March College Night Report

When you first walked into the college night on Wednesday, March 28, the room was almost empty. Students and parents were scarce at first, seating themselves around the room. However, as time continued to pass, more and more families made their way into the grand room. Although the event started late, it was still filled with interesting information for both the parents and the students.

That night, the students and parents were to be placed in the positions of college admission officers to help them learn how students across the country are chosen for college. The night opened with the introductions of the two college admission officers, one from the University of Oregon and the other from Drew University. Students and parents were then introduced to Plymouth Shores University, a fake school which imitated real characteristics of current colleges. The two instructors helped guide the attendees through the different parts of the school, opening the floor for questions. After this, the families learned about the different elements of the application that college admission officers look at when accepting, waitlisting, and rejecting students: general information, a transcript, letters of recommendation, and other academic achievements. Once introduced to these ideas, students and parents were divided into different rooms to begin the final activity.

In Room One, the students began by dividing into three different groups, each one assigned to one of the three example applications which would be examined that night. The group would have to make a tough decision: one student would be accepted, one student would be placed on the waitlist, and the last one would be rejected. After half an hour of reviewing each of the applications, everyone came together to discuss the different aspects of the applicants. They shared what was good and bad on the applications. Grades were taken into account, along with other extracurricular activities and achievements. In doing this, students learned that sophomore and junior year play a large role in how the colleges perceive applicants along with other important information to take into account when considering the college application.

The experience left Summit parents and students with a deeper knowledge of how colleges select students from across the country. The Denali staff hope to hold events like this in following years, however, the organization that provides the program may not always have booking spots. Nevertheless, many other college nights will be held throughout upcoming years to help students and parents plan for college.