It’s college application season in the Nest, putting an extra stress upon every senior. Regardless of individual plans, every student should receive help in school with the planning of their futures and the intricacies of the college application process.
Most applications are due between November to December. There are a plethora of platforms and tools needed to be able to apply, such as CommonApp, Self-reported Student Academic Record (SSAR), Personal Statements, FAFSA, etc. These tools also differ depending on if you want to apply to a college, university, trade school, and other post-graduate options.
While our school ensures students have access to resources to learn about their options, we believe there should be more instruction to these resources. After all, these four years of dedication to course work, sports, and extracurriculars has built up to our futures, which heavily rely on these applications.
Many students, after hearing some surface information, resort to learning more tips about applications from online videos made by current college students or admissions office’s social media accounts. Over time, this has been an increasingly popular way to gain insider information from schools.
Personal statements are thought to be a crucial part of a student’s application, as it’s the only portion where admissions get to see a student’s raw personality and their skills as a writer while answering a prompt or telling a story. However, there are often several misconceptions about what the 650 word essay is supposed to be able to do, as the prompt gives students so much freedom in their topic.
This is just one example of the several different concepts within the application process, it can quickly get overwhelming. With so many students having different struggles when schools may have different application rules or procedures, it can be hard for schools to address all of these issues and make students feel secure in their decisions and actions while applying.
Students in dual enrollment at Florida South Western (FSW) have the option of joining a Cornerstone Experience program. This allows high schools to take their first step into the college environment, while receiving mentoring and essential information about college applications.
“We learn critical thinking and decision making skills through assignments that explore our career goals, resources, or skills to learn about college and creating relationships with mentors,” stated senior Amanda Negron, currently enrolled in the Cornerstone class.
On top of exploring career goals, it is also important for highschoolers to have access to feedback on their applications. Unless students have a sibling or family member in college, it’s difficult to know the entire process and understand a first-hand experience of what applying to college was like.
Fortunately, counselors and teachers at Cape High are more than willing to provide help and feedback on work students have done regarding their essay or any other aspects of their application.
However, many students struggle with having the time to do their application in the first place, on top of classes, extracurricular activities, and work.
North Fort Myers High found a solution to this struggle that students often face. A class called Career Research and Decision Making (CRR) is dedicated to assisting students in their application process, as well as setting a block of time each day for students to sit down and focus on their application.
“Since I am currently less than two weeks away from submitting my college applications, I can surely say that this class has helped make the application process easier and less of a headache,” stated North High senior Olivia Arevalo.
Arevalo has had daily one-on-one interactions with her teacher to better her understanding of Common Applications, SSAR, financial aid resources, and more for the entire first semester.
Senior year goes by fast, and the more time and resources in school students are given to apply to colleges and receive help, the better it will be for the entire graduating class.
