College Night informs students of educational opportunities

As the school year is coming to an end and the college application process is getting underway for most juniors, parents are trying to find ways to get their kids to go to a college that has the best price, academics, and social atmosphere. During College Night, a variety of speakers from around the Bay Area and the CVHS staff put together introductions of topics such as the UC & CSU systems, Financial Aid 101, private schools, SAT vs. ACT, conducting an effective college search, student athletes, WUE (the Western Undergraduate Exchange), and ROTC (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps) scholarships and military options.

College Night started out with a ten minute overview of the night and a brief presentation of each topic by Karena Doan, a CVHS counselor. Parents were then given five minutes for “passing,” much like students have during school, to allow time to head to one of the first sessions.

Juanita Shepard from the Princeton Review gave a presentation during the first session on the topic of the SAT vs. ACT. She informed the parents that the “ACT is a test measuring what a student had learned in school, while SAT is testing reasoning.  The ACT has four sections: English, Math, Reading, and Science. A student can get a score as low as 1 and as high as 36. There is a writing portion but, unlike the SAT, it’s optional. On the other hand, the SAT has three sections: writing, math (Algebra I to Algebra 2), and reading. It has a maximum score of 2400; each section is worth 800 points.”

Another topic during the first session was “how to conduct an effective college search.” Guest speaker Sharon Travers, a college advisor and writing coach, said, “there are three types of schools you should have: dream schools, good chance to get in schools, and for sure schools.” Another great piece of advice she gave to parents was to “visit the college to determine if the social atmosphere is right for each student.”

During session two, financial aid became one of the most sought-after topics. Parents want their children to go to school, but the price for college is high. Doan gave an introduction of how to finance college, saying, “Financing college is a partnership. Colleges help the family by offering grants, scholarships, work study (the college offers jobs on or off campus for the student), and loans. For the state of California, 77% percent of CSU undergraduates receive an average grant award of $7,735, while UCs offer 57% of their undergraduates aid and have an average of $14,514 per grant. One web site that helps student look for scholarships is www.FastWeb.com.”

At the end of the night, Dwight Vandamme, a parent of a CVHS student, commented on how “this has been a very educative event.”  He looks forward to it again next year, but suggests that “the school should offer more financial aid presentations.”