This year colleges from across the country are coming to SJHHS to talk to students interested in their programs.

“We try and do everything, so we do big schools, little schools, private schools, public schools, schools that we have kids attending, schools that our kids have never heard of, we just try to have a really broad mix of different types of schools,” said Kathleen Levinson, an academic advisor. This way students will “apply broadly,” which is something that Levinson and the other academic advisors recommend.

Representatives are invited to come on “Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday because on Monday it’s a traditional day and Friday, one (she) knows there are a lot of tests on Friday, and two there’s a lot of events at lunchtime on Friday,” Levinson said. So this way students have the opportunity to visit many colleges and as mentioned earlier to “apply broadly.”

This way a variety of schools come and visit. For colleges to come and visit, there are many ways for them to come on campus. Levinson mainly uses Sign Up Genius, where colleges can go on and sign up for certain days and times. However, if they are unable to make it during the times she posted then, she will work with them so that way they can make it on campus. Also, she has an email list with schools who have come in the past, reached out to her, she has met at a conference or students have told her that they want certain colleges to come. This way a variety of schools can come and visit.

There are several reasons why students should come to the presentations. First of all, it helps them plan out their futures, specifically, that students get to “actually talk to a admissions representative,” and that “they get to see for each individual college the specifics of the application and what they(the colleges) are looking for,” Levinson said.

Also, students get to hear about particular scholarships given out by the specific colleges. “Rather than them having to search for it on the college website, it’s all spelled out for them,” Levinson said.

In addition, schools also say a lot about specific majors they offer, and for example, Levinson said “there was a college rep here last week and she said  ‘we have three new majors on our campus starting this year’ and shared it with them. Because (she) thinks that the majors are really difficult because we know about engineering, we know about accounting, we know about psychology but they will be specific.”

Finally, students are able to learn about the GPA requirements for getting into a particular major.

Lastly, Levinson said “Every student should have the goal of coming to at least three, and maybe to push yourself, to come to a college that you’ve never heard of before. Also, have your friends come with you so that way you can talk about it afterward. Reps like to come back to the schools that are interested in their college. So it makes them more likely to come back.”