Whether they are a freshman or a senior, high school students are constantly preparing in some way or another for college. From stressing over grades to taking standardized tests, high schoolers are taking many steps of the path to college preparation. One crucial aspect of this process is determining which schools one wants to apply to. Visiting a school’s website and visiting the college’s campus are common methods for students to gain more information about their potential colleges, but another resource available to students is the in-school college presentations. During a college’s presentation, a representative from that college or university will come visit our school, in order to provide students with information that is crucial to their decision-making process.
Raven Baytops, a Maryland admissions counselor for Dickinson College, travels from high school to high school on behalf of the college. When asked about the primary goal of these visits, Baytops answered, “to introduce the school to students who have not visited campus…and to talk about the application by informing students about the institution’s requirements.”
Baytops also mentioned that these visits “allow for students to ask counselors specific questions that may not be answered on the website.”
Global Ecology senior Maddie Durmowicz agreed that these visits helped clarify many aspects of the application. In her case, the visit gave her the ability to express her concerns saying,
“I had specific questions about score reporting…and I went to learn more about the flexibility of school schedules,” Durmowicz elaborated.
In addition to providing students with information about the college or university, these college visits enable students to demonstrate their interest in attending the school being represented at the meeting. Durmowicz explains that although in past years she often went to college visits to get specific questions answered, this year, she went “to the meetings to show interest in the school’s that [she is] applying to.”
No matter the reason for attending these college visits, both Baytops and Durmowicz encourage students to resist the urge to procrastinate on their applications, but also to take advantage of your resources in this process. Whether it is talking to one’s counselor or researching the college before the session to prepare questions, it is crucial to depend on the opportunities that students have.
Overall, in-school college visits have proven to be useful when it comes to formulating a list of schools to apply to, and both those who have attended these sessions along with those who run the sessions encourage students to come to the visits and consider the opportunities with each school. These presentations will continue throughout the beginning of November, and times and dates for these can be found on the PHS website and Naviance, as well as outside room 10.