College Counseling and Advocacy
The Hill College Advantage
As is always the case in life, choosing one path leads to another, so it is not surprising that choosing a high school greatly affects a high school student’s chances of being admitted to a college of each student’s choosing. What follows is a brief overview of what distinguishes St. Joseph Hill Academy from others, to ensure successful college admissions for our students, academic achievement in college – and ultimately, career success for our graduates.
Hill Class of 2022 College News
Pictured: Hill Class of 2022 in their college shirts with Mrs. Kerry Sullivan (far right second row from the last) at their Senior Farewell on June 1, 2022
- Samantha Bentsianov received a Division I Tennis athletic scholarship as well as a merit scholarship at Wagner College.
- Angela Cavalieri received a Division I Cross Country and Track & Field athletic scholarship as well as a merit scholarship at Wagner College.
- Rosemary Sysak committed to join the SUNY Cortland DIII Track & Field team.
Our college guidance begins in freshman year, with group orientation sessions with the Director of College Counseling. We collect biographical information from each family and gain early insights into the special circumstances, strengths, and talents of each student.
We offer personalized student and family college guidance in junior year. All students are programmed for College Guidance where they work on career searches/development, college resume writing, essay preparation; they also receive training on Naviance. In addition, the College Counseling team meets with each student (with their parents) to offer advice concerning college selections, visits, interviews, and optimum standardized testing schedules. Special scholarships (ethnic and financial service, athletic, music, theatre and art), enrichment and pre-college programs are identified early for each student.
More than 50 colleges visit our campus in the fall and spring to meet with our students individually, not in a college fair setting. They range in competitiveness (e.g., Barnard, NYU, Vassar) and geographical distance (University of Notre Dame (IN), Vanderbilt (TN), University of Miami (FLA), Catholic University, and American University (DC), Boston University and Northeastern University (MA), and numerous colleges from the tri-state area. Most of the visitors are the decision-makers for these colleges (the representatives who will read our applications) and they often remark how poised and well-prepared our students are during these sessions—typically Hill. We have continued this school year with a mix of in-person and virtual meetings with Hill students and college representatives. We remain committed to ensuring Hill students continue to receive individualized attention from renowned colleges and universities whether in-person or remotely.
The College Counseling team personally advises each student based upon her individual profile and no preferential treatment is given to a student on the basis of GPA. The team advocates for each Hill senior equally throughout the process. In senior year, all students are also programmed for College Guidance to aid them with individual questions during the college application process.
We host a financial aid seminar for all senior students and the College Counseling team distributes detailed scholarship information to the senior students throughout the year. Advocacy in pursuing scholarships for our students yields great results for our students.
- Class of 2019—121 graduates—$42.5 million dollars,
- Class of 2020—119 graduates—$42.3 million dollars,
- Class of 2021—141 graduates—$59.2 million dollars,
- Class of 2022—99 graduates—$34.7 million dollars
Kerry S. Sullivan ‘81, Director of College Counseling
College Program Summary
Class of 2022 Matriculation List
Class of 2021 Matriculation List