Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy invited local rising seniors to participate in a College Application Boot Camp last month, giving them an early start on their applications and other tools necessary for success.
By the first official day of summer, one group of students had already kicked off their break with a four-day program to guide them through the daunting application process. Nearly 20 million students were projected to attend college, according to the National Center for Educational Statistics’ Fall 2018 numbers. That means stiff competition – and stress for the whole family. Programs such as the College Application Boot Camp are meant to help alleviate some of those pressures.
The first few months of a student’s senior year, according to Holy Trinity’s Director of College Counseling Alison Bell, is extremely busy. Students are managing their own classes, extracurricular activities and more. “And on top of all that, they’re applying to college,” which she said “feels like almost a whole other class.”
The boot camp gave students an opportunity to work with other students, administrators including Holy Trinity advisors and some college admission personnel. They participated in informational sessions, worked on polishing their resumes and personal essays, and even participated in mock interviews.
“As they go into the fall semester, they’re ahead of the game and know what they have left to do.” Bell said.
The camp’s coordinators collectively stated that it’s designed to ensure students are comfortable and prepared for the remaining steps. “You’re not gonna want to do it over the summer, but it’s worth it.” said Colin McLaughlin, a rising senior.
The Holy Trinity student recently took a 12-school college tour and explained his reason for coming to camp was “to really finalize what [he] actually needed to do to get into those schools.” McLaughlin participated in a mock interview with Holy Trinity’s president Dr. Katherine Cobb. After the experience, he said he plans to continue working on his personal essays and getting feedback from his teachers. “It has prepared me to know what to expect from the college application process; what it’ll look like and how I can handle it” McLaughlin said.
Melissa Euziere, Holy Trinity college advisor, said the staff emphasized everything students can do ahead of time, so they won’t have to take time away from a packed senior schedule to do it later. She said that logic “resonated with them despite the challenge of working at it during the summer.”
Ashanti Ehimua, a rising senior from Satellite High School, was referred to the camp by her guidance counselor. She learned more about what to expect from the application process and had a chance to have some other questions answered.
Even with a head start on applications, students must still choose where to apply and how many schools to apply to. Euziere says she tries to “get them to think beyond what they know and explore what they don’t.”
The action of diving deeper into oneself and into educational goals are important tools for students not only when creating a list of places to apply, but also when composing personal essays.
Stetson University Associate Director for Undergraduate Admissions Victoria Webster-Perez reminded campers of this. “The essay,” she explained, “is really their chance to show the vulnerable side of themselves as well as the unique perspective they have and will bring to the table.”
Holy Trinity has been hosting this event since 2009 and plans to continue the tradition. Each year, at the camp’s end, they survey students anonymously.
According to Bell, every year, 98 percent of students expressed their satisfaction with the program. Bell says they hope to garner the same results this year. “The Boot Camp is helping transfer their expectations for what needs to be done to a reality,” Euziere said.
Rising juniors who wish to participate in the camp next summer should check back to Holy Trinity’s website in spring 2020 for registration information.