Jason Boxer
Opinion Editor
Applying for college is undoubtedly one of the most challenging aspects of a student’s high school career. Fortunately for Mira Costa students, the Family Connection program from Naviance makes this process less stressful.
However, a minority of Costa students are using this program to any significant degree.
Family Connection is a web-based program that provides students, parents, and college counselors with resources and data that pertain to the college application process. Mira Costa utilizes two sections of the Family Connection program’s site: the “About Me” section and the “About College” section.
These resources are useful in preparing students for college applications but, currently, many Mira Costa students aren’t taking advantage of them.
College and Career Counselor Gail Currey has stated that she is disappointed with the lack of student use of Naviance. Statistics of how often students use Naviance are confidential, however.
The benefits of this program that students are ignoring justify Currey’s disappointment.Despite this student apathy, Costa’s utilization of the Family Connection program is helpful.
“About Me” prepares students exceptionally well for the Common Application, which is used by 391 colleges and universities to date. Students are asked to input important information about themselves to create a personal profile, including email addresses, phone numbers and facts about their parents, just as they are on the Common App.
The most useful subsection of the “About College” section of the site is called “College Search.” Perhaps the most difficult part of applying to college is simply selecting a college; this process helps simplify the search.
Students chose from a variety of characteristics that a school can have, including religious affiliation, geographic location, and size of student body. The search provides a list of colleges.
Similarly helpful is the subsection of “About Me” entitled “My Colleges.” Students can create lists of both colleges they are interested in and colleges to which they are applying. Once names of schools are added to the list, data regarding applying to the school appears with helpful links to the school’s official website and contact information.
This section is helpful for students because it helps to narrow the search for schools. Instead of struggling through a massive college guide book, students can use this search tool.
With more student enthusiasm for the program, Mira Costa’s use of the Family Connection program provided by Naviance can be an invaluable tool in the application process.
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