By Tracy Lam, Staff Writer
On Tuesday evening, the Fountain Valley High School (FVHS) College & Career center hosted its annual College Knowledge Night in the cafeteria. Representatives from the community college Golden West College, Cal State Long Beach, University of California, Irvine (UCI) and private college Soka University of America composed the panel that presented valuable information to juniors, seniors, and their parents. Information regarding their respective campuses, admission rates, college applications and their typical students’ GPAs, SAT and ACT scores were shared.
“The purpose of College Knowledge Night is to inform students and families on all of their post secondary options including community college, Cal State, UC and private universities. It would benefit the students in increasing their knowledge and what their looking for. They will be able to have the opportunity to ask questions directly to these admission representatives,” said College and Career Specialist Irene Yu, “I absolutely recommend this to all students, from 9-12 grade and onward who are interested in exploring their options after high school.”
The evening began with presentations from the four college systems in the packed cafeteria. Following those presentations, the microphone opened to any student or parent with questions. Some even formed a line at the front table to directly ask questions to the representatives. Attendees were also able to pick up flyers that were available at the front table from all represented colleges.
“The College Knowledge Night was pretty helpful. I learned a lot like how to apply for UCs and that they actually don’t need a letter of recommendation. Overall, I got more confidence for applying for college because I learned it’s a lot easier than I thought it would be,” said senior Sebastian Tran.
Junior Lauren Nguyen said, “A lot of the information that was said, I already heard before, but there were also a few tips from the student [representatives] from UCI and that was pretty helpful. I think it was useful to come here and listen to what they talked about, and it gave me a little more perspective on applying for college and knowing that there are options out there. I am more optimistic in my attitude about studying and that college [choices] are a little more open than I thought.”
“The College Knowledge Night was very interesting and informative about what you have to know, the certain things that colleges want, what to expect and how to get in. It was very helpful in stating what to do and what not to do when applying for colleges,” said junior Chris Drummond, “I thought I was just going to roll right into college and get in, but there are steps that I have to take, and now that I know that, I am going to have to work up to those steps to get into college. Overall, it was very helpful, especially in answering questions that the majority of people ask.”
