Gavin Ross thinks a lot about the future.
So before the junior from Vista PEAK Preparatory stepped foot inside the inaugural APS College Fair, Ross put together a strategic game plan for how best to take advantage of the opportunity.
“I actually visited the Colorado School of Mines booth first just to kind of learn more about their programs, so now I’m going around and comparing them to other schools to see what would be a good fit,” Ross said inside a crowded ballroom at the Hyatt Regency Aurora-Denver Conference Center. “One question I’ve been asking a lot of schools is what their class size looks like.”
Ross is interested in civil engineering and was anxious to find out how different schools stacked up when it came to scholarships, financial aid and the campus experience.
“I wanted to come to expand my horizons and learn more about college,” Ross said. “College is a really important step for me in achieving my goals and finding the right career for me. I wanted to come here with an open mind and really just find out what college is best for me and make connections.”
Nearly 40 colleges and universities had representatives at the college fair, but those weren’t the only post-graduation options available for APS juniors and seniors to learn about.
Lindsey Terry, a counseling services coordinator in APS, emphasized it was important to the College and Career Success Team to partner with trade and technical schools, branches of the military, area professionals and community resources to bring them into the fold.
“I’m hoping that our students come away from this knowing they have a lot of doors open to them,” Terry said. “There are so many non-traditional and traditional pathways; there’s in-state and out-of-state, and I hope that they think about where they can go that’s going to allow them to thrive as a person, what unique needs they have and what they can contribute to a campus or a trade or a program.”
Ava Kegley, a senior from Gateway High School, wants to major in marketing and advertising and is interested in working in Hollywood.
“I wasn’t sure how many people from our school were going to come, but when we got on the buses, they were all full, and when we got here, there were so many tables and so many options,” Kegley said. “We’re having so much fun.”
Kendra Morehead, a junior from Gateway, is deciding between pursuing a degree in business, communications or theater.
“I’ve definitely gotten a lot of good feedback today, including stuff that I wasn’t considering but know now that I should be thinking about before I start applying,” Morehead said.
October is College Awareness Month for Aurora Public Schools, which helps shine a spotlight on how groups like the APS College and Career Success Team work year-round to help prepare students for their next steps after graduation.
The debut of the APS College Fair was purposefully aligned with Colorado’s Free App Days, where students could take advantage of a no-fee window to apply for free to any one of Colorado’s public colleges or universities.
The team will host a FAFSA and CAFSA Family Night on October 22 for seniors and their families to receive guidance on how to complete financial aid applications. The event will go from 4-7 p.m. at the Community College of Aurora CentreTech Campus.
There’s also plans in the works for an APS Career Fair in February of next year.
“I think we have incredible students, and I think that they sometimes just hear about a lot of colleges since there’s over 4,000 colleges and universities,” Terry said. “So you hear about the same colleges and you assume that those are your opportunities. But once you go in and get to talk to trades and apprenticeships and out-of-state colleges, you learn that there’s not just a one-size-fits-all but that you really can figure out what you need from a school.”