Academics

College Counseling

Finding the Right Fit

The overall ethos at Sonoma Academy is very much oriented towards academic and personal growth and evolution. Our college counseling program reflects those same values as our counselors guide students through a four-year curriculum of self-discovery and project planning. This curriculum includes course planning, standardized testing preparation, college research, application tools, and personal statement preparation. Students meet individually and in groups with their college counselor several times in increasing frequency as they approach the completion of their applications. 

Our College Counselors help students build a unique list of schools that match the student’s interests, passions, and strengths, as well as the quality of life they seek at college. By developing one-on-one relationships with all of our students and working with families, we are better able to advise them on appropriate college matches and to advocate for them to admissions offices. What’s most important is that students have a variety of options and the knowledge of self to choose the school that is right for them.

College Counseling Staff

  • Dot Kowal Dot Kowal

    Dot Kowal

    Director of College Counseling
    "We give students a lot of freedom, and I think it makes for responsible students who can think for themselves."Learn More
  • Nichelle Passanisi Nichelle Passanisi

    Nichelle Passanisi

    Associate Director of College Counseling
    "Being a tiny piece of these students’ futures is very fulfilling."Learn More

Recommended Reading
  • Tips on Success in College from The New York Times
  • College Unranked: Affirming Educational Values in College Admission by Lloyd Thacker
  • The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College by Jacques Steinberg
  • Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League to the College That is Best for You by Jay Mathews
  • Less Stress, More Success: A New Approach to Guiding Your Teen Through College Admission and Beyond by Marilee Jones and Kenneth Ginsburg
  • Letting Go: A Parents’ Guide to Understanding the College Years by Karen Levin Coburn and Madge Lawrence Treeger
  • Looking Beyond the Ivy League: Finding the College That's Right for You by Loren Pope
  • The Best 371 Colleges by the Princeton Review
  • Colleges that Change Lives: 40 Schools You Should Know About Even If You’re Not A Straight-A Student by Loren Pope
  • Cool Colleges: For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different by Donald Asher
  • Fiske Guide to Colleges by Edward Fiske
  • The Fiske Guide to Getting into the Right College by Edward Fiske
  • The Insider’s Guide to Colleges by The Yale Daily News

College At-A-Glance

  • 100%

    of students are college-bound

  • 50 hours

    of in-class college counseling 

  • 20 hours

    of one-on-one college counseling

  • 80-90

    college and university Admissions representatives visit our campus each year

  • 96%

    of 2019 graduates were accepted into one of their top five choice colleges

  • 58%

    of the Class of 2019 graduates received merit scholarships

  • $21,643

    was the average annual merit scholarship award for Class of 2019 graduates

  • $11.3 million

    total four-year merit scholarships awarded to the class of 2019
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Sonoma Academy Is...

The only private, independent, college preparatory high school in Sonoma County. On our beautiful campus nestled at the base of Taylor Mountain in Southeastern Santa Rosa, Sonoma Academy students are able to explore their interests and passions in a rigorous and inspiring environment that develops a lifelong love of learning and prepares them for college and beyond.