|
| Seniors begin uphill quest for college By Mark Noack [ mark@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, October 21, 2009 4:08 PM PDT High school senior Alyssa Bretz has a simple motto: “Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn’t work hard.” Now in her final year at Half Moon Bay High School, Bretz certainly has the right to brag a little about her hard work. Not only is she a top student, she also works as student body treasurer, a part-time restaurant hostess, the in-house family babysitter, and an athlete for the school’s varsity volleyball and track teams. Bretz hopes those accomplishments will secure her a place at Stanford University, a college goal she shares with many of her high-achieving classmates. “I worked hard for this,” Bretz said. “I’ll be the first in my family to go to a four-year college.” College application time is here, and a new crop of high-school seniors is journeying through the gauntlet of forms, personal essays, scholarships and letters of recommendation. It is a true step of maturity and soul-searching for many students, combining a look back at all their accomplishments and how that meshes with future goals. But it’s also a big headache — not just for students, but also their teachers and counselors who are trying to inspire their students to shoot high but have few resources and little time to guide them. The counseling department at Half Moon Bay High is more thinly spread than ever before, with each full-time counselor assigned to coach and guide more than 300 students. District cuts last year eliminated the high school’s only college and career adviser, leaving that role to the remaining counselors. Counselor Mandi Robertson said that her department is already overburdened and guiding students for college has to be added to a stack of tasks. “Our hearts and souls are here for the kids but we’re asked to do more and more,” Robertson said. “There’s a threshold for us.” Half Moon Bay High’s counseling department isn’t alone in its struggles. The workload for a high school counselor this year has increased by 53 students on average, according to a new study by the National Association for College Admission Counseling. The school’s counselors say they maintain an open-door policy and have been organizing large group tutorials on applying for college. But many seniors say they could use more help through the daunting process. “I wish I could have a counselor with me while I fill out everything,” said class president Karen Lee. “(The school) is doing the best with what’s available … but students aren’t very close to their counselors.” Lee and her classmates said their teachers have been stepping up to lend extra help by offering out-of-class tutorials on writing college essays and mentoring their favorite students. The school library is one place students have gone to seek help. “For college counseling, we have a void that hasn’t been bridged,” said librarian Brian Gerber. “We have kids who need direction and this isn’t a game they can fumble on.” This year’s applicants face stiff competition for spot at most colleges, including those in the University of California system, which plans to accept about 2,300 fewer students this year due to budget cuts. Both the UC and the California State University also plan to increase the cost of tuition. Working on her college essays at home, Bretz says those concerns are relevant for her, but they still don’t deter her from her goal. “It sounds simple, but applying to college is really tough to figure out,” she said. |