College visits are no stranger to the students of Fenton High. These visits are attended by students of all grades to learn more about their options after they’ve graduated. College visits paint a picture of what students should expect from university life. 

Trade schools and other opportunities make an appearance at these visits in an attempt to break off ugly stigmas and allow students interested in these careers to ask questions about those alternate paths. Some of these stigmas may be how going into trades won’t be worth it or that it doesn’t compare if students chose to go to a four year college.

These visits were temporarily moved online due to the COVID-19 pandemic last year, which made it more difficult for students to access these visits virtually. With these visits returning back in-person, many teachers see it as a much needed win after a long and stressful year.

“The high school has a responsibility to get kids ready for what’s next, and for many, that’s college,”  Economics teacher Kevin Crimmins said. “These visits, which are endorsed by Fenton High, allow for the chance to let students see certain colleges or career opportunities in a different light. The opportunity to talk one-on-one to get questions asked is very valuable.” 

College visits are not only recommended for seniors, but sophomores and juniors as well.

“College visits are a low stress way for the sophomores and juniors to learn about some of their options after high school,” Crimmins said.

Another benefit that people may stress over is the application fee when applying to colleges, which can slowly grow to an egregious amount if one were to apply to many universities.

“Many students don’t realize is that often the college admissions representatives will give a code to attendees to save the cost of the college application fee when applying,” Principal Laura Lemke said. “So if you’re debating about applying to a specific college, it doesn’t hurt to come to one of these meetings to hopefully find a waiver for these types of fees. If two students were competing for a spot within a college, it’d make sense for admissions to accept the student they met and have had a connection with rather than the student who never went to one of these visits.”

College visits are another opportunity provided to students to help prepare for life after high school. It also allows for students to think about their future plans once they’ve graduated and gives students different insights as to which career paths may suit them best. To find the schedule for upcoming college visits, see Kim Stapp in the counseling office.