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College Application Week Works to Reach Students in Syracuse

students sit working on laptops
syr.edu

With the year coming to a close, college application deadlines are nearing and Central New York’s high school seniors are starting to apply. The New York State Higher Education Services Program is promoting College Application Week.

Assistant Director for Grants and Scholarship Programs Jennifer Dwire says the focus of the program is helping students who may be the first in their family to go beyond a high school diploma:

OnPoint for college, a program based here in Syracuse, helps students navigate post-secondary education from application to graduation. Deputy Executive Director Sam Rowser says many students don’t have any exposure to the application process and don’t understand how it works. He's had some students who assume that after they receive an acceptance letter, they're done and ready to go, when really more paperwork and sometimes even more applications for housing and other programs are necessary after the fact.

Program Director Tiffany Rush says she sees the same problem:

"The bigger issue for our students is not lack of motivation, it's just that they are the first, so they don't know what to do. Because we know the process so well, it seems like we're always chasing behind students, but it's really not that, it's that they don't have a clue. "

With College Application Week, which runs from November 17 to 21, the statewide initiative’s goal is to help every high school senior submit at least one application to a post-secondary education institution.

Check out the statewide program at gocollegeny.org/apply or visit OnPoint’s website at onpointforcollege.com

Scott Willis covers politics, local government, transportation, and arts and culture for WAER. He came to Syracuse from Detroit in 2001, where he began his career in radio as an intern and freelance reporter. Scott is honored and privileged to bring the day’s news and in-depth feature reporting to WAER’s dedicated and generous listeners. You can find him on twitter @swillisWAER and email him at srwillis@syr.edu.
Hannah vividly remembers pulling up in the driveway with her mom as a child and sitting in the car as it idled with the radio on, listening to Ira Glass finish his thought on This American Life. When he reached a transition, it was a wild race out of the car and into the house to flip on the story again and keep listening. Hannah’s love of radio reporting has stuck with her ever since.