Santa Fe New Mexican

Making the cut: Extra activities can help in college search
High-school seniors find good grades, volunteer work and dozens of essays help earn spots in prestigious colleges
John Sena | The New Mexican

So you've earned good grades throughout school, played three sports a year and volunteered around town. It seems like enough to get you into your first-choice college, right?

By now, most high school seniors know whether they've been accepted into the school of their choice, but getting there wasn't easy.

For many, it meant working their butts off in school, participating in extra-curricular activities and maybe even having a job. All to prove they're worthy of Stanford or Columbia or Harvard.

It also required applying to half a dozen or more universities, writing dozens of essays, asking for just as many letters of recommendation and then the hardest part: waiting.

"It has been sort of a constant calculation," said Sierra Kuzava, a Santa Fe High senior whose first choice was Columbia University.

For Kuzava, getting ready for college wasn't only about taking as many Advanced Placement classes as she could. It was also participating in summer programs, taking classes at Bard College last summer and working with the city's youth programs. Kuzava, an accomplished violinist, also participated in music camps.

Even with all her preparation, though, Kuzava said she was still nervous she might not get in. "That's partly why I did early admissions," she said, "because it is fairly nerve-wracking."

She found out in November that Columbia had accepted her.

Melissa Longiaru, another Santa Fe High senior, had a long list of East Coast, liberal arts schools including New York University and Bard College in New York state, that she wanted to attend.

The path she took to university was a little different from Kuzava. She took plenty of AP classes, but didn't spread herself too thin and concentrated most of her effort on drama. "I don't really believe in building a résumé," she said.

Longiaru and her dad took what she called a "whirlwind tour" of 13 colleges before deciding where to apply, and those visits helped in making her decision, she said.

In the end, she applied to 10 schools. "It was a lot of work," she said, "I spent most of my weekend time doing essays."

Unlike some schools, Bard College, her first choice, doesn't allow students to check their admission status online. So Longiaru waited for the mail until this spring. "My friend got his letter first," she said, "so I raced home and checked the mail."

She was in. "I jumped out of my car and jumped around. I was really happy and really relieved," she said.

Like Longiaru, Erica Silva had more than a dozen schools in mind when she started applying. "The hardest part was trying to decide which ones to apply for," said Silva, a senior at the New Mexico Academy for Sciences and Mathematics.

Silva, who was accepted to Stanford, also balanced school, sports and work, but she said it wasn't because she thought they'd help her get into a good college. She just wanted to.

She said it was her interest in specific things that colleges liked. "It's not about doing 20 things," she said. "It's about doing three or four things that you're interested in."

Her classmate, Stewart Youngblood, agreed. He played sports and has volunteered for years. He let those things shine in his applications. "When it comes down to the essays, I think it's more about writing about something you know or are passionate about," he said. He also got into Stanford.

And don't worry if you have a rough patch in school, said Adrian Apodaca, a Santa Fe High senior who's attending McGill University in Montreal. He said he had some ups and down, especially during his sophomore year, but he worked hard to make up for it, and the work paid off. "Even if (students) haven't done that well, they can still get into a good college if they do well their junior and senior years," he said.

Despite their successes, all the students said help for kids applying to colleges was in short supply. Overworked counselors don't have time for much counseling, so they turned to teachers and parents, and did a lot of the work themselves.

"It pays to do your research," said Carla Roybal, a Santa Fe High senior who's attending Prescott College in Arizona. Without it, she said, students might not find the school that fits them best.

To find a school, Roybal turned to resources like The College Board and books. Other students stressed the importance of college visits.

Chris Eadie, a Santa Fe High teacher, said most teachers are willing to give advice, but that means students have to be willing to ask for it. Santa Fe High used to have an advisory period, he said, where teachers could help students with a variety of topics, including college admissions.

Students would benefit from the class or something like it, he said.

And when all else fails, ask friends and family, said Sarah Cantor, a senior at New Mexico Academy. But don't let other people's opinion deter you from choosing the school you want, she said.

Youngblood learned that the hard way. "Most of my family is from Texas," he said, "and they wanted me to go to a Texas school."

So when he applied to the University of Oklahoma — a huge sports rival — it didn't go over well, and some family members were upset. "It's best if when someone suggests a school," Youngblood said, "you just acknowledge them and then do what you want."

Contact John Sena at 986-3079 or jsena@sfnewmexican.com.