On Thursday, September 12th, students and parents from all around WVUSD gathered at Diamond Bar High School, to learn more about college through the annual college fair.
The event started at 6 PM, where many people piled into the DBHS theater to hear from a speaker. With the college admissions process becoming more difficult than ever, he was able to provide insight and advice about the college admissions process.
A representative from College Wise spoke in the theater about college acceptance rates, especially those of prestigious colleges such as Yale, UChicago and USC. He mentioned how they have dropped as much from 22% to 5% these last few decades. He also stated that although GPA is important, many students have a 4.0. Though,, grades are important, they are not “everything” when it comes to the admissions process. It is more important to tell a story through your application, in order to stand out to admission boards.
The night progressed by allowing students to either attend the gym or library to hear from college representatives. Both places were crowded, but not as much as last year, students noticed.
“I learned that early action can make it harder because it is more competitive,” senior Abraham Sayavong said. On the note of anxiety toward attending college, he mentioned “Mt Sac. was the most interesting college there because it is probably where I am going. I learned their honors program provides a 70% transfer rate to schools like UCI and UCLA. I am interested in either UCI or UCSD,” he said. “It was unfortunate SDSU wasn’t there.”
Besides MT Sac, and popular UC’s, many other schools were there too, such as USC. USC’s popularity generated a larger crowd around their table than other schools in attendance.
There were schools outside of California such as UW Madison, and Indiana University, which are both in the Midwest. Many students were disappointed that no Ivy League universities were represented, which is truly unfortunate as Diamond Bar High School students are super competitive with Ivy League dreams.
The College Fair was a great opportunity for students and parents to feel educated, hopeful, and start planning for college. Students walked out feeling satisfied as their questions have been answered regarding the rollercoaster ride that is the college admissions process.