In order to broaden California Scholarship Federation (CSF) students’ range of college options and prepare them for college life, adviser Molly Sargent will take a group of juniors and seniors to tour a variety of colleges and universities in southern California, Nov. 19-21.
During the three-day trip, the group will visit a range of campuses: small and large, public and private, with varying tuition costs and programs of study. These colleges include Pepperdine University, Azusa Pacific University, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Biola University, University of California, Irvine (UCI), and Vanguard University.
Sargent hopes that the educational trip will allow students to catch a glimpse of college life and the decision process involved in attending a university for the first time.
“I hope they get an idea of what college life is like,” Sargent said. “I think most kids understand what college is like because it’s not that different from high school. But when you walk onto a college campus, it does have a very different feel to it.”
In accordance with Sargent, junior Raine Hayes looks forward to the trip in order to grasp a better understanding of the college options available to her.
“I wanted to go because I though it would be a really good chance to see all the colleges I might want to go to,” Hayes said. “I thought it would be cool to visit colleges I wasn’t thinking of attending. I’m trying to keep all of my options open. I want to see everything that’s available to me and hopefully have a good experience on the trip.”
Some students chose to attend this trip to avoid influence from others in their college selections. Hayes says she wants to form her own views of different universities.
“I’m hoping to really get a sense of where I want to go to college — not just picking it based on where my friends are going or what one looks nice,” Hayes said. “I really want to see for myself and get my own opinion, rather than just looking at websites, and actually get on campus.”
Though some students may have a general opinion of where they will attend college, junior Trevor York is attending the tour in order to ensure he sees many options, despite his expectation of going to college on the East Coast.
“I want to explore colleges that I might possibly want to attend, even though I’m pretty sure I want to go East,” York said. “It’s always good to see all of the options. I want to see if I would fit in there.”
Sargent claims that, in addition to being informational, the trip will serve as a fun experience for students to seriously consider their future career paths.
“Really the main reason [we take the trip] is I want them to walk around the college campuses and to get excited to go to college,” Sargent said. “I’d rather that students not stay here because they were afraid of going somewhere else. You have lots of options; don’t be afraid to explore them just because it’s out of your comfort zone.”
For more information on college planning, read the Nov. 1 column, College Corner: An overview of applications, and the Nov. 9 column, College Corner: Tackling tests.
