As students progress through high school, the pressures to prepare for college applications and build an adequate portfolio drastically increase.
Many students, especially those who don’t have as much outside help, have difficulty navigating the ambiguities of the application process. Even successful students attending esteemed colleges undergo different experiences than those aside from them.
To have a clear vision of what a student wants to experience in their future college lives, it is important to conduct thorough research to find colleges centered around passion rather than chasing after prestige. High schools can also help students navigate complicated applications to decrease stress over future financial challenges.
Finding Direction
Although some students can get help from parents and other sources so that they can kickstart their application progress, others start from scratch and learn from their efforts.
“As a freshman, I don’t have that much exposure since I don’t have many friends who are in college. I feel like that will change as time goes on, but you really need to take steps to get a better understanding since the knowledge doesn’t come to you,” said Elena Winterson, a Carlmont student.
Winterson has already taken action to plan for her future. She has prepared classes for all four years of high school and the activities she will do during the summer.
Although Carlmont offers counselors to give students guidance and many rigorous courses for college preparation, the application process remains challenging to dismantle regarding what a student should do to succeed.
“I feel like it’s really unclear concerning what to include and what to leave out because I’ve heard some people say you should write down everything you do, and others say that you should only focus on one thing you’re doing,” Winterson said.
Learning from Success
Similar to Winterson’s pathway, many of the students who were successful in the application process did large amounts of research based on what they were passionate about. Alysia Asano, who is currently attending the University of California, Berkeley, was more focused on finding a suitable college based on her dream career, not the characteristics of the college itself.
“You have to look at it from more of a fantasy perspective. Start with the research and then see what opens your eyes because you might find a degree you’ve never heard of that is exactly what you want,” Asano said.
At first, Asano wanted to become a graphic designer. However, after researching the different art majors and classes she had to take, she realized that this field was unfitting and discovered something new that she was more passionate about.
Asano also struggled with navigating the ambiguities of the application process, but the amount of research she conducted helped her become successful and satisfied with the results.
School Guidance
Along with finding desirable qualities through college research, Carlmont offers many resources to aid its students with other aspects of applications, like the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
“FAFSA is a federal application that students fill out when they apply to college. They can get federal money in the form of scholarships and grants to help them pay for college. It helps with their housing, tuition, and food, but you have to apply yearly since it is based on your parents’ tax documents from two years behind,” said Stephanie Jacobovitz, the college and career specialist at Carlmont.
The FAFSA application is simple and mainly requires basic student and tax information. Even so, Carlmont still offers to help its students by ensuring they can easily accommodate their financial needs.
“We host two workshops where we coordinate with our local community college financial aid offices: College of San Mateo, Cañada College, and Skyline College. The workshops occur two times a year, but we also offer other workshops in the district that students can attend at the other high schools to get additional guidance,” Jacobovitz said.
With self-conducted research and school-provided resources, students can overcome the complicated application process and pursue their dream careers. They can learn about what each college offers and acquire benefits like financial aid from school resources.
“Carlmont definitely prepares its students, considering the number of successful people I know who went to Carlmont and got into outstanding colleges,” Winterson said.
