Guided by the College Counseling Office (CCO), Latin’s senior class created a set of behavioral norms regarding college-related conversations during a grade-wide meeting on November 7.
To help steer college conversations in a positive direction and minimize stress or turmoil, seniors gathered in small groups in the Wrigley Theater to propose suggestions for supporting their peers throughout the college admissions process. After advisory groups brainstormed norms to agree on, college counselors compiled their ideas and created an official norm list displayed outside the senior locker bay.
The norm lists states:
“While this is a very exciting time for us in the CCO and our seniors, in the past, we’ve seen how students can simultaneously dread this time of year,” Assistant Director of College Counseling Devon Jones said. “It also comes with comments and unwanted inquiries on who has applied where, pressure to talk about college choices, and speculations on why someone was or was not admitted, for example. All of this has contributed to creating a more toxic than supportive culture.”
Seniors committed to following these norms just before Early Decision (ED) and Early Action (EA) decisions were released, normally between late November and mid-December. If a student decides to apply to a school ED, their application is among a smaller pool of applicants, and their acceptance is binding. An ED application often reflects a student’s top school. Therefore, ED results season can be particularly stressful. On the other hand, while EA applications are not binding, they offer an opportunity to receive notification from other colleges earlier than the Regular Decision timeline.
Before the results of EDs were returned to seniors, the CCO wanted to find a way to guide seniors through possibly uncomfortable conversations.
Senior Pippa Brink noted that many recent conversations with classmates and friends centered around college, and the frequency of those conversations had increased due to ED results. “I really appreciated what [the CCO] did, because I feel like it’s a good reminder on how to be respectful,” Pippa said. “People are respectful; I just think the norms are kinda hard to attain. And our grade’s really close, so people are gonna talk no matter what.”
Senior Carla McSweeney said she believes in the senior class’ ability to uphold the norms. “When we are told to do something, we can handle executing it,” she said. “We don’t want to make this a harder time for people. I think we genuinely want to support each other.”
While all of the norms are important to recognize, seniors feel that some are more impactful than others. Seniors Abdon Valenciana and Paul Silvani believe that one of the most important standards was to avoid speaking poorly about any school in the company of peers.
Abdon said, “It would feel really bad if someone talked poorly about a college you were looking forward to going to.”
Paul agreed. “If you’re just speaking badly about that person, it is just one person, but if you are speaking badly about an entire school, it could be five, or six, or even 10 people you’re talking about, and you have no clue who one of those people could be,” he said. “They might be sitting right next to you while you’re having that conversation.”
The CCO was inspired to create these guidelines for the Class of 2025 following a conversation in the senior history elective Introduction to Philosophy. The dialogue was an impromptu check-in with seniors the week leading up to November 1, when they were submitting their ED applications.
Upper School English and history teacher Brandon Woods, who teaches the course, felt the conversation served as an important reflection on personal beliefs. “We were talking about ethics,” he said, “so it seemed a natural question to ask: How do you want to conduct yourself in a way that is true to your values and your ethics through this process?”
Dr. Woods understands the challenges of the college search. “It can be a really difficult process and time for folks, and that is when we tend to not live up to our aspirations for ourselves.” Throughout this tumultuous period, seniors are supported by the CCO, teachers, and school counselors, while the norm list is a resource intended to encourage ethical and healthy conversations.
Outside of school-sanctioned discourses, one way the senior class celebrates each other is through the @2025latindecisions Instagram page. On this page, seniors can share their college decisions with classmates without violating norms. This page was not created by the CCO, nor do they sanction it. All posts are self-reported, meaning that a student decides to send their college commitments and pictures of themselves and their intended major to Instagram. Paul, Carla, Abdon, and Pippa all feel that the Instagram page is a positive platform.
Paul said, “Everyone worked extremely hard to get that acceptance, so sharing that is nice.”
Carla added, “Everyone is really nice in the comments. And it’s nice because you don’t have to ask people—you know where they’re going, and you can say ‘congrats’ when you see them in the hallways.”
Back offline, in the hallway just outside the senior locker bay and next to the CCO, students will be reminded of the norms they set for themselves, as displayed on the CCO’s bulletin board.
Ms. Jones said, “[The CCO] would like each senior to take a moment to sign the board as a public display of agreeing to them. We hope this bulletin board will serve as a public declaration of the Class of 2025’s pledge and help others in the building keep seniors accountable for upholding them.”
She continued, “We want [the senior class] to understand the power they hold to shift our school’s culture in a very positive way. We no longer have to brace ourselves for this time of year if everyone agrees to do their part in making this a more positive time.”
