Seniors take advantage of free college application week
Free application week is an opportunity for students all over North Carolina to apply to certain colleges for free. Most of the universities who participate in this week are Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU's) and private institutions. Seniors had the chance throughout the week to go to the library and get help from the college advisor and counselors to finish up their applications.
“There are a lot of students applying to college that come from low income families,” senior Miranda Straubel said. “It is nice that these families get a week of relief from the money aspect of the college process.”
Students who took advantage of this week could have saved well over $100, depending on how many universities they applied to.
“Although not all the colleges I applied to waived fees, it was good to see that one of my dream schools did participate in this week,” senior Mariedel Ignacio said.
Some may see this week as unhelpful because the schools they want to go to do not use the fee waiver, but many students do wait for this week to apply to colleges.
“This week helps students branch out and apply to schools that they may not have applied to if they were not free,” senior Amber Lamont said.
Teachers and counselors encouraged students to take advantage of this week and offered many services to help out.
“I have seen many students apply to college and get information about scholarships,” social studies teacher Julia Leopold said. “It makes me feel like I am doing something right when I see the smile on the kids faces because they feel accomplished.
This week helped the students at Northern to get a head start on their applications and the scholarship opportunities.
“I am personally glad that teachers motivated me to apply during this free application week,” senior Brynne Clayton said. “I did not have any colleges participate in [free application] week, but I learned about scholarships and more offers outside of school.”