EAOP Sees Class of 2007 Seniors on
Their Way to College With Another
Successful Senior Application Project

January 16, 2007

By Kim Sykes

South Bay, Assistant Director and 20 year EAOP veteran, Mario Aguilar advises Castle Park High School Senior, Pablo Arellano, on the personal statement for his college applications.

UCSD’s Early Academic Outreach Program (EAOP) is designed to prepare first generation and under-served students for college. While EAOP identifies students as early as the seventh grade to begin college preparation, one of the most important impacts the program makes is working with students through high school as they approach college. This culminates in the Senior Application Project, during college application season, where EAOP’s Assistant Directors, tutors and mentors meet with high school seniors and work with them one on one to ensure college applications are filled out properly and submitted on time.

Many students benefit from this outreach because they lack college educated mentors and role models that can help them with their college applications. The EAOP team works with high school seniors on everything from advice on personal statements to information on how to declare parents’ income. “I thought my personal statement was complete but EAOP showed me how to expand it to include how I can contribute. I learned more about what the University really wants instead of what I think they want” said Castle Park High School Senior, Pablo Arellano. Arellano is applying to a total of eight Universities, including UCSD, three other UC’s and three Ivy League colleges.

With the existing crisis of too few high school guidance counselors to meet the student demand, many counselors are too busy to give each senior the personal attention they need during this crucial time. In fact, many San Diego schools are working with a ratio of one counselor to more than 400 students; California ranks 51 st among all states with a ratio of 486 to one in California high schools where the recommended ratio is 250 to one.

Assisting seniors on college applications is only one of many responsibilities the typical high school counselor has. Considering this, EAOP proves invaluable keeping counselors and their students abreast of changes in the UC system and the latest information regarding college entrance requirements. “Working with EAOP gives our students firsthand answers to the questions they have. It means the University is present at our high school and more tangible for the students. EAOP knows the latest information like what majors are being offered and has experience to guide our students on how to be competitive on UC and other college applications” said Castle Park High Counselor, Hector Miranda.

In high schools where EAOP is not present, first generation students without guidance in the college application process often face debilitating challenges. Ashley Perez, a senior at Grossmont High School, which doesn’t have an EAOP, is one such student. Perez currently holds a 4.0 GPA and is taking 4 AP Honors classes this semester. Perez has met all of the college entrance requirements and scored well enough on the standardized SAT 1 and 2 tests to gain automatic admission to UC Merced and UC Riverside.

While applying online, Perez encountered problems. She was misinformed about how to fill out the online application when applying to multiple UC campuses, which resulted in only applying to UC Davis. Now she has missed the application deadlines for several of the UC’s, including UCSD where she was hoping to attend. “I wasn’t able to check more than one box on the online application and then I was told there would be a place at the end to select more schools. When I got to the end, my application was submitted and there was no way to go back in to the system and select more schools. I was so depressed I stayed home from school the next day” Perez said.

Through a personal connection at UCSD’s EAOP, Perez has since learned that she can contact UC Central Communications to get her application considered at the other UC’s where she intended to apply. There are many unfortunate cases, however, where talented students miss once in a lifetime opportunities to attend their dream colleges, simply due to a lack of information and guidance.

“The application process is completely different for the CSU’s versus the UC’s. When you apply to a UC school, you select all schools and majors at once. My EAOP mentor picked up on the fact that I had only selected one school and I was able to fix it. My mentor also pointed out that I should refine my essay and make it more concise. I think the program needs to be promoted more to underclassmen so they can get the benefits early” said Central Union High School Senior, Brittany Corfman.

Now with the Senior Application season complete, EAOP will be focusing on Spring term outreach activities like Financial Aid and Scholarship Workshops for seniors, Test Preparation and College Fairs for Juniors and Sophomores, the Campus Spring Tour event for Eighth graders and continued tutoring and mentoring for all middle and high school students.

 

Media Contact: Kim Sykes, 858-534-4250