Seminar Demystifies College Application Process

For many, the college application process is, to put it mildly, arduous and often befuddling.  

Private or state? Large or small? Liberal arts or research university? Rural, urban or suburban setting?

The questions are myriad.

The College Exploration Summer Seminar, offered by Granby Memorial High School, is designed to demystify the experience, aiming to educate students, primarily upperclassmen, on what various institutions of higher learning have to offer.

During a presentation at the board of education regular meeting Wednesday evening, Granby Memorial High guidance counselor Julie Bragg said that 20 students - four sophomores, eight juniors and eight seniors - participated in the program this summer.

The goal, Bragg said, was not to point students in the direction of what schools to apply to and attend, but to expose them to as many different colleges and universities as possible.

Over the course of five days this summer, the students visited eight colleges and universities - Quinnipiac University, Providence College, Bryant University, the University of Connecticut, Central Connecticut State University, the University of Hartford, Boston College and Northeastern University - where they ate at the dining halls, visited the dorms and spoke to admissions officers at each school to get a flavor for what the best options would be for them when selecting a college or university.

At the end of each visit, according to Bragg, the students then filled out a reflection journal, which they can call upon to help them determine what they believed fit them the best.

There were some drawbacks, of course.

“Not every campus had the hustle and bustle because it was during the summer,” Bragg said.

Still, Granby Memorial High senior Parker Rennels and junior Andrew Ash extolled the virtues of the program.

“I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but I didn’t do too much research before the seminar, which isn’t too great,” Rennels said. “It was helpful because it kick-started the process. It helped a lot because it gave me a better sense of what I wanted out of a school.”

Rennels said that he has honed his selection to a small liberal arts school.

Ash, who recently moved to Granby from Ohio, said that the experience was eye-opening.

“Most of my classmates [from Ohio] apply to two schools: Ohio State or Miami of Ohio,” Ash said. “Moving to New England, the Mecca of colleges, it was a little overwhelming.”

Seeing the colleges in person, as opposed to just looking at the video tour guides on the Internet, was much more beneficial, Ash said.

In all, 78 Granby Memorial students have participated in the program, which just finished its fourth year.