Seaford seniors tackle college search in summer series

The college decision process may be lengthy, but Seaford High School seniors are getting a head start with the summer College Boot Camp series. The program kicked off on Aug. 5 and will include eight workshops in the library led by the high school’s guidance counselors.

Several of the sessions are devoted to helping seniors fill out the Common App, an online application that is used by more than 1,000 colleges and universities. Guidance counselors explained the different sections of the application and the information that is required, in addition to providing students with one-on-one assistance.

Other topics in the College Boot Camp series include the college search process, the college essay, Common App supplements and testing. Students will get personalized support from representatives of local colleges in the college essay workshop.

“We want students to get a jump start on their applications so they have plenty of time to work on them prior to deadlines,” guidance counselor Suzanne Cosenza said, noting that an increasing number of colleges are offering rolling admissions, but some still have hard deadlines as early as October. “Our program is giving seniors hands-on support with their college search, applications, essay and résumé support, to name a few.”

Each senior will have an individual college meeting once the school year begins, but College Boot Camp provided an additional opportunity to work on their applications with counselor support, much earlier than in the past. After two successful and well-attended college preparation sessions last summer, the guidance department expanded it to eight two-hour workshops this year. The Aug. 5 session featured 20 seniors who “were very engaged and had excellent questions,” Cosenza said.