With the application season in full swing for the seniors, the college counseling department hosted a college boot camp on Aug. 10 and 11 to help seniors get on track before school started.
The boot camp started with an alumni panel from the class of ‘23. The panel featured Charlie Spungin, Luke Egizio, Hannah Weaver, R.J. Lichten, and Parker McGraw who are attending Northwestern, Wake Forest, UCSB, Harvard, and Harvey Mudd. The main takeaways these alumni had for the students included starting applications earlier and to not apply to more than 12 schools.
Many seniors found the panel to be very helpful, including Silas Rooney.
“I found it nice to hear from the class before me. I think that the college process is very challenging, so to get some tips from people who have already gone through it will help me out,” said Rooney.
The next activity on the agenda was to review the College Counseling calendar. This is a tool to help students stay organized during the college process as it features application deadlines as well as many other helpful dates.
For the last activity on day one, the counselors instructed students how to complete their Common Application with tips on how to waive the right to review teacher recommendations and complete the self-reported student academic record.
Mr. Juan Alvarez, Associate Director of College Counseling, thinks finishing the Common App early is a key to success.
“The students have a lot to do. Getting their Common App done helps them a ton in the long run. I strongly recommend getting a jump start on the college process and that is what the boot camp accomplished,” said Mr. Alvarez
On day two, the boot camp had a question and answer session to ease the stress of some of the students. These questions centered around the college process including topics such as what constitutes a “likely” school.
Senior Amanda Duguay attended both days of the boot camp and found the Q&A very helpful.
“I was really worried about reaches and likelies but those were all answered on day two. I learned a lot over those two days,” said Duguay.
The last two activities of the day were going over application etiquette and supplemental essays. Supplemental essays are one of the main parts of the college application, so the college counselors found it vital to give some tips and tricks.
The College Boot Camp was a success in helping seniors get back on track for the admission process.
