Comp Sci Students Have Their Fears About College

By Arianna Jackson

On March 21st, 2024, Comp Sci High sophomores and juniors attended a college fair in downtown Hartford. Students got the opportunity to meet and speak with various colleges from all over the state and country. There were booths set up all over the Marriot Hotel in Hartford, where the fair took place. Representatives from colleges gave information and answered questions about their schools. However, as the shadow of college looms over Comp Sci students, especially the seniors, their ideas of college fairs and college, in general, are mixed. 

Junior, Keily Gonzalez said, “[The college fair] seemed unorganized and the representatives seemed tired of talking about the same things.” She felt that because the representatives had so many other students to tend to, the conversations were rushed, and the students seemed uninterested and didn't stick around booths for long. She does, however, believe that the fair gives kids an idea of what options they have after high school and gets them thinking about possible colleges to attend. Keily had some fears about college, stating: “My biggest fear has to be the workload, they would give more work than high school does and I feel like [Comp Sci] hasn’t prepared me for that. Especially since the theme changed, the school used to give classes that focused on my career path and now they don’t.” 

Keily along with many other students shares the same opinions. Senior, Da’Rius Giles attended the fair back in sophomore year. “It was all over the place, I didn’t get to talk to the people I wanted to talk to because the representatives were talking to students for a very long time.”  He feels that he didn’t get to take full advantage of the opportunities that the fair would have provided. And this fear has been elevated due to the lack of preparation he feels he received from high school. “There is a lack of accountability, the teachers tend to “hand-hold,” especially in the lower grades. It seems more like we’re being pushed through the system rather than being taught,” Giles said.

Several other seniors, like Kyanna Clarke and Mallory Thorpe, shared the same sentiment about college and the college fair. Thorpe said, “I would literally be standing there for like 15-20 minutes waiting to speak to a representative because of how many other kids there were. And we were running on limited time so most of the time we had to just move on. But I did at least get to speak to some of the schools I wanted, even if it took a while.” Clarke focused more on college itself stating that “High school doesn’t prepare you for the difficulties of college. You get away with so much in high school that wouldn’t slide at all in college, and people get too comfortable with that. So when they get to college they don’t know how to handle the difference in accountability.” 

While the students pointed out the faults in college fairs, Comp Sci High counselors had something different to say. Guidance counselor, Ms. Heather Venintosh, believes the fairs give students a lot of exposure to all the different options they have after high school. It is even better that they get to speak with representatives from the schools so they’re getting accurate information. She believes that high school does the best that it can to prepare kids for their post-secondary careers. She stated that the caseworkers and teachers have so many students to work with and keep track of; they “make do with what they have and the time that they get.” 

While there is a variety of things Comp Sci seniors are scared of in terms of college, Venitosh believes that the student's biggest fears are the uncertainty of it all, the distance from family and friends, and the firm deadlines that aren’t as enforced in high school. She acknowledges that “students don’t have the constant access to their teachers they normally would in a high school setting.”

Students and teachers alike agree that college fairs and high school work to give students the exposure and the experience they need. But many students believe that there can be some improvements made. By acknowledging this feedback, representatives and those in charge of the college fairs can make improvements to make the resources more effective.