On-the-spot admissions: Senior opportunities
Senior’s sign up to participate in the University La Verne’s on-the-spot admission event on Jan. 26.
February 3, 2023
Applying to college is a struggle every senior seeking higher education must face. The extensive time and energy that goes into selecting and writing carefully crafted essays for desired colleges can quickly become overwhelming.
“The suspension builds up…then you see others getting accepted and you get so stressed,” said senior Jason Nino.
College Advisors Cathy Kwon and Juan Ochoa worked with two of the school’s partnered universities, Azusa Pacific University (APU) and La Verne University (ULV). They both offer seniors a post-high-school education in the form of on-the-spot admissions.
“Our goal is to help our seniors continue their education. With on-the-spot admissions, they get more awareness regarding college and more opportunities,” said Ochoa.
At each on-the-spot admissions event, the school brought representatives from each university to personally assess each student’s transcript and GPA. The process took less than five minutes, relieving students of months of waiting for results.
“I prefer this way than applying through online and waiting for them to come back to you months later because I would rather want to know now than later,” said senior Samantha Barriga.
One appreciated aspect of on-the-spot admissions is the personal approach to the application process. Most colleges and universities take applications online due to convenience. As a result, the opportunity for students to ask questions and connect to the college environment is lost. At each event, advisors from both APU and ULV were able to talk to each student individually.
APU visited campus first on Dec. 8, 2022. With 40 participants, 38 students were admitted. Over a month later, ULV on-the-spot-admissions event happened on Jan. 26, admitting 87 of 103 applicants. For both events, the only requirement for admission was a minimum weighted GPA of 2.5 or higher.
“I get really anxious writing essays about myself. I don’t want to say the wrong thing or exaggerate, so I think this is very easy and more convenient for me,” said senior Angelene Huynh.
Another benefit is the less competitive environment. Students are pressured to participate in a multitude of extracurriculars in hopes of standing out which can become overwhelming. On-the-spot admissions don’t require any record of extracurriculars, which relieves students of this burden.
“We like doing this event in person because we get to chat with seniors and gauge who and what their goals are and that’s what we get that assessment from,” said ULV representative Ethan Bradley.
West Covina High School continues to improve itself through additions such as on-the-spot admissions.
“Not many schools offer this… There’s a lot of trust and that trust happens, and when they see it’s a kid from West Covina High School they know they’re amazing and we have the kids to do that,” said Principal Dr. Charles Park.
All the new and current opportunities offered on campus aim to enrich the lives of students as they advance from high school. Future graduation plans are much less intimidating with on-the-spot admissions and extra help from college counselors. No student is left to explore the future alone.
