The Sidwell Friends College Counseling Office bases its work on the school philosophy and the individuality of each student.

We undertake to develop in our students a combination of independent thinking and high personal expectation, complemented by openness to the ideas of others and a spirit of compassionate generosity.

Like our faculty, we actively promote education for healthy growth. We guide and support our students as they embrace the important process of self-discovery vital not only to an appropriate college search, but also to a successful transition into the beginning stages of adult life. We strive to empower them with the confidence to know themselves and to understand the kind of people they are becoming. We believe that the college counseling process begins and ends with the student and that our goal is to help students find learning environments that best fit their unique talents and interests.

A key element in a student-centered approach to the college process is the clear expectation that the student will take control. We strive to enable students to develop a fuller sense of autonomy and responsibility. As such, our job is to guide, counsel, probe, refer, suggest and inform. The student is the one ultimately responsible for the key decisions in driving this process forward. Students must also be responsible for signing up for the appropriate standardized tests and meeting application deadlines.

Recognizing that the college process is a developmental one, we believe that the appropriate time to begin our work with students is during the second half of the junior year. We hope that prior to this point, students will fully participate in the life of the school. We hope they occupy themselves not with questioning of what someone in an admission office might want to see, but rather with seeking an education of mind and character that will make them productive and creative contributors to the school and world.