Romeoville Middle Schoolers to See What College Acceptance is All About

Submitted by Valley View School District:

Although college application time is still several years away for A. Vito Martinez, they will experience the excitement of being “accepted” by one of the top 50 universities when their cafeteria will be transformed into the College Connections Café Oct. 29.

The Romeoville middle school, which is joining students across the country in celebrating College Application Month in October, is using the initiative to increase the college knowledge of its students, while also creating an environment for students to meet unfamiliar peers.

“Our intentions for this lunchtime activity are twofold: to have our students benefit from the opportunity of socializing with different peers, while also gaining familiarity of their expansive college options,” said Martinez Middle School Counselor Anita Hilton.

Upon entering the College Connections Café, each student will receive a random mock college acceptance letter to one of the nation’s top universities. Lunch tables will be set up representing each university with student leaders at each table to guide the students through socialization and college awareness activities. A large projection screen will provide virtual tours of several campuses.

“By highlighting the Top 50 ranked National universities in the College Connections Café, we want to send a message to our students, that we believe that they are capable of gaining admittance to highly-selective universities,” said Hilton.

Prior to hosting the College Connections Café, 8th grade students took a survey that showed 64 percent of those who have thought about college were most interested in a college within a 2 hour radius from home.

“These results were not surprising since students often select their desired colleges based on those that are closest and most familiar,” said Hilton. “While that may be the best fit for some students, we want to make sure that our students know that they have over 3,000 college options and many times out-of-state colleges may be a better fit in terms of program offerings, financial aid and other opportunities.”