College Guidance
The Four Year Plan: Success at Yeshivah of Flatbush and Beyond
The College Guidance process at Yeshivah of Flatbush Joel Braverman High School (YOFHS) is based on a four-year student-focused partnership. Throughout their high school experience, YOFHS students have the attention and support of all members of our counseling staff as they develop their individual academic plans to achieve their collegiate goals. College Counselors support students in all aspects of the college process, including college selection, the application, and finally, college choice. By providing individualized attention to students and their families, we strive to connect each student with the college that best fits his or her needs, talents and dreams.
College Guidance counselors serve as mentors for students from the freshman year and beyond, in individual sessions and class meetings led by the counselors. The students are encouraged to get involved in extra-curricular activities that will help them discover and explore their interests and passions. Current seniors meet with freshman to share advice and tips about what they “wish they had known” back in 9th grade with regards to their college application experience.
We continue to maintain contact with our students and guide them academically. We explain results of standardized testing such as the PSAT and pre-ACT, and help select appropriate elective courses for the remainder of high school. At the end of tenth grade, students begin to use Naviance, a computer program used throughout the entire college search and application submission process.
The formal college search and application process begins in earnest when we collaborate to match each individual’s distinctive potential and traits with an appropriate range of colleges. We emphasize “fit” while encouraging each student to consider the five critical elements of the college search: Jewish Life, Geography, Academics, Personal Needs and Finances/Cost. In the second semester of eleventh grade, we work with students as they begin to draft their essays and plan visits to various colleges in order to refine their college list. We have over 30 different colleges and universities attend our annual College Fair where students can meet with Admissions Officers. We actively seek parent involvement by scheduling individual parent meetings and offering a variety of College Guidance programs. We also meet with students and parents in the summer between junior and senior year to discuss essays and college choices.
Seniors finalize their applications, revise their essays, work with selected teachers on the recommendation letter process, and continue to visit their top-choice colleges. Counselors and students manage the process of submitting the application and related documents. Together we meet and maintain contact with parents throughout the application, decision and enrollment process. We look forward to celebrating exciting news with our seniors in the spring and are available to assist with the ultimate decision of where each student will attend college and continue onto this next phase of their lives.
Recent College Acceptances Our Students Received
Adelphi University
American University
Babson College
Barnard College
Bar Ilan University
Binghamton University
Boston University
Brandeis University
Carnegie Mellon University
City University of New York
Baruch (Honors), Brooklyn (Honors, Scholars, Presidential), City (Honors), CSI (Honors), Hunter (Honors), Queens (Honors), John Jay
Columbia School of Engineering
Columbia University
Cooper Union
Cornell College of Engineering
Cornell University
Drexel University
Eugene Lang Liberal Arts College – The New School
Fashion Institute of Technology
Franklin and Marshall College
The George Washington University
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Hofstra University
Franklin and Marshall College
Ithica College
Johns Hopkins University
Long Island University
LIM
The Macaulay Honors College at CUNY
Baruch College, Brooklyn College, City College, College of Staten Island, Hunter College, Queens College
Marymount Manhattan College
McGill University
Muhlenberg College
New York University
College of Arts and Sciences, Gallatin School of Individualized Study (Scholars Program), Leonard N. Stern School of Business, School of Continuing and Professional Studies, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development, Tisch School of the Arts