College Prep Fever Settling In
Megan Middleton
By MEGAN MIDDLETON
Staff Writer
On The Scene
Students and parents buzzed around rows of college booths set up inside the Oil Palace at the Tyler Area College Fair Monday night, asking questions, collecting brochures and weighing options for the future.
Curious seventh-graders all the way to stressed high school seniors, many accompanied by parents, quizzed those manning the college information booths about scholarships, majors and other issues.
They walked away with yellow plastic bags full of information -perhaps a step further down the path of choosing which college is best for them.
The clock is ticking for seniors who are applying for scholarships and looking to get into the college of their choice.
Kelsi Wicks, a senior at Robert E. Lee High School, was with her mom, Ginny, at the college fair. Kelsi has narrowed her choices to Texas A&M, Abilene Christian University, Texas Tech University and Texas Christian University.
"It's very stressful," Kelsi said. "It's kind of hard to choose which one would suit you the best."
She's doing her research, visited some schools already and is working on applications.
Although stressed, she is excited about what's ahead and the chance to move to a new city.
While dealing with the fact that it's almost time for her daughter to head off to college, Ms. Wicks is also helping her daughter work through the process, scouting the Internet constantly for scholarship opportunities.
She's not alone.
Sandy Abernathy, the mother of a high school junior, is also helping her daughter stay organized.
"Because she is so crunched for time I do a lot of sending away for stuff and just putting it in piles for her at home. ... (I'm) just being a resource and a sounding board for her," Ms. Abernathy said. "It's teamwork."
Her daughter, Amanda, is a junior at Bullard High School, but is starting the process of finding the right college. Anywhere out of state is her focus currently - maybe the University of Southern California or Boston University.
"Your senior year goes by pretty fast - I have a brother who just graduated," Amanda said. "It's better to start looking early and be able to plan your future ahead instead of just rushing into it."
Like Kelsi, Amanda says that the process is a lot of work.
"It's very stressful," she said. "There's so much going on at school right now that you don't have time to go look at all these other colleges ..."
College and career counselors at John Tyler and Robert E. Lee high schools have some advice for students planning their futures.
"Take a deep breath," said Celia Tucker, a college and career counselor at Robert E. Lee.
After that, Ms. Tucker said students need to continue to be organized and keep up with deadlines and dates on the calendar "so they don't miss out on getting to go where they want to go."
Avoid waiting to the last minute to meet deadlines. Students may find some applications, like for scholarships, may also require essays and/or letters of recommendation.
"We stress that colleges - they're not flexible," Ms. Tucker said. "They have so many people that are applying. ... When they say deadline, they mean deadline."
Pamela Rodriguez, a college and career counselor at John Tyler High School, said they encourage seniors to apply to the top three colleges they have chosen at this point in the process. By applying early to some schools, students may be considered for scholarships for incoming freshmen, Ms. Rodriguez said.
Letters of recommendation that often accompany scholarships, counselors said, should be asked for anywhere from two to four weeks in advance so the teacher can really spend time on it and make it personal.
Ms. Rodriguez said students should prepare a "brag sheet" or "student resume" as well, listing activities they have participated in that their teachers might not be aware of but would be helpful to know about as they write letters.
Other tips to students from Ms. Tucker include not being afraid to talk to admissions counselors about questions, being flexible and not having "tunnel vision" about the colleges you consider, as well as communicating with your parents. For parents, she said to just continue to "gently remind" students about approaching deadlines.
Ms. Rodriguez also said parents should be as involved as they can - attend workshops, visit campuses with their children and look into the possibility of receiving tax credits that may be available.
Both counselors said students should be thinking about college long before their senior year.
Ms. Rodriguez said students should take "the toughest courses they can take," work to become fluent in a language other than English, build up their vocabulary to help prepare for the SAT and ACT, journal to help with writing - even volunteer in the community, because scholarship committees "really, really look strongly" at that.
But the first thing to do, and maybe sometimes the hardest, is to just get started and not delay, counselors said.
"There's so much hype that goes with the college admissions process," Ms. Tucker said. "But I think if they break it down into pieces and take it one step at a time, actually getting started, I think they find it's a lot smoother and it's a lot easier than they think it is."
Staff Writer
On The Scene
Students and parents buzzed around rows of college booths set up inside the Oil Palace at the Tyler Area College Fair Monday night, asking questions, collecting brochures and weighing options for the future.
Curious seventh-graders all the way to stressed high school seniors, many accompanied by parents, quizzed those manning the college information booths about scholarships, majors and other issues.
They walked away with yellow plastic bags full of information -perhaps a step further down the path of choosing which college is best for them.
The clock is ticking for seniors who are applying for scholarships and looking to get into the college of their choice.
Kelsi Wicks, a senior at Robert E. Lee High School, was with her mom, Ginny, at the college fair. Kelsi has narrowed her choices to Texas A&M, Abilene Christian University, Texas Tech University and Texas Christian University.
"It's very stressful," Kelsi said. "It's kind of hard to choose which one would suit you the best."
She's doing her research, visited some schools already and is working on applications.
Although stressed, she is excited about what's ahead and the chance to move to a new city.
While dealing with the fact that it's almost time for her daughter to head off to college, Ms. Wicks is also helping her daughter work through the process, scouting the Internet constantly for scholarship opportunities.
She's not alone.
Sandy Abernathy, the mother of a high school junior, is also helping her daughter stay organized.
"Because she is so crunched for time I do a lot of sending away for stuff and just putting it in piles for her at home. ... (I'm) just being a resource and a sounding board for her," Ms. Abernathy said. "It's teamwork."
Her daughter, Amanda, is a junior at Bullard High School, but is starting the process of finding the right college. Anywhere out of state is her focus currently - maybe the University of Southern California or Boston University.
"Your senior year goes by pretty fast - I have a brother who just graduated," Amanda said. "It's better to start looking early and be able to plan your future ahead instead of just rushing into it."
Like Kelsi, Amanda says that the process is a lot of work.
"It's very stressful," she said. "There's so much going on at school right now that you don't have time to go look at all these other colleges ..."
College and career counselors at John Tyler and Robert E. Lee high schools have some advice for students planning their futures.
"Take a deep breath," said Celia Tucker, a college and career counselor at Robert E. Lee.
After that, Ms. Tucker said students need to continue to be organized and keep up with deadlines and dates on the calendar "so they don't miss out on getting to go where they want to go."
Avoid waiting to the last minute to meet deadlines. Students may find some applications, like for scholarships, may also require essays and/or letters of recommendation.
"We stress that colleges - they're not flexible," Ms. Tucker said. "They have so many people that are applying. ... When they say deadline, they mean deadline."
Pamela Rodriguez, a college and career counselor at John Tyler High School, said they encourage seniors to apply to the top three colleges they have chosen at this point in the process. By applying early to some schools, students may be considered for scholarships for incoming freshmen, Ms. Rodriguez said.
Letters of recommendation that often accompany scholarships, counselors said, should be asked for anywhere from two to four weeks in advance so the teacher can really spend time on it and make it personal.
Ms. Rodriguez said students should prepare a "brag sheet" or "student resume" as well, listing activities they have participated in that their teachers might not be aware of but would be helpful to know about as they write letters.
Other tips to students from Ms. Tucker include not being afraid to talk to admissions counselors about questions, being flexible and not having "tunnel vision" about the colleges you consider, as well as communicating with your parents. For parents, she said to just continue to "gently remind" students about approaching deadlines.
Ms. Rodriguez also said parents should be as involved as they can - attend workshops, visit campuses with their children and look into the possibility of receiving tax credits that may be available.
Both counselors said students should be thinking about college long before their senior year.
Ms. Rodriguez said students should take "the toughest courses they can take," work to become fluent in a language other than English, build up their vocabulary to help prepare for the SAT and ACT, journal to help with writing - even volunteer in the community, because scholarship committees "really, really look strongly" at that.
But the first thing to do, and maybe sometimes the hardest, is to just get started and not delay, counselors said.
"There's so much hype that goes with the college admissions process," Ms. Tucker said. "But I think if they break it down into pieces and take it one step at a time, actually getting started, I think they find it's a lot smoother and it's a lot easier than they think it is."
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