It was 10 a.m. on Thursday, October 12. A group of seniors sat in circles in the College Counseling building, listening carefully to Virginia Hart, a visiting admission officer from Tufts University. “Just to let you know, I’m one of the people who’ll actually be reading your applications,” said Hart. “I hope meeting me in person will make the whole process seem less scary.”

As the application deadline approaches, many colleges are coming to Williston for information sessions and prospective students. This opportunity, if taken good use of, could be a great way for seniors to build a connection with their schools of interest.

“I think the most important factor of the college information sessions is to be able to have a venue where you can ask questions and a smaller group setting,” said Emily McDowell, a college counselor at Williston. “You are going to learn information from colleges that are similar to what you get when you go on a college visit. But besides those info, high school visits also give you some high school targeted updates, such as new constructions and new programs.”

“It also gives your name a face in this process,” McDowell continued. “A lot more schools are paying attention to what is called demonstrated interest, which is the number of times you’ve been in touch with them. Are you on their website? Did you respond to the emails they sent you? Have you been on a college visit? Have you done an information session? And high school visit is definitely a piece of that.”

Naviance is the most convenient tool to watch for college visits. Log onto your Naviance account and you will be able to register to attend information sessions. In addition, college counselors are sending out emails to remind students of visits from colleges that are in his or her school lists.

Many Williston students have attended at least one information session. “Info session helps me a lot in writing college supplement essays,” said senior Minh Nguyen. There is different feedback, too, including a viewpoint from senior Momoka Oda: “College info sessions would help students write a supplemental, but at the same time, every college just emphasizes on how wonderful they are. So I don’t necessarily think it is important.”

Williston offers many other resources and opportunities for its students. Besides multiple mini college fairs, the school held a College Workshop for all seniors in the dining hall on Wednesday, October 11 and another optional Supplement Essay Workshop on Tuesday, October 17. In addition, all seniors are encouraged to bring their college essays to the Writing Center.

By organizing these special events, Williston’s College Counseling aims to offer Williston students the greatest assistance possible.