Samo hosts 2nd annual college night for underclassmen

On Tuesday, Jan. 30, the Samo PTSA held its annual Spring College Night. The event was open to parents and students of all grades, but was mostly aimed towards juniors.   The night began at 6 p.m. with a presentation in Barnum Hall on how to prepare for college in each grade.  Beginning at 6:45 p.m., the group of students and parents split into different classrooms for smaller demonstrations. Unlike the fall College Fair, this event includes several presentations on topics such as UC applications, four year colleges and financial aid.These were led by college recruiters, Samo teachers and counselors. Most covered basic information about college applications and requirements, but also included a tutorial on using Naviance, Samo’s college application server.   Many students found this experience helpful and informative, especially given they could choose where they wanted to go. “I choose this one to go to because as a junior I feel like I need to be more informed about college, especially financial aid,” Nathalie Yacoub (’19) said. “I found it informative because I chose to go to the session that answers my questions.”  One problem with these sessions was the time they were held, which some students felt was too late at night. “[I want] It not to be so late; I feel like if it ended earlier or if they did it in the span of two days, maybe like one session starting from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and the next one the second day, that would be better,” Yacoub said. Overall, this was a good experience for any students who wanted more information about college.