Students are encouraged to begin visiting colleges early in their high school years, using vacation periods and family trips as good opportunities. By the beginning of the junior year, students should be giving serious thought to college selection and should be planning college visitations for spring break and for the summer before the senior year.
In addition, students are encouraged to visit those colleges to which they plan to apply while they are in session so that they may schedule interviews with admission officers, attend classes, stay in a dorm, and generally get an accurate picture of life on the particular campus. These college visits are absolutely critical to the success of the student’s college search and are, without question, one of the most important components of the college admission process.
Darlington allows juniors and seniors to take college leaves for this purpose, preferably in the spring of the junior year and the fall of the senior year, provided that the student is in satisfactory academic and personal standing and has received parental and school permission.
In order to take a college leave, the student must obtain a College Leave Form (available on the Darlington website or in the College Guidance Office), which must be signed by the advisor and each teacher whose class the student will miss and then approved by the Dean of College Guidance or the Associate Dean of College Guidance 48 hours in advance of the leave. Resident students must also follow the usual leave procedure and receive final permission from the Head of House. No permission will be granted to a student who is failing a course or had a failing grade during the preceding marking period, or who has disciplinary penalties to serve.
Parents should contact the dean of college guidance if an extended time period is required for college visitation. Parents are also encouraged to accompany students on these trips when possible.
