The Class of 2023 attends the college retreat

On Thursday, February 24, the junior class spent the day meeting with college admissions counselors. This retreat has been happening for over 20 years at AHN. The college retreat was hosted by AHN’s very own college counseling department.

“Overall it was fun and very informational,” said junior Mykhia Pursley.

Admissions counselors from Florida State, Eckerd College, Michigan State, and Alabama universities came to aid the juniors as they begin their college admissions process. 

Juniors were split into four small groups and rotated between the admissions counselors to learn about resume, factors when choosing a college, the essay, and what is taken into consideration when reviewing applications. Students also learned a valuable lesson–to be yourself–when submitting applications.

After small group time, all the juniors gathered in the Brady Center to participate in a question panel from the admissions counselors. This allowed for the juniors to ask more questions about the admissions process.

After lunch, a group of seniors came in for their own panel and answered any questions about the admissions process from a student perspective. The seniors answered questions about their essays, early decision and early action, majors, balancing course work in the senior year, and their experiences in applying.

“I was both really surprised and excited when I was asked to talk on the Senior Panel! I remember being a junior last year both intimidated by the college process and grateful that at least I had some nice people to answer my questions from the perspective of a student. The best part about the panel was getting questions that I never expected— either because they differed from my experience or because I even didn’t know what to begin with when asking seniors last year.  Overall, it was a really enjoyable way to remind the juniors that we, seniors, are here for you, we are rooting for you, and we can’t wait to see what great schools you end up at!” said senior Laura Caroline Jung.

For juniors, their next step in the college admissions process will be writing essays and taking standardized tests (SAT, ACT).

“I felt that it was very informational, I liked they had the different counselors, but I thought it could be condensed into a half-day,” said junior Mary Grace Nash.