Seniors Apply Themselves to Life After High School
Destination College Advising Corps and the class of 2023 celebrates accomplishments and post-high school plans.
By Jocelyn Cosgrove
Destination College Advising Corps and the class of 2023 celebrates accomplishments and post-high school plans.
By Jocelyn Cosgrove
As the end of the year approaches, the class of 2023 makes preparations to graduate high school and start the next chapter of their lives.
On May 11, Destination College Advising Corps held their annual Decision Day, which celebrates the senior class as they decide on what they will do after graduation and their future career successes.
“It is really important to us to recognize that high school is hard, especially in the last few years, so just getting through all of it, not just senior year, is such an accomplishment,” said DCAC College Advisor Gabby Gonzalez-Gomez. “So whatever they choose to do after high school, whether it be 4-year, 2-year, work or just a break, takes courage and strength.”
One of the bigger discrepancies during and after the application process was the amount of UC rejections compared to past years. For the 2022-23 applicants, according to the University of California website, UC schools have lowered the spots reserved for in-state students from 64.9% down to 59.5%, compared to the 2021-22 applicants.
“So UCs, I think, lowered the in-state percentage by like 5%. Although (it) doesn’t sound like a lot, that's a lot of students who don’t get in, that meet all of the requirements or get on the waitlist,” said Gonzalez-Gomez.
Throughout most of the fall semester, college applications for University of California and California State University schools were among the top priorities for the senior class since applications were open from Oct. 1, 2022 to when they were due on Nov. 30, 2022.
As a way to help support seniors through the application process as well as afterwards, DCAC College Advisor Justin Philips and Gonzalez-Gomez held many presentations for DCAC members and seniors regarding the applications and other college related events.
“So one thing we did, at least for our cohort students, we had a presentation talking about what the next steps are going to be after they turn in their application. We talked about how they would be getting access to their student ID numbers for every school and how they would have to log on to their portals for whichever schools they applied to. That way they can check all their to-do list items for each campus,” said Philips.
Teachers were also there to help and support seniors through the application process, whether it was with recommendation letters or providing edits for the essays.
“I offer to read personal statements and provide feedback if students ask. I do not typically cover (personal) statement writing in class because not all students apply to a college that requires one,” said English teacher Beth Stafford. “I also do my best to not pile on homework or outside of class assignments during college app season.”
During the application process, Daya Kumaran, 12, who will be attending University of California, Los Angeles and majoring in Applied Mathematics in the fall, felt that the hardest part of the application process were the application essays.
“I had a hard time coming up with ideas, and kept feeling like my essays weren’t good enough no matter what I did,” said Kumaran.
Senior Kenzie Hill, who will be attending Santa Clara University and will major in Environmental Science, feels that extracurriculars can help the class of 2024 with their applications.
“If you don’t have any variety or uniqueness in your extracurriculars it’s not too late to join a club or a sport, volunteer or get a summer job, it’s super important to be perceived as a well rounded applicant and it’ll up your admission chances if you have a lot of activities in your resume,” said Hill.
Science teacher Steve Boyd is excited to see the senior class find their passions and how they implement that into the next part of their lives.
“After high school, (there) should be a time in their life when the only person that matters is themselves. College should be about a time of personal growth and discovery which is best done when they are unencumbered from too many responsibilities,” said Boyd.
With graduation drawing closer in the next couple of weeks, Gonzalez-Gomez advises seniors to give themselves time to figure out the workings of college and to find themselves in the new environments.
“Give yourself grace in everything that you do. Give yourself time and eventually, you will find where you want to be. Eventually, you will find where you fit in. Not everybody finds their place in high school and is automatically, like ‘yes, I know exactly where I want to be.’ A lot of people don’t find their place in college either,” said Gonzalez-Gomez. “Give yourself time, time to explore what you want, what you need, time to explore your identity, time to explore yourself. Just give yourself grace in everything you do and do what you like and you will eventually end up where you need to be.”
On May 11, Destination College Advising Corps held their annual Decision Day, which celebrates the senior class as they decide on what they will do after graduation and their future career successes.
“It is really important to us to recognize that high school is hard, especially in the last few years, so just getting through all of it, not just senior year, is such an accomplishment,” said DCAC College Advisor Gabby Gonzalez-Gomez. “So whatever they choose to do after high school, whether it be 4-year, 2-year, work or just a break, takes courage and strength.”
One of the bigger discrepancies during and after the application process was the amount of UC rejections compared to past years. For the 2022-23 applicants, according to the University of California website, UC schools have lowered the spots reserved for in-state students from 64.9% down to 59.5%, compared to the 2021-22 applicants.
“So UCs, I think, lowered the in-state percentage by like 5%. Although (it) doesn’t sound like a lot, that's a lot of students who don’t get in, that meet all of the requirements or get on the waitlist,” said Gonzalez-Gomez.
Throughout most of the fall semester, college applications for University of California and California State University schools were among the top priorities for the senior class since applications were open from Oct. 1, 2022 to when they were due on Nov. 30, 2022.
As a way to help support seniors through the application process as well as afterwards, DCAC College Advisor Justin Philips and Gonzalez-Gomez held many presentations for DCAC members and seniors regarding the applications and other college related events.
“So one thing we did, at least for our cohort students, we had a presentation talking about what the next steps are going to be after they turn in their application. We talked about how they would be getting access to their student ID numbers for every school and how they would have to log on to their portals for whichever schools they applied to. That way they can check all their to-do list items for each campus,” said Philips.
Teachers were also there to help and support seniors through the application process, whether it was with recommendation letters or providing edits for the essays.
“I offer to read personal statements and provide feedback if students ask. I do not typically cover (personal) statement writing in class because not all students apply to a college that requires one,” said English teacher Beth Stafford. “I also do my best to not pile on homework or outside of class assignments during college app season.”
During the application process, Daya Kumaran, 12, who will be attending University of California, Los Angeles and majoring in Applied Mathematics in the fall, felt that the hardest part of the application process were the application essays.
“I had a hard time coming up with ideas, and kept feeling like my essays weren’t good enough no matter what I did,” said Kumaran.
Senior Kenzie Hill, who will be attending Santa Clara University and will major in Environmental Science, feels that extracurriculars can help the class of 2024 with their applications.
“If you don’t have any variety or uniqueness in your extracurriculars it’s not too late to join a club or a sport, volunteer or get a summer job, it’s super important to be perceived as a well rounded applicant and it’ll up your admission chances if you have a lot of activities in your resume,” said Hill.
Science teacher Steve Boyd is excited to see the senior class find their passions and how they implement that into the next part of their lives.
“After high school, (there) should be a time in their life when the only person that matters is themselves. College should be about a time of personal growth and discovery which is best done when they are unencumbered from too many responsibilities,” said Boyd.
With graduation drawing closer in the next couple of weeks, Gonzalez-Gomez advises seniors to give themselves time to figure out the workings of college and to find themselves in the new environments.
“Give yourself grace in everything that you do. Give yourself time and eventually, you will find where you want to be. Eventually, you will find where you fit in. Not everybody finds their place in high school and is automatically, like ‘yes, I know exactly where I want to be.’ A lot of people don’t find their place in college either,” said Gonzalez-Gomez. “Give yourself time, time to explore what you want, what you need, time to explore your identity, time to explore yourself. Just give yourself grace in everything you do and do what you like and you will eventually end up where you need to be.”