Recent Chapin graduates and alumnae came back to Chapin for a roundtable early this month. The alumnae spoke with members of Class 11 and 12 about the college application process, what to expect with college academics, and answered their questions.
Sam Puchert, Class of 2014 and a freshman at Colgate, encouraged Class 11 students to tour as many campuses as possible. “Be really open-minded and have fun with it,” she said.
Other alumnae noted that their rigorous college coursework and extracurricular activities required great organizational strength. Molly Kaissar ’14, a freshman at Carnegie Mellon University, added that her time at Chapin made her feel more comfortable reaching out to professors for help. “You’ll be really well-prepared,” she predicted.
During the Class 12 session, alumnae Beatrice Steinert ’12, who is a junior at Brown University, said that devoting time to extracurricular activities in college isn’t necessarily for everyone. “The newness of college was enough for me,” she said. Beatrice said that her part-time job and schoolwork takes up all of her free time and advised the students to think about whether or not they’ll be holding a job while in school.
Many of the juniors and seniors had questions about the application process. Jessica Urgo ’14, a freshman at Emory University, discouraged weighing college rankings in the decision making process. Emma Etherington ’14, a freshman at Columbia University, told the students: “Don’t discount New York City schools just because you think you don’t want to stay in the City. Going to college is different than going to school [at Chapin].”
One alumna, Caroline Ziegler ’14, was grateful for the opportunity to take a gap year after graduating from Chapin. She lived in Rome in the fall and said that the break between high school and college is giving her a chance to travel and make friends outside of school.
Wherever the members of the Class of 2015 and 2016 end up going to school, they are certain to have a strong network of alumnae to support them during and after their college years.