In between snow storms, the College Office was able to hold its annual Junior Parents’ Day program, featuring Chris Gruber, Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Davidson College. Mrs. Giles kicked off the morning’s program as she recounted several humorous stories about her children’s college process, applications to graduate schools, and their job searches. She also offer her wisdom on the college process as a parent, former college advisor, and head of school. Mr. Gruber offered his perspective on the college process, after spending almost thirty years working at Davidson College and the University of Richmond, his alma mater. He encouraged the juniors and their parents to understand that institutions change yet reputations are usually ahead of reality. Speaking directly to the parents, he suggested that parents need to be current about the colleges, know their children’s academic profiles, and avoid the selectivity craze. To the juniors, he pushed them to ask the “why” questions when they are on college campuses so they can determine what is really behind the self-proclaimed priorities of each institution. More directly, he told the juniors to define their needs as they work hard to develop their own college lists. He ended his talk with a lively list of do’s and don’ts on the college process. After a short break, Mr. Bigelow and Mr. DeGreeff took the junior families through an informative presentation on the nuts and bolts of the college process with lots of data and details, peppered with some funny clips from movies and television shows.