Courtesy of Samantha O’Brien

Yale’s admissions office co-hosted 25 high school counselors for its first-ever Small Town and Rural Students Northeast Counselor Tour earlier this semester.

The inaugural tour was organized by the STARS College Network, a consortium of 32 colleges and universities across the United States committed to improving higher education access and affordability for rural and small-town students. Yale, Brown University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology co-hosted the tour from Sept. 12 to 14, with support from Columbia University and Colby College. 

“I love bringing tangible ideas back to my students and families,” said Juliet Thomas, a school counselor at Ashland High School in Ohio. “Connecting with other counselors from across the country from rural and small town areas was also really incredible and fascinating; we are all facing unique challenges in our own communities but are all striving to remove barriers and obstacles.” 

The counselors spent Sept. 12 and 13 at Yale for a program reception, welcome, financial aid session and tour of campus. 

For the second half of Sept. 13, the counselors traveled to Brown for a tour and informational sessions. On the final day of the program, the counselors toured MIT, heard from a panel of rural students and participated in a session where they used real, anonymized student applications to learn what goes into reading a college application and how admissions decisions are made.

According to Yale Admissions Office’s Senior Assistant Director Samantha O’Brien, 25 counselors from 13 states participated in the tour. Some were affiliated with school districts, while others came from college-access or community-based organizations. 

Thomas, who participated in the tour, said that hearing from students from under-resourced schools on how they distinguished themselves in the application process was “really valuable.” She, for example, has learned about Schoolhouse free online tutoring through Khan Academy to develop skills for classes that were not offered in her school and programs such as USC Brovard Scholars, which helps students with financial need.

“It was encouraging to see how every school has started initiatives aimed at creating rural student groups/clubs in order to allow rural and small-town students to better integrate into campus life in a more urban setting, something I am excited to share with our students and staff,” Cristian Rodriguez, college advisor at Lapeer County Education & Technology Center, wrote to the News.

Rodriquez wrote that she was thankful to learn about the process that Ivy League admissions offices go through as they evaluate student applications. This will help counselors advise their students on how to improve their college applications.

Rodriguez also noted Yale’s dedication to simplifying the financial aid process for applicants. 

“Hearing the passion from the Yale student tour guides gave me a sense of the immense pride they felt with being a part of the Yale community,” Rodriquez wrote.  

The STARS Northeast Counselor Tours are planned to be hosted at various partner schools every year.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions is located at 38 Hillhouse Ave.