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Students Use Summer to Get a Jump on College

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 June 2006, 12:01 CDT

By Keith Reid, The Record, Stockton, Calif.

Jun. 6--The three months between high school and college should not be all summer sun and fun.

For some seniors, this transition period is a time for work. For others, it's a time to play. To some college counselors, however, at least a portion of the summer should be a time for seniors to prepare.

Joanna Royce-Davis, associate vice president of student life at University of the Pacific, suggests students entering college spend a good amount of time on social and academic preparation.

Prep time could include summer reading; attending orientations; taking a general education class at a community college; making contact with college faculty and asking questions about courses and coursework; and perhaps even getting a jump-start.

For example, Pacific and other colleges have created Web sites where incoming freshman can make contact with professors, obtain summer reading lists and get advice on what courses to take in college, Royce-Davis said.

"It's a sophisticated chat room that lets them get to know their professors," she said. "And they need to come to orientation and meet people. Socialization is a big key to college success."

Tokay High School college and career counselor Melody Knee said most students she talks to will be working all summer to help pay tuition and living costs while taking some time to get a little bit of sun.

However, she's recommending that some students heading to four-year universities get familiar with college by taking a class this summer.

"They need to get authorization from the college they're going to, but taking a summer class ... can be a great start," Knee said. "They can take a transferable general education course right out of the gate, or if they need to take a prerequisite English or math course before getting into a college-level class in those subjects, why not knock it out at Delta instead of paying university price for it?"

Lodi High senior Beverly Elithorp, 18, is heeding the advice.

On her way to University of California, Berkeley, she's taking advantage of orientation sessions offered by the college to meet with guidance counselors. She's also filling out additional scholarship applications, and she has a checklist of things she wants to do in order to be ready for freshman year.

"I just want to make sure things are running smooth and coming together," Elithorp said. "I think it's great that the Berkeley staff is so accessible."

Other seniors, such as Lodi High's Josh Wong, 18, will be working to earn a little bit of pocket cash for freshman year. Wong, who will attend Stanford University, is completing an internship at Kaiser Permanente. But it's more to pass the time than to earn the money, he said.

"I thought I would be bored if I took the summer off," he said. "I read anyway, so reading the books assigned for some freshman courses fits into my schedule anyhow."

Royce-Davis said working has its benefits, but she suggests some balance.

"They need to have fun, absolutely," Royce-Davis said.

Contact reporter Keith Reid at (209) 367-7428 or kreid@recordnet.com

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Copyright (c) 2006, The Record, Stockton, Calif.

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: The Record

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