Published: September 30, 2009 10:27 am      

College bound gather at GHS

Pick your college yet? Hundreds of students and parents were working on making that choice Tuesday night.

About 350 students and parents visited booths of 65 institutions at a college fair at Goshen High School Tuesday evening. Parents could also attend a seminar on how to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form.

“This is early in the season for this,” said Justin Marqueling, admission counselor with Hanover College.

In discussing the number of college applications in recent months, Marqueling said, “Every time the economy dips, college applications increase. We are seeing a lot more parents involved in the decision-making process.”

He attributed the parental involvement because “this generation is closer to their parents. I just told my parents where I was going.”

He said Hanover is able to offer financial aid to students. He said many families are “loan-averse,” but they need to look at college as an investment.

He said there are about 1,000 students enrolled at Hanover, which is on the Ohio River at Madison.

Enrollment at Glen Oaks Community College, Centreville, Mich., is up 15 percent this year, said Tonya Howden, director of admissions. And more of the new students are from the adult population, she said. The school serves southern Michigan and northern Indiana.

“We’re a community college,” she said, and courses such as nursing and allied health are popular, as well as general studies. Admissions are up and enrollment is at 1,500 this year, she said.

Chad Chester, Granger, graduated from Wabash College in 1993 and worked the Wabash College booth Tuesday for his alma mater. Speaking to a Northridge High School student, he said “I definitely recommend a visit,” pointing out Oct. 17 will be a good football weekend to visit.

He explained that costs there total about $39,000 per year, but about 90 percent of students get some financial aid.

Sarah Roeder was investigating colleges with her daughter, Cecelia, who is a junior at Goshen High School.

“We’re planning ahead,” Cecelia said. She has a sister who is a sophomore at St. Joseph College in Rensselaer and she has visited her, but is not considering applying there.

She said the hard part about the college fair was knowing what questions to ask.

Adam Kolakowski, a junior at Fairfield, said he was “just trying to figure it out” Tuesday night. He is unsure what he wants to study. He said his older sister Samantha is at Indiana University, so he picked up IU information.

“We usually have a good turnout,” said Mary Jo Thomas, a guidance counselor. She said there were 65 institutions represented at booths in the high school cafeteria. There are usually 300 to 350 parents and students attending each year, Thomas said.