An Independent School • Grades 5-12

What's next?

Lakeside students graduate ready to thrive in the world.

Message from the Director of College Counseling

Ari Worthman photo

Each year, Lakeside graduates enroll in colleges and universities across the country and even around the globe, the culmination of a multiyear journey of self-reflection and identifying colleges that meet their goals and interests. Throughout the process, each student works one-on-one with a counselor who poses suggestions of schools to explore and who supports him or her in navigating the complexities of highly selective admissions. Students are at the heart of all the counselors do, and paramount is ensuring that each student presents the strongest applications possible and enrolls at a school where he or she will thrive.

- Ari Worthman, director of college counseling


Lakeside students benefit from a professional team of college counselors, access to college admissions officers from around the world, and a steady flow of information and support to families.

A professional team: Our five counselors’ expertise is drawn from more than 50 years of collective college counseling experience in admissions offices at highly selective colleges and other well-regarded independent schools’ counseling offices. Every year, our counselors travel across the country and globe to visit schools and conferences, network with college admission officers, learn of new opportunities, and advocate for Lakeside students. Our team members have no other counseling responsibilities other than college admissions: their sole counseling role is to each guide an average of 38 students a year through the college application process.

Access to college representatives: Our students have opportunities to meet with more than 100 college admission officers that Lakeside hosts on our campus each year. In small gatherings, seniors can personally connect with college representatives. At the same time, the reps are gaining a close-up view of Lakeside’s rigorous academics and the strong character and capabilities of our student body. In addition, junior students and families learn firsthand about the nuances of highly selective admissions at special events at Lakeside featuring admissions vice-presidents, deans, and admission officers.

Keeping families in the loop: We recognize that the college search and admissions process is something that affects everyone in a family. Parents and guardians of students in grades 9 through 12 receive frequent updates about admissions developments and strategies via regularly scheduled coffees, events with college admissions representatives and financial aid experts, and the email newsletter Inside Lakeside (see director Ari Worthman’s blogs below). In the winter of their student’s junior year, parents and guardians receive regular grade-level communications from college counseling, and can meet with their student’s assigned college counselor. Lakeside families also have access to a comprehensive webpage of resources, which they can access from their Veracross accounts. 

College Counseling Blog