With the end of the school year on the horizon and the class of 2026 preparing for their senior year, many juniors have begun to feel overwhelmed with how to plan for college. In order to prevent this, throughout the week of May 19–23, College and Career counsellor Dr. Andrea Fuhrer came to different AP U.S. History classrooms to give tips on preparing for college and walk students through the proper steps to creating an application.
“I don’t want to see anyone miss opportunities because of deadlines,” Fuhrer said. “For students that are applying to more selective, highly competitive Ivy League universities, helping them to start to think about how they can be strategic and market themselves is important.”
This is part of Fuhrer’s plan to help rising seniors better understand the application process, so that they have the best chances of getting into their chosen colleges.
“She [showed] us the acceptance [rates for different colleges],” junior Katelyn McVay said. “I want to go to UF, and the acceptance rate to UF is really low, so she made me realize that I actually have to work really hard on my application to get in.”
Fuhrer’s presentation focused on what to do during summer to best prepare for college. This included doing research and figuring out a major, choosing a college best suited to a student’s interests, completing college courses early to lighten your workload and searching for scholarship opportunities.
Many students delay planning for college due to the stress of deciding what classes they need to take for their future careers. For junior Sarah McQuillin, college has always been a source of confusion and anxiety.
“I’ve been scared to think about college for all my high school career, but I know I need to start thinking about it. [Dr. Fuhrer] helped me with the first steps,” McQuillin said. “She said we can come to her with anything about college readiness or how to apply, and stuff like that really helped me out with the stress of [the application process].”
Fuhrer plans to host more events in the future for both juniors and seniors to help prepare students when applying to competitive universities. The next event planned will be with the Florida region Admissions Counselor Association on September 22 where 5-7 universities will give a presentation explaining how they evaluate applications.
“Seniors can expect a lot of support from me,” Fuhrer said. “A lot of sessions, mostly after school, [and] a lot of opportunities to get support from me, with more presentations on CommonApp and everything.”
Students in need of any assistance with college applications or choosing a college can schedule a meeting with Dr. Fuhrer or can find her in the media center before or after school, and in the cafeteria during lunch to discuss their concerns and ask for guidance when navigating their next step after high school.
“Just do your best. Don’t stress: You’ve worked hard. Try to avoid comparing yourself to the person next to you, You are your own,” Fuhrer said. “Stay true to yourself, true to your passions, and allow that to guide you, and you’ll be fine. And when you’re not fine and when you feel buried. Let me help you.”
