Hollister
– Local high school seniors are breathing a collective sigh of
relief after weeks of filling out forms, crafting essays and
gathering letters of recommendation.
Hollister – Local high school seniors are breathing a collective sigh of relief after weeks of filling out forms, crafting essays and gathering letters of recommendation.
Thursday marked the last day for the class of 2007 to apply for admission to University of California and California State schools, a chore undertaken by hundreds of local students.
“I’m really glad it’s over,” said Ava Sanchez, a senior at San Benito High School. “I felt better as soon as everything was turned in. It’s like a huge weight off me.”
Sanchez, who plans on studying political science, is a classic example of the college-bound senior. On the advice of her counselors, she applied to six state-run universities, which cost her and her family more than $300. Her top choices are UC Davis and Sacramento State, to be closer to the heart of political action in California. She’s happy to be done with her applications, which she finished a week early, but says she’s been preparing for them for years.
“It kind of starts when you pick your first (high school) classes,” she said. “Then you have to take your SATs and your ACTs; it’s just this big drawn-out deal.”
Each year roughly one-quarter of SBHS’ senior class – between 100 and 200 students – applies to four-year universities. At Anzar High School in San Juan Bautista, educators said the majority of the school’s 60 or so graduating seniors at least apply to a four-year school regardless of what they choose to do next year.
In 2004, 15 percent of all SBHS grads actually attended a four-year state school, while more than 40 percent attended community colleges, according to the most recent figures from the California Education Round Table. The same report for Anzar showed that 18 percent of graduates went to a CSU or UC, while 12 percent went to a community college.
Nearly 83,000 prospective freshmen from around the country applied for admission into the UC system alone last fall, according to the university’s Web site.
“For some of the kids it’s hard for them to decide to even apply,” said Jim Caffiero, a veteran SBHS guidance counselor. “One girl came in today and when I asked her if she applied, she said no. … I had to get down on my hands and knees and beg her, but we sat down and filled out her CSU applications in 45 minutes, and now at least she’ll have a choice.”
Caffiero is able to spot certain trends among seniors looking for the right school. Business, engineering and liberal arts majors are particularly popular with the class of 2007, he said, as well as state schools in cities seniors might perceive to be more glamorous than Hollister.
“(CSUs) Chico, Long Beach and San Diego are all popular, of course, because they want to be near the beach and they think Chico will be a party school – but all colleges are party schools, really,” he said.
Others choose where to apply based on class size or how nice and new the dorms and other facilities are.
“Each school has its own flavor – a lot of kids go with Stanislaus or Sonoma because they like the fact that it’s a smaller school, that the student-teacher ratios are low,” Caffiero said. “What I try to get them to focus on is what major they want and which schools are best for that.”
Picking which schools to apply to is the easy part, however. Local students have to prove to admissions officials that their grades, talents, community service records and ambitions are enough to merit a spot on campus, and universities are becoming more picky every year.
“The requirements to get into college are a lot more stringent than when I started doing this,” Caffiero said. “There used to be alternative ways to get a kid into school if, say, he got a D in chemistry. Now you can’t do that any more. They have to retake it and do well their senior year. There’s less opportunity for them to take their fun electives.”
The pressure of deciding where to spend the next four years and showing that they deserve to attend can be undeniably stressful for some college-bound seniors.
“A lot of my friends have been very emotional about this,” said Claudia Hernandez, a SBHS senior who wants to be a pre-med major. “But I’m just trying to find time to get everything done and keep up with my classes.”
Just because applications are in doesn’t mean seniors can kick back until graduation, either. Many private schools accept applications well into the winter months, and students begin applying for financial aid and scholarships right after winter break.
“The scholarship applications are harder,” said senior LaTasha Hayes, who wants to major in business and open her own mortuary. “They want to know your whole life story and they take a lot of time.”
SBHS is holding workshops for students and parents on how to apply for financial aid and where to look for scholarships and will continue to do so for the rest of the school year.
“Right now these kids just need to worry about having a great Christmas break,” Caffiero said. “But they need to be ready to roll up their sleeves and get back to work with scholarships when they come back.”
Danielle Smith covers education for the Free Lance. Reach her at 637-5566, ext. 336 or [email protected].
