Preparing for College
For many high school students on the road to college, their future is ahead of them.
By Sade Ortuzar
For many high school students, beginning college preparation early is important, and while many know a high school diploma is essential, today it doesn’t seem to get students very far. The emphasis is on obtaining a college degree that could lead to a well paying career and future. But, for many high school students, their junior year is the time that is filled with stress, because this is the period in their education that colleges consider crucial for a future or a career.
Tiaralyn Rivera, a sophomore at Graphics Communication of Arts High School, is finding the process of preparing for college more difficult than she ever realized. She has discovered that the process including taking college prep tests such as: the scholastic assessment test (SAT), and the American College Test, writing college essays, applying for financial aid, and finally selecting the best colleges. Rivera is beginning to feel stressed about getting into the right college and plans on avoiding student loans to earn scholarships. While her dream is to attend New York University where she plans to study journalism, some of her present worries include class size, how successful she would be at the SAT, the safety of dormitory life, and financial aid.
Another high school student, Jennifer Florian, a junior, wants to get a degree in medicine and is looking forward to attending the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She says the most important determining factor in choosing a college, is class size; preferring a small classroom size because she feels that she could learn better in such an environment.
Many high school students prefer to use financial aid for college. There are different types of financial aid such as grants and scholarships, which are very useful in assisting with paying for college, and which allow students to save and avoid getting into debt. While many schools give generous financial aid packages for those who show true financial need, it is in the best interest of any student intending to apply to a college, to research the school offering the most aid, which would include tuition, meals, books, and accommodation.
Kreig Joseph, program counselor at John Jay College, a part of a city University of New York believes that many teenagers don’t understand the college application process and are unprepared. Kreig says that the greatest way to prepare for college is for students to do their best in high school, and to research particular colleges to see the requirements for admission.
No doubt many have heard horror stories of being in large classrooms with about 800 students or going to a college where students set a couches on fire. For Georgia Reid, English teacher at High School for Graphic Communications and Art; looking back at college she describes it as a great experience. For her bachelors degree she attended Amherst College in Amherst, MA and for her masters, Hunter College, part of the City University of New York. She remembers that while she had a hard time choosing a college, one important criterion was finding an affordable college. To her, class size was also important and so was safety. When she attended college, then it was overcrowded and there were many riots: a group of students set a couch on fire one night and the only way for her to be safe was to stay in her dorm. The advice she would give to students who are getting into college is choosing a state school, and she encourages students to visit campuses. Finally, she tells students that they should not be afraid to take risks and ‘get out of your comfort zone.’
