College Advising Update

The summer and fall has been a busy one for the College Advising office here at Trinity School of Midland. Looking forward there is change upon us when it comes to standardized testing and a quick thank you to the Trinity School community. 

Summer:

During June, seniors met with me in small groups and individually at The Hand Cafe in Midland to work on their college applications, resumes, and college essays. The students worked hard, had a great time visiting with one another over a coffee or a bite to eat, and took turns going down the gigantic slide.  I have always enjoyed the activity as it allows me to spend time with our newest senior class. With small class sizes at Trinity School, students seeking college advising can typically have unlimited visits with their college advisor, which is a huge plus in helping students find the right fit colleges to apply to and attend.

You may have seen the news where the Supreme Court struck down a college’s ability to use race as a factor in admitting a student to college. Colleges and The National Association for College Admission Counseling are all working together to ensure that colleges follow these guidelines while at the same time working on new strategies to increase access for all students. 

As always we started off the month of August with our annual Midnight Madness College Application Event. To my knowledge, it is the only one across the country. The senior class came up to the school late in the evening to enjoy an array of breakfast cereals, donuts, and most of all one another’s company. Throughout the event, we had trivia contests, a college application workshop, and some students even hit submit at the midnight hour. 

Fall:

The school year is off to a fast and furious start regarding college applications. The mighty senior class of 25 students has been working hard and submitting their applications. As of September 1st, nearly half of the class has submitted at least one application with nearly 5 students receiving acceptance letters to one or more colleges across the country. Last year’s senior class had over 180 acceptances to over 70 different colleges and universities and accumulated over $6 million in merit awards. I expect great things to come with similar results for the class of 2024.

Looking Forward:

Some new changes are coming this fall and early next year with regard to standardized testing. This year’s PSAT exam will be a digital-only test and the SAT will pivot to a digital-only test format starting in January of 2024. More information about the digital PSAT will be available in future Charger articles. Furthermore, I expect you will see more written about these tests in national headlines and future Charger articles.

Finally, it has been a great pleasure serving as Trinity School’s College Advisor for the last 11 years. A huge thanks to everyone here who has supported me.  I started at Trinity School as a student with Dr. Premi Johnson back in 1980 and after leaving Trinity in 9th grade, I had the opportunity to come back to work at a school I absolutely loved growing up at. This is a special place with amazing students, leadership, faculty, and staff. I can assure you that colleges across the country love recruiting and having Trinity School students. I will be working at Schreiner University in Kerrville, and I am excited to see what God has in store for me. Wishing you and this amazing school the very best for many years to come.

Dr. Trey Wetendorf