November 28, 2017 | UHCL Staff
If you’re the parent of a college-bound high school student, navigating the college admissions process can be as overwhelming for you as it is for your student. University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Center for Executive Education has the remedy: “Super Saturday,” also known as “College 101,” is a workshop for high school students and their parents that will take place Saturday, Jan. 13 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Garden Room of the Bayou Building.
Parents and students will be guided through the process with the help of admissions representatives from several public and private university admission representatives. High school counselors are also encouraged to participate and can acquire continuing education units for attending.
“We invite parents, students and high school counselors to come and learn everything they can about all aspects of the college admission process,” said Brenda Guerrero, events assistant in UH-Clear Lake’s Center for Executive Education. “We go in-depth into the admission process for each university.”
With the help of Jennifer Ledwith, a Center instructor who teaches SAT preparation courses, Guerrero said that the focus of the workshop’s agenda is to clarify the often confusing journey toward a successful college admission.
“The one that interests parents the most is the mock admission process,” Ledwith said. “Parents break into small groups and are given a mock student profile and sent through the admissions process with the college representatives that are present to help explain the details to them.”
Guerrero said that this session helps parents explore all the factors involved in the admission to universities all over Texas—and also illustrates reasons why a student might be denied admission.
“Parents often find out that they’ve had the wrong idea about what colleges are looking for as far as admissions,” she said. “The mock profiles are of every kind of student—for example, some might not be very strong academically, but have all kinds of athletic and volunteering experience. Parents might think that the more they participate in sports or volunteer activities, the better, but it’s not necessarily the case.”
She said that parents are often surprised to hear that the student’s GPA, as well as their class rank, SAT scores and other factors generally take precedence over athletic and extra-curricular involvement.
While parents are working through the mock admissions process, said Guerrero, students can take a mock SAT exam. “We print out a sample test and students will take it and grade it,” Guerrero said. “Students might not know there’s an app they can download to their phone that will grade their mock test. It helps them get an idea of how well they’ll do on the actual test.”
Ledwith said that other topics for the Super Saturday sessions include:
“We cover all the topics regarding college admission in one day,” Ledwith said. “Parents and students learn so much about so many things they didn’t even consider.”
To register for Super Saturday, visit https://www.uhcl.edu/center-executive-education/
