College Counseling
At Blake, we're ready to help all students choose a path to pursue after graduation and make decisions best suited to their unique abilities and interests.
Blake College Counseling focuses on helping students find the schools that best fit their individual needs. Our counselors partner with students to create a list of potential schools, then guide and support each student, and their family, through every step of the college search process.
Our students graduate prepared to thrive in a variety of colleges and universities. The Blake School Profile shows the ways we help position students for success through student honors, SAT/ACT scores and college matriculation.
For Prospective Students & Parents
We are committed to helping students match with the college or university best suited to their individual needs. While we offer services and support for ninth and tenth graders in a variety of formats, the most intensive and carefully supported preparations take place during junior and senior year. We provide support that includes:
- Guidance from grade-level deans in grades nine and ten about program and testing questions, as well as course selection
- A six-part college seminar in the spring semester of sophomore year
- Fall college fairs, including the Minnesota Independent School Partnership College Fair and the National College Fair, sponsored by the Minnesota Association for College Admission Counseling
- Informational events throughout the year such as Junior Parent College Night, Senior Parent College Night, and College Financial Aid Night, as well as topical presentations
- Individual college counseling meetings with students and parents, beginning in the spring semester of junior year and continuing through senior year
- In-house test preparation courses for the ACT through Breakaway Test Prep
- Optional classes and individual support in preparing to write the college application essay
At the beginning of junior year, students learn to use Naviance, a web-based tool for tracking and organizing college application materials, deadlines and research notes about different schools. Students can also use this tool to access the Common Application, College Board and ACT online.
Blake also offers student support beyond the College Counseling department.
For Current Students & Parents
Grades 9 & 10: Parents and students with questions about the college application process should connect with the student's grade dean. College events are open to parents in grades 9-12, with several specific programs for ninth and tenth grade students. All sophomores are enrolled in College Seminar, a six-week course that introduces pertinent topics in preparation for junior and senior year, while parents of tenth graders receive the College Counseling Handbook, a comprehensive resource that covers the college application process in full.
Grades 11 & 12: Blake offers in-house standardized test preparation focused on the ACT, offered weekly in the fall semester. Students are assigned a college counselor in January of the junior year. After an initial meeting between the college counselor and the student, a family meeting is held in the spring of junior year. Meetings and conversations between college counselors, students and parents take place throughout the senior year as needed.
College Counseling resources for current families can be found on the Veracross portal pages for Blake parents and students.
For Blake Alumni
To request a Blake transcript, please visit our password-protected Alumni Portal. If you do not have a portal account, please email blakeportals@blakeschool.org.
For College Admissions Officers
Blake's college counseling team encourages college admissions officers to contact us at any time or to schedule a visit through Wendy Johnson. Counselors also regularly visit college and university campuses. Meet the team here.