College application process begins for CHS students
On Nov. 9 students and their parents learned a great deal about how to apply for college life after high school, but more importantly they may have learned why students should apply.
“College is a path to a dream,” said Greg Dart, the vice chancellor of enrollment management at USU Eastern when addressing the group about college entry. “Take the time to look at what you really want to do before you apply.”
He asked audience members that numbered around 120 people if they knew how much different the earnings were for someone with various levels of education/credentials as compared with others without credentials during a persons lifetime. He used the verbal survey as a training tool, so students could see how much more money they could make if they obtained advanced degrees. But he also pointed out that people need to do what they love.
“The good thing is that a Utah college education is affordable,” at the same time mentioning that USU Eastern does have the lowest tuition in the state.
The evening was set aside for the kickoff for college application week, a program of the The Utah System of Higher Education. The goal of the drive is to give every high school senior in participating schools the opportunity to apply to college during a school day between Nov. 9 and 20, 2015.
The audience also heard about scholarships and grants from Kristian Olsen, the Dean of Enrollment at USU Eastern.
“There are basically three ways to finance your education in college,” he told the students in the audience. “Scholarships, grants or ask your rich uncle,” he quipped.
Olsen talked about the various kinds of scholarships and grants available. He also told students to always apply for work study jobs on campus’ when they had the opportunity.
Another thing he brought up is that at the present time the best way to apply for any kind of financial aide is on-line but that students should be “careful, because if a site charges for its services to do that, it is a scam.”
Melissa Swenson, an adviser at Carbon High then went over all the particulars about college applications and what senior’s would be going on through on Nov. 19 during the Carbon High School activity. She said that over the two weeks there would be all kinds of activities that would be going on in order to get students ready to apply. There are a lot of contests and promotions that are being announced daily.
On Nov. 19 every student will fill out an application if they have not done one for post-secondary education. There will also be a college fair with all but two of the colleges and universities in the state represented so students and parents can visit with officials and learn more about each schools’ offerings.