As PV High School seniors are approaching the college application season, Joanne Lewis from the College and Career Center decided to organize the first ever “College Knowledge Night” in order to help students gain better insight in the college application process.

The College and Career Center is a resource to all Sea King students. They put on many programs to help students out with the college process.

In fact, this fall, the CCC will be hosting over 150 college visits for students to meet with college admission representatives or to ask questions about the colleges at which they will be applying to.

“The CCC is here to meet one-on-one and to meet with students and families. We put on a lot of programs to help inform our students as far as the different possibilities,” said Lewis.

“We spend a lot of time researching colleges and building relationships with colleges so that to help benefit our students so colleges understand what PVHS is all about and the kind of student that they are going to get should they choose to admit a PV High student,” she said.

In order to have a last minute “toolkit” to help seniors get started on their college application, Lewis organized College Knowledge Night at PV High School.

“I first thought of putting together a college knowledge night so specifically for seniors because a lot of the junior class that is now the senior class really didn’t pay attention to a lot of the programs we provided throughout the year, like the college essentials toolkit, and I was worried about the senior class. That’s why I decided to be proactive and put together a program that would give a good basis for their Cal State and UC apps and applications to private schools and even public schools throughout the nation,” said Lewis.

Over one hundred senior students and parents attended this event. Three speakers attended the evening to discuss the college application process for the Cal States, UC’s, and public/private colleges, which benefits all seniors who are applying to various colleges.

“I simply wanted to provide a good platform for one night for not only seniors but also their parents for a bit of a wake up call so that they would know the state of affairs with the UCs, Cal States, and what those various types of institutions are looking for in their applications,” said Lewis.

Cailin White represented the Cal State Universities, Fiona Rees represented the UCs, and Michael Walden represented private colleges. At College Knowledge Night, they discussed topics such as admission rates, GPA, SAT scores, scholarships, essays, and eligibility.

“I just hope that it helps students focus [and] information to give good judgement. That night, I launched a new publication called the College Planning guide for seniors which if students really go page by page, they will be fully informed for what they need to be doing for the next weeks and months,” said Lewis.