Congratulations Class of 2023

May 11, 2023

Dear LREI Community – 

Please join me in congratulating the Class of 2023 as they near graduation and have all finalized their plans for the coming school year. We are so proud of their accomplishments and so happy for all seniors as we look at the list of colleges and universities from which they chose the schools they will attend. 

For those of you who did not go through this process this year, I offer a few thoughts on LREI’s amazing college guidance process. The best way to learn about our process is to join this year’s College Process Panel on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 8:45a.m. – 272 Sixth Avenue. Come hear from a panel of seniors about their college processes and from our college guidance team – Carey Socol, Director of College Guidance and Dana Mackey, Associate Director of College Guidance.  

Not surprisingly for 17 and 18 year olds, many students go into the college guidance process with a wide view, a set of interests rather than an overriding focus. These students may apply to a large university with many offerings or to a smaller liberal arts school that has a wide-enough variety of offerings to capture these students’ interests. Other seniors have a very specific focus –  computer science, health sciences, arts, or some specific academic discipline. Senior Noelle wanted a culinary program and, as a Canadian citizen, was looking at schools north of the border. She found just what she was looking for at the Holland College for Pastry Arts. Congratulations, Noelle. 

Some were looking for a more technical program (Rochester Inst. of Technology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., MIT) or a more arts focused program (Rhode Island School of Design, Savannah College of Art and Design, Berklee College of Music) while others are looking for a liberal arts college with a variety of offerings (So many.)  Some students might be looking less at specific programs and more at an institutional heritage, so possibly an Historically Black College or University (Hampton University, Howard University.)

Some members of the class of ‘23 want larger schools (Univ. of Miami, Univ. of Michigan, Harvard Univ., Duke Univ.,  Penn State, Brown Univ.), others smaller (Colorado College, Pitzer College, Smith College.)

Some want to be farther away from home (UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Santa Cruz, Cal Poly, CA College of the Arts, Loyola Marymount, San Diego State, Santa Clara U, USC, U of Oregon, U of Wisconsin, U of Minn, Reed College, St. Andrews Scotland, McGill Univ., American Univ. of Paris) and others want to remain closer to home (Adelphi Univ., Bard College, Columbia Univ., Cornell Univ., CUNY – Macaulay Honors, Hofstra Univ., Ithaca College, The New School, NYU,  Paul Smith’s College, Pratt, St. John’s Univ., the SUNY schools, Syracuse Univ., Vassar College.)  

LREI’s college guidance process works to support students as they refine their goals and directions and as they apply to a selection of schools that meet their ever more focused goals and dreams. Again, we are proud of the students’ work during the process and grateful for the guidance provided by Carey and Dana, and, of course, we are so grateful for all of the teachers who partnered with these students on their journey to graduation.  

Finally, one senior, an LREI lifer, seemed to know all along where he was headed. This is a video of Andrei ‘23 portraying Washington Roebling, builder of the Brooklyn Bridge, in a second grade play.