Salisbury School - QA College Admissions

Charting a path to excellence: Insights from Salisbury School's college counseling expert

For graduates of Salisbury School, college admission is not a question of “if” but “where.” For over the last hundred years, this elite all-boys boarding school in bucolic Northwest Connecticut has produced well-rounded boys of character and integrity who matriculate to the top universities and service academies in the nation. Salisbury School offers its students several advantages in academics, athletics, and the arts. Along with personal college advisement that includes comprehensive college preparation, these advantages help a Salisbury Knight reach any goal he sets for himself in academics and life. Perhaps the most impactful benefit graduates of Salisbury School receive is the school environment itself. Staffed by educators who are deeply invested in the success of their students, attending Salisbury School is a long and storied tradition of excellence where education is an important step toward a Knight becoming the best version of himself that he can be. Bobby Wynne '22 (Hon.) P'19, Salisbury School’s Assistant Head of School and Head of College Advising, has been part of this tradition for the last 22 years. Here he shares a bit about the university application process in 2024 and why Salisbury is so effective at preparing students for what comes next.

What is an example of a best practice or a piece of advice you give parents at the college symposium? Wynne: I like to remind parents that no two college application processes are the same and encourage them to be careful about what advice they accept from their peers. One of my favorite analogies is that the college process is like a big family van. The parents and the adults in the student’s life are all in the family van. But the student must drive it. I also remind them that we’ve been preparing your son to drive since the moment he started at Salisbury. Allowing your son to drive his success during his high school years ensures that he’ll be able to drive his success for the rest of his life.

How has the landscape of college admissions changed and what is Salisbury doing to adapt to these changes? Wynne: For numerous reasons, it has gotten much more competitive and less predictable. Getting into college can feel overwhelming. But the old saying — How do you eat an elephant? Well, one bite at a time — applies. From the moment a student begins high school, we’re preparing him for the college process. From curating his college list to include the right mix of schools that would be right for him, to preparing his transcript, to helping him with his college essay, everything is done in stages that have proven to get results. We’re with students and their parents to guide them through the entire process. As a boarding school, how are you able to get the parents involved? Wynne: As part of our process, we host an annual College Symposium where fifth form (junior year) parents come to campus to learn about the application process, best practices, financial aid, recent trends, and testing. Representatives from top colleges come to this as well, creating an environment of learning and discovery with parents and their sons. Each year we also have the Spring Family Weekend and Fall Family Weekend, which allows us to build our partnership with parents and to demonstrate how accessible we are with programming designed for each class.

In the last 15 years, over 90 percent of our graduates get into their first or second choice school.”

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Allowing your son to drive his success during his school years ensures that he’ll be able to drive his success for the rest of his life.”

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Salisbury is known for its 100% college matriculation rate. How do these factors help differentiate the school when it comes to college preparation and admission? Wynne: To understand the college process at Salisbury, one must first know that it involves every adult in our community. While the college office takes the lead, the unique relationships that every student has at Salisbury, allows us to approach the college process from an customize beginning. As their dorm parents, their coaches, and their teachers, Salisbury’s faculty members can see the type of environment where all these boys thrive and guide them toward the universities that will be best for them.

How does Salisbury support individual learning profiles to ensure academic success? Wynne: The idea of supporting boys and individual learning profiles was hatched by one of our faculty members, Mrs. Rudd, more than 75 years ago. Through her work to improve students’ reading comprehension, she became one of the true pioneers in the field of academic support. Today we have the Rudd Learning Center to carry on her legacy. The RLC helps our boys become confident, independent learners through one-on-one instruction from a professionally trained learning specialist. It’s now recognized as one of the leading learning centers in New England. Athletics is a big part of the Salisbury experience. From your perspective, how do athletics and college applications go hand in hand? Wynne: Approximately 30 percent of our senior class gets recruited by college athletic programs, especially in crew, lacrosse, and hockey — in 2024 we won the Hockey Elite 8 Championship. Salisbury boasts world-class facilities plus some of the best high school coaches in the country who are completely invested in the college process. Salisbury coaches are constantly having conversations with college coaches to expose and promote our students to colleges, resulting in our high recruitment rate.

What are some of the universities and service academies that you’ve helped your students get into? Wynne: We are extremely proud of all the outcomes for our students, but some of the highlights include nearly every top 100 college including heavy hitters like Yale, Harvard, and other Ivy Leagues as well as the top service academies like the US Naval Academy, Air Force, and West Point. College acceptance is more competitive than ever, but Salisbury grads have impactful advantages. At Salisbury School, students are uniquely prepared to meet the challenges of the best universities and beyond. Learn more about the best place for boys to experience a tradition of excellence at Salisbury School.

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How do you view Salisbury’s relationship with its students when it comes to college counseling? Wynne: It’s a partnership that’s been built with the students and the adults in their lives. Over time, this partnership creates trust that allows us to connect with these young men in ways that are different than anywhere else in the world. I truly believe that this is an aspect of our culture that is unique to the all-boys environment. Over their four years at Salisbury School, this distinct aspect of our School helps us develop a young man’s path from a position of trust. What are your interests? What are your passions? How we build a transcript is going to look different for each student. Then, how do we demonstrate their passions beyond membership in a club, sport, or activity so that they aren’t just lines on a resume? These are the questions we’re answering throughout the student’s high school experience. If each student’s path is different, how is Salisbury consistently so successful in getting its students into top-ranking universities and service academies? Wynne: We’ve seen what the path of success looks like and can build a similar path for your son. There’s a difference between college placement and what we do — which is college advisement. I don’t sit down with parents and tell them I know their son and his interests better than they do. We take what the parents say and what the student says and work together to discover the path that’s best for them. The results speak for themselves. In the last 15 years, over 90 percent of our graduates get into their first or second choice school.

Bobby Wynne '22 (Hon.) P'19, Salisbury School’s Assistant Head of School and Head of College Advising

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