Getting the knowledge to get into college

By Erin Arnold
Staff Writer

Just off Mount Eden Avenue, in the New Settlement apartment complex, sits the newly opened offices of the College Access Center. The center is designed to provide a wide range of educational support to parents and students, specifically in the area of college preparation.

Just a short walk from Highbridge, the College Access Center boasts an impressive library stocked with college catalogs, applications, videos, and scholarship details on schools from across the country. In addition, there are eight new computers with Internet access that offer a quiet place to type college essays, research schools, or fine tune résumés. Across the hall from the library sits a spacious classroom, which is used for the workshops and classes that are regularly offered to the public.

Allison Palmer, the director, has overseen the various programs since the center opened in January 2002. “New Settlement has offered a college program since 2000, but this new office only recently opened,” Ms. Palmer explained. “We do everything and anything in college admissions.”

An average of between 15 and 20 people stop in daily to use the resources at the College Access Center. In addition, 30 students participate in the weekly SAT preparation class offered on Monday and Thursday evenings. “We also offer one-to-one counseling,” Ms. Palmer said. “Our biggest challenge last year was getting our name out, but now we have built relationships with local high schools. Counselors often call us asking about our upcoming workshops.”

The College Access Center splits its focus in two areas. Not only do they work at getting local residents the college information they need, but they also put a great deal of time and energy into capturing the attention of young teenagers. “We have a Career Explorers program for 8th and 9th graders. We take a look at their strengths and weaknesses, talk about careers they might be interested in, and show them that they have to prepare for college at an early age. We do workshops and tours with them,” Ms. Palmer explained. The students toured Columbia Presbyterian Hospital to find out about health careers, visited ESPN Magazine for an inside look at sports and journalism, and got a backstage peek at ABC Studios.

Another program called Cornell YouthNet takes high school students and pairs them with students at Cornell University. The Cornell “Cyberguides” offer online mentoring and meet with their high school buddy on a monthly basis for a service project. This program exposes high school students to technology and career options.

For students and adults who are facing college decisions in the immediate future, the College Access Center offers free guidance and assistance on choosing a school and getting into it. “In the fall this place is really busy with people trying to fill out applications,” Ms. Palmer said. “And in March and February we are busy helping students and adults with last minute applications and scholarship deadlines. And once that happens and people start receiving acceptance letters and financial aid packages, we go over everything with them.”

The staff of the College Access Center works hard on broadening the horizons of clients. “Most students just assume that they will go to a CUNY school,” Ms. Palmer said. “We offer a College Explorers workshop in which we focus on getting the students exposed to other options. We visit a community college, SUNY and CUNY colleges, a small private college, and a large private college,” she explained. The idea behind this is to get students to think about what is important to them in choosing a college. Do they need small classes? Would they like a bigger environment? Does the school offer programs in their area of interest? “Most students just assume they will go to a college in the area because it is the one they hear about all the time,” Ms. Palmer said.

Although the center regularly puts up flyers in area high schools and sends information to the residents of New Settlement’s apartments, they depend heavily upon word of mouth. “We operate on people being happy,” said Ms. Palmer. This year their numbers have doubled and they are getting more calls from people who are interested in their services. “At this point we have grown so fast that I want to spend next year fine tuning our programs,” Ms. Palmer noted. Their biggest challenge hasn’t been in attracting clients; rather, the difficulty is in trying to convey the message that the college process is something that must be done in steps. “People want it to be quick and easy,” said Ms. Palmer. “It takes lots of work to fill out applications and research scholarships.”

The College Access Center is working to implement a tracking system that will help them follow the progress of their clients. “Success is measured in two ways,” said Ms. Palmer. “First they have to get in [to college] and then they have to graduate!”

The College Access Center is located at 1563 Walton Avenue, just off of Mount Eden Avenue. It is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.