College Night at Lone Star College helps prepare for application process

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COLLEGE NIGHT. Lone Star College hosts College Night on Oct. 12 for juniors and seniors. This event will prepare students for filling out college applications and FAFSA.

by Katherine Lee, VOW editor

Transcripts. Letters of recommendation. School involvement. GPA. Class rank. These factors will haunt high school students as they prepare to apply for college. Adding on the stress of having to fill out the application and wait for acceptance, or denial, is one more nightmare added to senior year. But little do many students know, there are different seminars and meetings that can help lessen the dread of applying to college. 

Willis ISD, Montgomery ISD and Conroe ISD will be host College Night 2021  on Oct. 12 from 6:30 to 9:30 at the Lone Star Community Center.  Students can register to attend at this link. When students register for the event, they will select the Houston Event for the week of Oct. 11. If students cannot attend the in-person college night, they can register for virtual events that are held on Saturdays throughout the month. 

There are expected to be 125 colleges attending and students can speak to representatives of prospective colleges. 

“College Night is a great opportunity to get questions answered by colleges,” college and career counselor Tricia Neumann said. “Especially by colleges that are farther away and students might not be able to visit.”

Both students and parents can register for the event. When students register, they will receive a barcode to be used throughout the night. 

“If the college rep has a barcode scanner, they can just scan the student’s barcode to get all of their information to communicate with them,” Neumann said. 

There will be two informational sessions held at the event, How to Complete College Applications and Financial Aid – Filling out the FAFSA. The FAFSA opened up on Oct. 1 for all students to complete.

“I’m working to have the Lone Star Financial Aid Office here on a weeknight to give FAFSA completion instructions for students here on the high school campus,” Neumann said.

Last year, students were not able to attend the College Night 2021 because of the pandemic, and many seniors wish they had the opportunity before they completed their college applications. 

“It’s important to go to college information night because it can provide a lot of insight into the college application process,” senior Bryan Racus said. “The information colleges provide will help anyone applying in understanding what they need to do and when.”