Eager freshmen, sophomores and juniors and tense seniors filed into the auditorium on October 7th for College Information Night, an annual affair designed to help students demystify the college application process.
The event was organized by the CV counselors, and featured representatives from an assortment of public and private schools. The presentation was the first of several college themed programs coming up this year, such as the Annual College Fair, which will take place at the Civic Center on October 28th.
The evening began with an address from Principal Linda Evans reminding students of the importance of college applications. She also stressed the fact that although earning a letter grade of "D" will count towards high school graduation, colleges will not accept it as a passing grade. Evans urged students to visit their counselor to ensure that they are on the correct path to graduation and college enrollment.
The first guest speaker was Alen Andriassian, Director of Outreach and Assessment at Glendale Community College (GCC). Andriassian stressed the benefits of attending community college, especially in the current economic climate.
At GCC, the cost per unit is only $26, resulting in an approximate price tag of $700 per year, which does not include the price of books. This is certainly a vast improvement over the annual cost of attending a private school, which can be around $40,000.
GCC also has strong transfer programs and student services, making it easy to transfer to a different college after two years of general education at GCC.
Next, Pati Pinerio-Goodenberger, Associate Dean of Admissions at Occidental College, spoke about the benefits of a private, liberal arts school. Like many private colleges, Occidental uses the Common Application, which helps to streamline the application process by creating one application that can be submitted to multiple schools.
Occidental, located in Eagle Rock, offers a wonderful example of a small student body (the average class size is 16 students), and a fairly selective campus (the average SAT score is 2010, and the average GPA is 3.7) Liberal arts schools such as Occidental also tend to place an emphasis on a wide variety of learning experiences, evident in Occidental’s 130 clubs and student organizations. Average tuition is about $50,000 a year after room, board, books, and personal expenses. However, Occidental distributes more than $34 million in financial aid annually, making the college an affordable option.
The next spotlighted school was California Institute of Technology (Cal Tech), discussed by admissions counselor Raymond Prado. Cal Tech is also a small, private school that emphasizes the study of science, math, and engineering. With an average math SAT score of 800, many students feel the academic requirement too daunting. Nonetheless, Prado urged students to apply, as admissions decisions are also based on extracurricular involvement and the personal statement.
University of California Riverside counselor Christopher Dennis was the next to speak, outlining the benefits of the UC system. With nine UC campuses, the selectivity varies from a 26% to a 75% acceptance rate. Dennis urged students to visit the campuses and do their own research in order to find the school that is best for them, as each school offers different programs and concentrations.
All UC schools, however, have an application filing period of November 1st-November 30th, and require the SAT and two SAT IIs or the ACT as well as a personal statement and the UC application. The common UC application can be found online as of October 1st.
Finally, Outreach and Recruitment Counselor Lisa Rubio spoke about the California State University program, focusing on her campus, CSU Los Angeles. The CSU system has 23 campuses, which, like the UCs, vary in focus and selectivity. Due to the budget crises, the Cal States are now only accepting applications between October 1st and November 30th. No applications will be accepted for spring term. Students can apply online at csumentor.edu, and can ask their counselors about obtaining an application fee waiver.
The night concluded with an informal question and answer session, providing the students with another opportunity to clear up remaining college questions that was not answered by the presentation.
"I learned a lot more about the different types of schools out there, which will help me make decisions about where I want to apply," senior Stacy Carlos said.
Overall, College Information Night was an informative evening that helped guide students down the path toward life after high school.