Jennifer DesMaisons

is the School’s Director of College Counseling.

“Living on campus helps me in my role as college counselor. By the time I start working formally with students during their junior year, I have interacted with most of them for a year or two. I may have been their dorm head or advisor, or shared meals in the KDU. We may have harmonized at Sing or been on a Long Spring trip together. By knowing students in different arenas, I am better able to guide them when they set out to identify aspects of themselves that they might not realize are important in the college selection and application process. Many students begin the process by thinking only in terms of academic strengths and potential majors. Much more powerful is when a student thinks about himself or herself as a whole person, with specific preferences, needs, and strengths that can be fully met at the appropriate college.

“Having spent eleven years working on the college side of college admissions, I am highly aware of what makes a student’s application rise to the top of the pile. But long before Putney students and I start discussing their application forms, we look at what the students, in their increasing maturity, know about themselves. We talk about what most inspires and motivates them, and I introduce them to information about the universe of colleges and about specific colleges within that universe. In many ways what I’m doing is helping them confidently take the reins of their own lives. There’s a wonderful ‘Aha!’ moment that happens for many students as they progress from feeling fearful and overwhelmed by the college process to feeling excited and optimistic.” 

B.A. Human Ecology, College of the Atlantic.