College Fair 2016-2017

Hundreds of Samo students packed into the South Gym and cafeteria on Oct. 10 to attend the College Fair, an annual event that showcases colleges from all over the world, and seeks to answer questions for students and parents alike, especially those concerning scholarships and financial aid.Hosted by the PTSA, the fair was attended by 132 colleges, of which 62 schools were from California, including 19 CSU’s and UC’s. Furthermore, five countries were represented in the form of schools, with colleges such as UK’s Northumbria University and Italy’s John Cabot University on campus.Scholarships were the most common focus of each school’s table talk. As college affordability has become a growing concern in recent years, many students attended the fair to find ways of making their expenditures lower with the help of scholarships.According to “The New York Times,” the cost of college degree in U.S. has increased considerably over the last ten years. Recent inflation could also be partly attributed to a larger population of college-educated people; our society is becoming more sophisticated compared to 40 years ago.From Samo’s class of 2016, 58 percent of students went to a four year college, 38 percent to two-year community colleges throughout California and four percent haven’t continued their education, according to the Samo college counselors.At the college fair, possibilities seem endless.Jessie Malyna, a representative from Cal State University, Los Angeles, handed out information on her school and presented federal scholarship opportunities.“Cal State is offering over 400 scholarships,” Malyna said. “In addition, there are various federal, state, and outside agency financial aid programs that are giving more scholarships.”A lot of seniors are paying attention to aspects like money because they don't want their families to struggle.Alexander Kaberg (’17) is interested in knowing more about scholarships because he’s close to graduating and his expectations for college aren’t low.“I’m doubtful about scholarships, I still have to decide what I want to major in,” Kaberg said. “Even so, I want to help my family out by getting a scholarships and maybe study in California or somewhere in Europe.”However, Jacob Graves (’17) has a different opinion towards college expenses that creates controversy among other seniors’ perspectives.“Although the investment for college may be high, I know this money will eventually return to me, and besides, I will keep making more,” Graves said.Gilda De La Cruz, who has over 10 years of experience teaching a college preparation program for students at Samo called Advancement Via Individual Determination (AVID), believes students this year are as concerned as they have been over the last ten years.“I think students have always been worried about paying for college, therefore I always suggest my kids to apply for scholarships so maybe they can get one and make their future easier,” De La Cruz said.Many colleges, such as Cal State LA, University of California, Merced and Northumbria Univeristy, point out that having a high GPA and a competitive SAT or ACT score are crucial to get a scholarship because in the end, whether people like it or not, grades play the most important role when it comes to college acceptance. Even though the fair is mostly focused on seniors and juniors, it is also attended by underclassman hoping to get an early start.Ryan Herron (’20) has already predicted a high level of competitiveness among college applicants and is preparing himself by taking difficult classes in his first year of high school.“Having the grades I want for going to a good college is my primary concern right now,” Herron said. “I’m still skeptical about where to apply but it’s not a worry that stresses me out too much this year. Getting all my work done is my priority.”College representatives play an important role. They are tasked with informing students about their campus and what makes them unique. Kate Whiston, a college representative from Keele University, came all the way from England to provide information to American students.“My goal today as a college representative is to be as helpful as possible to all the students that are assisting here,” Whiston said. “Mostly, they come with certain ideas that are already developed and my job is to inform them and answer any question they may have.”Julia Honda, one of Samo’s college counselors that has been helping students for a long time, tries to guide and illustrate everybody where they should go according to their academic results as well as personal preference.“It’s ultimately their decision,” Honda said. “I give them my opinion, they talk to their closest people and eventually students come out with a meditated decision of where to apply.”