ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — It's college application season, and Rock Island High School is doing their part to make the process as smooth as possible. On Friday, November 3, the school hosted its annual college application day, where school counselors assisted students in the application process.
"It can be overwhelming, and it can be nerve-racking to students," school counselor Kelly Preston said. "I think it's really important to have that support system because it's the unknown. Students don't know what they don't know, and so we're here just to help them navigate that process and answer questions that come up along the way."
Many students were filling out the Common Application, which can be used to apply to over 500 colleges. Others had questions on the best community college program for their interest.
"I've been stressing about this for the past year," senior Leo Kopplin said. "Just having time to just get it done right here with someone who I know personally and just to get it all out of the way, it's such a relief, it's awesome."
Kopplin plans to study theater at Augustana College, which he lives three blocks away from. Augustana's associate director of admissions, Rachel Gustafson, said this is a busy time of year due to the surge in applications they typically receive.
"Students have a lot of questions through the application process and they don't know who to turn to," Gustafson said. "They don't know that they're advocates for them at the colleges, they don't know that they're counselors are available. So this was their opportunity to have some dedicated time to work with individuals and really get those applications done."
Rock Island High School is also hosting a FAFSA completion night in January to help students and their parents navigate the processing of securing financial aid.