Our group of students started the day at Independence Hall to learn and feel the creation of our great nation. There were some moments that felt like they were in a history class, but the visible and authentic settings made history come to life.
We had a quick view of the famous Liberty Bell and took a lobby tour of the National Constitution Center.
Then off we went to the Penn information session and campus tour. I believe the kids came out with very valuable information about the various colleges and programs at Penn. The presenter had some volume trouble with the mic, but we sat at the front row, so that helped a lot.
She gave some great advice about the process of choosing the best fit university for yourself. It is not just 4+ years of commitment, dedication, and hard work. The university becomes part of you and you part of it for the rest of your adult life. It is a life-changing choice and students need to evaluate all the information and experience given to them to make that choice.
Not everyone can come to Penn and get a first-hand experience of the campus and college life. But I believe every student can access the same information and more through the university's website, be it Penn or any other school It has a tremendous amount of information regarding admissions, application process, financial aid, and so forth. I understand that seeing and reading something online is not the same as doing it up close and personal, but realistically speaking, not every WCCUSD student can come cross country to do a info session and campus tour. But, we can encourage one of these admission officers to come to us and talk to our various high schools about their particular university. We have showed great interest in them and hopefully, they can reciprocate that as well.
While everyone has the option of checking out a university online, these web sites don't always tell viewers everything they need to know before making an informed choice about a university.
ReplyDeleteThe photos on those sites show only smiling students from all ethnicities. The buildings all look like what you'd expect a university to look like. The weather is always nice. It's what you would expect a university to be like.
We all know, though, that there's more to a university than just what you see on a web site. That's why the personal interaction with current students can be so valuable; discussions with admissions officers can fill in voids; experiencing the weather and even the temperament of the community can all have a serious impact on deciding where to spend 4+ years of a student’s life.
Because we cannot rely on admissions officers to visit our District, we ask each of our ILCers to bring back a wealth of information to speak with their community when they return a the end of the summer.