How to Apply to College will empower learners of all backgrounds to demystify and better understand the college search and selection process, combining the expertise of an Ivy League admissions office and a leading college access and success organization. Led by expert educators, including Eric J. Furda, Dean of Admissions at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Sean Vereen, President of Steppingstone Scholars, Inc., this free course will help students, family members, college counselors and any inquisitive learner to navigate each stage from the start of the college search process through the transition into a college environment. Through dialogue with students applying to and currently in college as well as campus advocates, How to Apply to College also aims to close the information gap for students who may be the first in their family to attend college and students who are underrepresented in higher education. A range of video and web resources are provided through a collaboration with a number of educational partners including The Common Application, with nearly 700 colleges on the application platform, and Raise.me, which provides a new way for high school students to earn money for college starting in 9th grade based on their achievements in school and life. Other resources and tools featured in the course include Naviance, College Greenlight, College Scorecard, BigFuture by the College Board, College and Pell Abacus, ZeeMee and Federal Student Aid.
First to Go: Pathways to College
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來自 University of Pennsylvania 的課程
How to Apply to College
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從本節課中
Starting the Journey to College
This module provides an introduction to the course and overview of the college application process , financial aid, and why college matters. Dr. Vereen will discuss the range of two-year to four-year colleges and levels of selectivity will be discussed to better understand potential college options for students.
與講師見面
Eric J. FurdaDean of Admissions
Dr. Sean VereenPresident
Steppingstone Scholars, Inc.
[MUSIC]
So, why college?
Eric has made the case about economics, but it's not simply about that.
It's not just about making more money.
This is really about skills.
To go to and to get through college, you need to have the skills, and
you need to be able to get better at them over time.
So think about it, resiliency.
Sticking to it even when you stumble.
Being able and not afraid to fail and still learn from it.
Critical thinking, using the things that you have learned academically.
Bringing them together to solve a particular problem or learn new things.
These are skills that you will use your whole life, in work,
with your friends, your partners, your family.
Using those skills helps you to stay married longer.
Using those skills are ways to get better opportunity in your job.
It's a way for you to have a better chance and opportunity to vote.
You have more of an opportunity to get involved in your community.
It's not just about making more money.
That helps.
But it is about the skills that you develop.
Really thinking about how jobs change over time.
You want to have skills that move with you.
You want to have the ability not just to know one thing, but
to learn how to go into different kinds of environments and be able to be successful.
That may mean at your job that you're invaluable because
even as the job changes, you get better at what you do.
It may mean that you move up into management.
But all those things provide opportunity for you to advance.
What your parents want, what you want is a better life.
Putting all this work and effort and
energy into it, going to college is about that.
[MUSIC]
Issues for first generation students.
Still a phrase from my Vice President of Programs, Chris Avery, the issue for
first gen students is you don't know what you don't know, and
you may be worried about where to go.
You may be worried about selectivity.
Where can I get in?
And where should it be?
Is it a community college?
Is it a place like Penn?
Is it a place like a state university or school?
You might be, and you probably are really worried about how to pay for college.
If you think about Penn.
Tuition here is close to $70,000.
Which sounds like huge number.
But it also has a very generous financial aid program.
You may think about a school that has a lower sticker price, but
has less financial aid, and it maybe even more expensive for you.
You may be worried about how to promote yourself.
You may be able to talk about yourself to your friends, but
putting it into a college application is hard.
And you might be afraid about leaving the familiar behind, going out of state.
I worked with a bunch of students who are from Florida.
Being able to leave the state and
go to school all the way at a place like Penn was a huge thing for them.
And you might be worried about trying to go to a more selective institution.
You may think that it's safer to go to a less selective institution.
But kids may not finish there.
So you might be worried about what we call under matching.
Going to a place that is the right fit for you academically as well as socially.
[MUSIC]
>> So, did your family support you in your decision to attend college?
Was there lack of understanding from your family about this decision?
I'm really curious to hear from Bridget and Courtney.
>> Of course, my family supported me.
If I did anything else, if I did nothing
else I would go to college according to my parents, and my brothers and my sisters.
They supported me in the efforts from elementary school.
But like I said, I was the first in my family to go and so
my parents didn't know how to go through that application process.
They didn't know what a FAFSA was.
So throughout high school, I was learning with my parents.
And teaching my parents how to navigate the college application process.
Mostly in hopes for
them to give more support to my brother that's two years younger than me.
The kind of support that they did give, though, was going to all of my games.
I played sports in high school.
And going to information sessions for colleges.
Signing me up for college tours.
Really supporting me in every way so that I felt loved, and
I felt like I can do whatever I wanted to do.
And if they didn't do anything else,
I'm really grateful that they instilled that kind of foundation for me because
navigating the process as a black woman, as an immigrant was very scary.
Because I didn't knew nothing, and
I had to trust people around me including my family and teachers.
And I'm very happy that I had my family with me the whole time.
>> Awesome.
>> I would say that my parents definitely did support my
decision to attend college that went anywhere from verbal, to physical ,to
mental especially because you can't apply for college for your children.
So even if it's just the support of doing that for
them, and saying, go out and apply for scholarships.
Apply for grants.
Apply for money that isn't handed out to you directly.
Just having them be there for you and be a supportive person for
you is huge because if they don't do it, your teachers barely
do because they have thousands of other kids to focus on as well.
Your parents can be like your number one supporter, and she was there for
me every step of the way, from first grade, kindergarten, on out.
And it really really helped me, when it came time to go to college
[MUSIC]
