"I've never seen it happen before," says Director of College Counseling, Joseph Runge. “You’ll hear anecdotally of one or two kids a year (nationwide)… but I could literally live three lifetimes as a college counselor and never see one kid get close to $1 million as opposed to two in one year.’'

Class of 2021 Patriots, Juliana P., and Chloe W. have seen their hard work at CDS pay off in a big way. Both ladies have received more than $1 million each in scholarship offers but were quick to share that they can only take the amount of scholarship for the school they end up attending.

With dreams of a life in theatre, Juliana will be attending American University in Washington D.C., majoring in musical theater and dance. She is excited at the possibility of living in either D.C., New York, or Chicago after college. In addition to her double major plans, she is thinking of minoring in psychology after taking the class at CDS with Mrs. Stanley. "I was so surprised at how much I actually enjoyed taking the class and it really gave me the confidence in myself to know that I was able to do more than just theater because I’ve been doing theater my whole life. It really just opened my eyes that I can do so much with my education that I got here."

Juliana has been attending CDS since third grade and has been in the IB (International Baccalaureate) program her whole life. Juliana credits the confidence that was instilled in her through the IB program that helped her complete the DP program (International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme) successfully. Juliana received scholarships from 15 colleges.

After narrowing down her college choices to four schools (Mount Holyoke College, Bryn Mawr College, Syracuse University, and St. Lawrence University) senior Chloe W. has made the decision to matriculate at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts in the fall. In her own words, Chloe says "I’m all over the place always because I have so many different interests, so political science, chemistry, and film." Chloe has attended CDS since the 1st grade and believes the school has been very influential in her life. She credits CDS and the IB school with developing such diverse interests. "I have two really big dreams and that’s what I’m sort of torn between, my left and right brain is torn between my creative side and my logical side." 

With the life goal of being a doctor ever since she was in first grade, but also a love for film Chloe hopes she can nurture both at Mount Holyoke, just as she has done at CDS. Chloe received scholarships from 13 schools. 

Carrollwood Day School's college counseling philosophy centers on a five-year developmental program that is designed to deconstruct and demystify what has become a complex process involving many moving pieces. We holistically invest in “slow dripping” information to parents and students as they begin their tenure in the upper school. It is our goal to discover the most competitive match/fit for each CDS student. As college students spend 90% of their time outside the classroom, it is imperative to not only seek a challenging and scholarly environment but one that feels comfortable and manageable both inside and outside the classroom. 

Thank you to Director of College Counseling, Joseph Runge, for working with both Juliana and Chloe during the college counseling process and for sharing this story with the community. To read more about these two amazing CDS seniors, click here to read the article in the Tampa Bay Times.