Beginning the road to college

As we sail through the third quarter at Hewlett High School, in the midst of all of the standardized test prep comes the start of the college application process. In the past few weeks, juniors have been meeting with their parents and guidance counselors to try and find the perfect school.
Whether it is finding the right size, location, academically challenging or financially beneficial, the Guidance Department works rigorously with both students and parents to find the school that’s best for everyone.
With the guidance meetings underway, students have appointments for their first college meeting all the way through mid-April. The meeting marks an important first step in whole college process. The meeting is scheduled to ensure parents and students not to stress out or worry and try and be proactive as to what kind of college is best for you. However, while it can be stressful, the process can also be fun, exciting and helpful in meticulously choosing the university you need and want as an individual in the “real world.”
Junior Sarah Deneberg already had her first meeting, and now feels relaxed and more informed when it comes to applying to college. “At first it seemed overwhelming to know that I have to figure out my reach schools, target schools, and safety schools; it was confusing to find out that I could apply early decision, early action, or rolling admissions. However, after the meeting, I felt like I was really knowledgeable on the college subject and that the process is going to be a lot easier with the help of my guidance counselor,” she said.
Although she did not have her meeting yet, fellow junior Divya Lall remains optimistic and thinks that the meetings are a good idea to help guide juniors and their families through the application process. “Hopefully the meetings with my guidance counselor and my family will help me set a realistic goal of where I can get in and be happy as a student and an individual,” Lall said.
With the application process far behind her, senior Daryl Last thinks the college meetings for juniors are a great way of creating a plan of action to avoid some of the chaos that comes with the application process senior year. “The guidance college meeting was a great way to set a game plan for the college process,” she said.
With that being said, good luck to all my fellow classmates with this process!