AV welcomes college reps onto campus

During+the+fall%2C+college+representatives+often+visit+high+school+campuses+to+give+students+the+chance+to+learn+more+about+different+universities.+Amador+Valley+has+multiple+college+visit+days+in+the+fall.

Aileen Hu

During the fall, college representatives often visit high school campuses to give students the chance to learn more about different universities. Amador Valley has multiple “college visit days’ in the fall.

Aileen Hu and Krithika Subramaniam

On Thursday, September 22nd, representatives from UC San Diego, the University of Chicago, the University of Miami, and the University of Oklahoma-Norman visited Amador during lunch so that students can check out what the schools have to offer.

“We really start doing a lot of our travel planning in late summer, so late July, early August. …my busy travel season is just in the fall, because that’s when we’re getting applications,” said Bethany Lestochi, associate director of admissions at the University of Miami.

During their visit, the college representatives passed out brochures and answered any questions about their school and its programs, giving students the opportunity to learn more about different universities.

“I personally travel with one of our yearbooks so students can flip through and kind of see what the university has to offer, as well as some other materials like a magazine from out journalism school and things like that so students can actually see some of the stuff that’s coming out of our school,” said Lestochi.

Though there were many challenges in making campus visits possible during the pandemic, they are slowly starting to return. Now, universities have the opportunity to develop a deeper connection with prospective high school students.

“There are various platforms online where a school posts visits and times where we are able to sign up for and this year we are trying something new where we make lunch visits to talk about our university. I live in Chicago so this was definitely a new experience” said Nicole Mullen, associate director of admissions at the University of Chicago.

During these visits, college admission officers try to make most of their time by giving tips to current seniors on how to better their applications and advising them on how to produce an application that will stand out.

“I think making an exclusive email for colleges is very important for interactions. I also think that making your supplement unique to one’s personal self helps put an application above the others.” said Mullen.