Meet a Knight: College Counselor Terry Ward

Welcome to the second of our new series: Meet a Knight, where we will be talking with members of the PCD community and sharing their perspectives. Kicking off the series is PCD's new college guidance counselor, Terry Ward. 


Mr. Ward comes to PCD most recently from the Ross School in East Hampton, NY, where he was the director of college counseling. With many years of experience on both the independent school and college sides of the college admissions process, Mr. Ward has hit the ground running at PCD. Mr. Ward is busy working with the new seniors, but we took a couple minutes to catch up with him as he was settling into his new role here at Country Day.


@PCD: Hi Terry--thanks for taking the time to speak with us! Can you tell us how you got into college counseling?

Mr. Ward discusses college plans

with Tim Malo '13

TW: Well, I started when I'd just graduated from Haverford. I did college admissions, so I was on that side of the coin. I traveled a lot, and really liked going around to different high schools and talking to students. In particular, the interviews I got to do with such a range of students were so interesting. They were really the best part of the job. Then, when I was in graduate school I also worked in admissions offices at two different universities. More recently, I moved into counseling from the high school side. Last year I was the director of college counseling at the Ross School, out on Eastern Long Island. The year before that I worked at the Winchenden School, which is a boarding school on the Massachusetts/New Hampshire border. So I've worked at a bunch of different kinds of schools, and they've all taught me something new. PCD presents a chance to draw on all my experience, which is really exciting!

@PCD: What would you say you most enjoy about your job?

TW: It's evolved over time, and the thing that seems to last is working with students, working with the individual, on his or her journey through this whole thing, because everybody's a bit different. Along the way you have to learn a lot about colleges, college policies, so it's also interesting to be in a constant state of growth. There's never a case where you can't learn more in this job, and that's really fulfilling.

@PCD: The college admissions process is filled with anxiety these days, it seems. We are always hearing stories about the pressure and stress that the process can bring with it. What can you do to help mitigate that pressure?

TW: You can't eliminate it. The anxiety is there, it's in the room. There is nothing I can magically say

Mr. Ward having a laugh with Jonathan Elyashiv '13

to let it dissipate. But what I can do is take an approach as a counselor, to be there with the students, listen to them, and let them know that I am on their side. And that really makes a lot more difference than trying to solve the problem of anxiety or pressure. Reaching out to each student, understanding the unique needs of each student, is much more fruitful.  Additionally, helping the kids understand the process and stay on task takes some of the mystery out of it.  When they have manageable benchmarks on which to focus, they tend to spend a little less time focusing on the things they can't control.

@PCD: On an unrelated note, the word is out that you are also a singer and perform at Tanglewood. How did you get involved with that and what is it like?

TW: I decided after college to start taking voice lessons. I liked singing. It's really a lot of fun! All my siblings are now musicians, and although I grew up in a house with parents who loved music, I never did a whole lot of it growing up. But after college I started taking music lessons and lo and behold, it kept going and going. I auditioned for the Boston Symphony Chorus in 1990, and it's 2012 and I'm still in it. It's been a real delight.

@PCD: Well thank you very much for taking some time to speak with us today.

TW: My pleasure!