Getting It Right

W.P. Carey Speaker teaches families the ins and outs of the college admissions process.

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Sam Prouty, admissions director from Middlebury, wants to help families approach the college process the right way. In his opening anecdote, he shared how he and his parents went about the college-touring process — more than thirty years ago — in the wrong way. His mother lectured their tour guide about the cleanliness of their room, and his father made inappropriate remarks about the campus facilities. 

“I think we should flip this whole thing around. The college process is not really the college process. It's the student process,” shared Prouty. Instead of thinking about a specific school, students — with the support of their family and college counselor — should approach their college search with the goal of answering three important questions: who are you right now, who are you in the process of becoming, and how is a particular college or university going to help you get there?  “If you start with the college and go backward, you're doing it wrong,” advised Prouty.

Prouty is Pomfret’s fourteenth W.P. Carey Lecture Series speaker. The program, endowed by William Polk Carey '48, brings a representative from a renowned college or university admissions office to the Hilltop to address students, parents, and faculty on the latest perspectives on the college search and application process.

In his presentation to students on Friday and families on Saturday, Prouty shared the key factors most liberal arts schools are looking for when making admission decisions. He reminded them of the importance of recommendation letters as a great supplement to an application. “Teachers not only know them very well as students in their classroom, but they also know them as dorm parents, coaches, faculty, and advisors. When we read those recommendations and student profile, we're reading the profile of a student who is deeply known and is represented holistically and thoroughly in the process,” says Prouty. 

Before joining Middlebury, Prouty was an English teacher and college counselor at Hotchkiss School, Buckingham Browne, and Nichols School. He joined Middlebury's admission staff in 2014 and became director in 2019.

Throughout his presentations, he reminded parents that while their child was contemplating the three key questions, they should be asking questions as well. “Ask questions and do not give answers. You can help them ask questions about culture and environment,” advised Prouty. “As a parent, your number one role is helping your child find the school that is the right fit because you know your kid quite well.”