Learning About Elite College Admissions

On Saturday, May 19, 2007, five students and six parents from the O'Bryant Gateway Class of 2011 participated in a hands-on workshop on highly selective college admissions, hosted by Harvard Medical School's Office for Diversity and Community Partnership. The workshop was led by Ms. Tamy-Fee Meneide, Assistant Director of Admissions at Dartmouth College.

Our students and parents were organized into separate "admissions committees," each of which carefully considered a real-life case study of an applicant to Dartmouth College. The all-Gateway student committee ended up with a very challenging case, in which the real Dartmouth committee expressed divided opinions and the final decision was made by the Dean of Admissions. I'm pleased to report that our student committee made the correct recommendation to admit their student, who turned out to be a fantastic campus leader at Dartmouth!

Many thanks to Ms. Meneide and Dr. Sheila Nutt from the Harvard Medical School Office for Diversity and Community Partnership for inviting us to this excellent workshop!