Programs

College Guidance

About College Guidance

May The Best Self Win

At Archer, we aim to give rise to limitless girls. The college process is an opportunity for reflection and self-discovery. Throughout all four years of Upper School, students spend significant time considering their own journey while also supporting each other. Collaboration and celebration are central tenets of our process as each student is encouraged to develop their individual identities, build valuable connections, and strive to positively impact our larger community. With our unique Identity, Community, and Impact model introduced in Grade 9, students engage in new activities and discover their potential to shape the Archer experience. Through this process, students also grow in confidence and self-awareness, preparing them for higher education and beyond. We help to shape the leaders of tomorrow by introducing them to the best tools, providing the most up-to-date information, and empowering each individual to manage the college selection process with confidence and authenticity. Each Archer girl is able to articulate for herself the post-secondary options that are most appropriate for her own academic strengths, future career goals, emerging personal values, and family financial needs.
With over 30 years of combined experience, the Archer College Guidance team is both tremendously knowledgeable about the application process and also deeply committed to the continued growth and success of every Archer student, throughout high school and beyond.

List of 1 frequently asked questions.

  • Program Philosophy

    A successful college process starts with a happy, confident, and self-motivated Archer girl. That’s why we integrate topics like challenging curriculum choices, thoughtful test preparation, and time management into the Human Development curriculum in both 9th and 10th grades to make sure our students receive the highest levels of support at the right time.

    In 11th grade, the Human Development curriculum centers on the transition to college as an opportunity for self-development and reflection. We encourage students to use their critical thinking, investigative, and research skills to look beyond the hype and marketing of the college process to identify for themselves the colleges and universities that will best serve their needs, ambitions, and future goals.

    Topics include establishing a personal testing plan, using the best resources for college research, understanding the financial aid process, effective communication with parents, college readiness, essay writing, as well as how to best showcase accomplishments in the application and on a resume. By the end of HD11, students will have a good preliminary list of 9-12 colleges to which they plan on applying, significant work on their personal statement, a list of their extracurricular activities, and know what needs to be accomplished ahead of senior year. In addition, students will have access to lunch and evening workshops throughout the year focused on support for athletes, artists, engineers, first-generation college-bound students, and other specific needs.

    Classwork and hands-on projects are paired with a wide variety of opportunities including:
    • Group meetings with 80+ college admission representatives from national and international universities
    • College essay workshops
    • Unlimited one-on-one and family meetings with her college counselor
    From our popular Writing Workshop with current admissions representatives at the end of Grade 11 to our College Jumpstart program at the beginning of Grade 12 and up through our exciting pennant celebration at the end of Grade 12, Archer students are supported with a series of fun events intentionally aimed to help make senior year as enjoyable as possible. Each student and family meets as often as desired with their individual counselor to help design a plan specific to their individual needs. This personally tailored approach means that Archer girls typically apply to to fewer schools (8 - 9 per year) than their peers with fantastic results.

Class of 2025 Highlights

List of 5 items.

  • 126

    colleges worldwide accepted Archer students
     

  • 71

    students plan to attend college in 18 states

  • 25%

    students plan to major in a STEM field

  • 14%

    plan to pursue arts programs

  • 4

    students will be attending HBCUs

College Map

Explore where the Classes of 2023 and 2024 have matriculated.




College Enrollment & Matriculation

*The members of Archer’s last five graduating classes matriculated to the following colleges.
Art Center College of Design  
Barnard College (7)
Bates College (2)
Boston College  
Boston University (4)
Bowdoin College  
Brandeis University (2)
Brown University (3)
California College of the Arts (2)
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (6)
California State University, Monterey Bay  
California State University, Northridge  
Carleton College (2)
Carnegie Mellon University  
Case Western Reserve University (5)
Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design  
Chapman University (3)
Claremont McKenna College  
Colby College  
Colgate University (4)
Columbia University (3)
Cornell University (4)
Dartmouth College (2)
Dickinson College  
Elon University (2)
Emerson College (2)
Emory University  
Fordham University (2)
Fort Valley State University  
George Washington University (4)
Georgetown University (3)
Goldsmiths, University of London  
Harvard University  
Harvey Mudd College (2)
Hobart and William Smith Colleges  
Howard University (3)
Indiana University, Bloomington  
Johns Hopkins University (2)
Kenyon College (3)
Lafayette College  
Lehigh University  
Loyola Marymount University (7)
Marist University (2)
McGill University  
Middlebury College  
Mount Saint Mary's University  
New York University (11)
Northeastern University (11)
Northwestern University (8)
Oberlin College  
Occidental College (5)
Oregon State University  
Otis College of Art and Design (3)
Parsons School of Design  
Penn State University  
Pepperdine University (5)
Pitzer College  
Pomona College  
Princeton University  
Purdue University  
Reed College (2)
Rhode Island School of Design  
Rice University (3)
Rutgers University  
San Francisco State University  
Sarah Lawrence College (2)
Savannah College of Art and Design (2)
School of the Art Institute of Chicago  
Scripps College (4)
Skidmore College (2)
Smith College (3)
Southern Methodist University  
Spelman College (3)
Stanford University (10)
Swarthmore College (3)
Syracuse University (2)
The American University of Paris  
The New School (3)
The University of Texas at Austin (2)
Trinity College  
Tufts University (5)
Tulane University of Louisiana (12)
University College London  
University of California, Berkeley (12)
University of California, Davis (2)
University of California, Irvine  
University of California, Los Angeles (10)
University of California, Merced  
University of California, Riverside (2)
University of California, San Diego (3)
University of California, Santa Cruz (4)
University of Chicago (9)
University of Colorado Denver  
University of Houston (2)
University of Iowa  
University of Maryland  
University of Miami (2)
University of Michigan (14)
University of Pennsylvania (3)
University of Richmond  
University of San Francisco (2)
University of Southern California (13)
University of St. Andrews (3)
University of Washington (2)
University of Wisconsin (8)
Vanderbilt University (4)
Vassar College (2)
Villanova University  
Wake Forest University  
Washington University in St. Louis (4)
Wellesley College (2)
Wesleyan University (9)
Williams College (2)
Yale University (2)
The Archer School for Girls admits students of any race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation or other legally protected status to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, national and ethnic origin, sexual orientation or other legally protected status in its hiring or in the administration of its educational policies and programs, admissions policies, financial aid programs or other school-administered programs. 

The Archer School for Girls’ mission is to educate students in an environment specifically designed for girls. As such, the school will consider any candidate for admission who identifies as a girl. Once admitted to Archer, all students in good academic standing who abide by Archer’s code of conduct and who meet requirements for graduation will be eligible to receive an Archer diploma, regardless of any change in sexual identity or other legally protected status.