Our Philosophy

Woodberry Forest School equips young men to pursue learning throughout their lives. While college is a logical step on that path, it is not the final destination.

Every Woodberry senior will earn acceptance into excellent colleges that fit his academic and extracurricular interests. There are many colleges that could provide a strong match; there is not one perfect school that will make or break a boy’s future.

The college counseling team works to provide support — as co-strategists, sounding boards, and mentors — as the process culminates in a thoughtful college choice.

Before they begin thinking specifically about college, boys at Woodberry are encouraged to invest deeply in their high school lives. After all, they’ll be better candidates for college if they have sharpened their talents and developed their passions, academic and otherwise, along the way. In later years, college counselors will begin to guide boys and families in conversations about the mechanics of the college search.

Boys in the fourth form will engage in a few immersive activities meant to introduce a healthy college search, but they won’t yet focus on college research or college applying. Instead, we’ll remind them to take advantage of life at Woodberry: exploring interests, deepening commitments, and seeking success and fulfillment in academics, arts, and athletics. Boys should spend these years searching for what they love to do, not where they want to attend college.

Each boy is assigned an individual college counselor midway through his junior year. While he will always have access to the expertise of the full college counseling staff, the individual college counselor will serve as the student’s chief advocate and advisor in the college process. College counselors work with boys on everything from course selection to planning college visits to advice about standardized testing.