The college search and application process is an opportunity for students to exercise their decision-making skills and independence. Brearley offers a comprehensive college advising program that builds upon the personal and academic advising given in earlier years and that begins formally in the fall of Class XI. The students meet in seminars with the College Advisor throughout Class XI and through the fall of the senior year.

In the second half of Class XI, girls begin to meet individually with the Advisor in a series of conversations that eventually include their parents. The process is a very personal one in which the Advisor comes to know each girl well and is thus prepared to serve as her advocate throughout the college application process. As the School’s representative to the colleges, the College Advisor writes a lengthy letter of recommendation for each student that draws upon her knowledge of each girl; the recommendation is supplemented by substantial commentary from teachers and advisors and is endorsed by the Head of the School.

The College Advisor is available as counselor and editor as the students complete their applications, and she remains a source of information and guidance until a student has made the decision about which college she will attend. While the primary relationship is forged with the student, the College Advisor serves as a resource for parents as they, too, navigate the college application process. Our students’ college choices reflect the strength of their academic preparation and the self-knowledge that are the culmination of their Brearley experience.

CAROLYN W. CLARK
Director of College Advising


College Entrance 2018-2022

Amherst College 4 Oberlin College 1
Bard College 1 Occidental College 2
Barnard College 4 Pomona College 2
Bates College 1 Princeton University 12
Boston College 4 Rice University 2
Boston Conservatory 1 Sarah Lawrence College 1
Bowdoin College 4 Skidmore College 1
Brown University 4 Smith College 1
Bucknell University 1 Southern Methodist University 1
Carleton College 2 Stanford University 5
Carnegie Mellon University 3 Swarthmore College 3
Case Western Reserve University 2 Trinity College 3
Clark University 1 Tufts University 4
Colgate University 7 Tulane University 1
College of the Holy Cross 2 Union College/Albany Medical School 1
College of William and Mary 3 United States Military Academy: West Point 1
Columbia University 21 University of California, Berkeley 1
Cornell University 17 University of Cambridge 1
Dartmouth College 4 University of Chicago 13
Davidson College 1 University of Edinburgh 1
Denison University 1 University of Miami 1
Dickinson College 1 University of Michigan  2
Duke University 7 University of Oxford 1
Emory University 3 University of Pennsylvania 10
George Washington University 1 University of Richmond 1
Georgetown University 6 University of Rochester 1
Hamilton College  2 University of Southern California 2
Harvard University 26 University of St. Andrews 2
Haverford College  3 University of Vermont 1
Howard University 1 University of Virginia  1
Kenyon College 1 University of Zurich 1
Lafayette College 2 Vanderbilt University  2
Lehigh University 1 Wake Forest University 2
Macalester College 1 Washington University in St . Louis 4
Macaulay Honors College at CUNY 2 Wellesley College 1
Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2 Wesleyan University  2
McGill University 2 Williams College 11
Middlebury College  1 Worcester Polytechnic Institute 1
New York University 7 Yale University 21
Northwestern University 8
The Brearley School is a K-XII independent day school for girls in New York City. Empowering girls of adventurous intellect to think critically and creatively.
610 East 83rd Street
New York, NY 10028
(212) 744-8582 

590 East 83rd Street
New York, NY 10028
(212) 744-8582