin. Now, at Fieldston, the counselors guide students and families through the arduous but immensely fulfilling college application process, helping with application materials and providing much-needed insight.
While many students approach the process with fixed plans, each student’s unique identity, skills and dreams come first for the counselors. “I do think it’s important that we look at who the student is today and ask them who they might want to be in the future, and ensure that whatever ends up on their list mirrors that, rather than perceived prestige or expectations,” said Bellamy.
For Burgher, the biggest misconception he has noticed from students and families is the idea of one perfect school. “I have really come to believe that picking a college is not necessarily a right or wrong choice,” he said. “And the truth of the matter is, out of the nearly 4000 four-year undergraduate colleges in the country, I think students can probably find well over 100 that they would be happy and successful with.”
Bellamy added, “I think for me, the most challenging aspect is when students and or families have a very fixed idea of what a good institution consists of and are not willing to expand that notion.”
In the end, Burgher and Bellamy emphasize the importance of the process of the application journey, which comes with significant moments of self-discovery and reflection. “I think a successful college admissions process shouldn’t be about where you end up matriculating. It’s about how you’ve grown through this process, what you’ve learned about yourself, the conversations you get to have with your family, with your friends,” said Burgher.
However, while the college process should be joyful and revealing, it can also come with many stressors. According to Bellamy, learning to manage time and creating organizational tools can prevent students from feeling overwhelmed. Additionally, she advocates for setting boundaries with friends and family to avoid all conversations becoming dominated by college talk.
The counselors recommend maintaining a healthy balance, especially in the earlier years of high school. “There are developmentally and grade-appropriate things to engage in at each level of high school in terms of the college process,” said Bellamy. She recommends underclassmen focus on developing personal identities and interests, forming relationships with teachers, building study habits and becoming comfortable interacting with adults.
Snapping in agreement, Burgher advises younger students to focus less on ticking boxes for college applications and “more on what classes do I enjoy, what extracurriculars do I want to participate in high school? And what would those potentially look like in college?”
For students considering private, independent college counseling, the counselors emphasize the need to research all professionals adequately. “There’s some really well-informed folks out there. There’s some that I don’t know if I would rely on for a lot of information,” said Burgher.
According to Bellamy, students should consider the “fact that because we are your school, we are the only ones who can actually send your materials to advocate on your behalf to the various colleges and universities that you may be applying to.”
The counselors stressed the excellent track record of Fieldston’s college office. “We are all experts in what we do. We have connections around the country, from Ivy League institutions to small liberal arts colleges to big public flagship universities and global institutions,” said Burgher.
Burgher and Bellamy have greatly enjoyed working with the College Office team and Fieldston students, especially the sense of community. “The students, the faculty, staff [and] administration, are just incredibly passionate, intellectual and down-to-earth people, in a way that I have not found at each stop in my professional career,” said Burgher.
Bellamy added, “I absolutely love our office. I couldn’t have asked for a better set of people.”
