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by Alessandra Simeone and Queens varsity student-athletes, Kelly Arango and Wendy Lam

Row New York provides intensive college readiness support to our student athletes, but the process of applying to schools can still be daunting. Fortunately, teammates are a great resource too, providing younger student-athletes with guidance for the college journey ahead. Our Queens varsity girls hosted a Senior Advice Panel, highlighting tips and tricks to success in the college application process. Varsity senior Kelly Arango and varsity sophomore Wendy Lam share their perspectives.  Thanks to all of the girls who participated and shared their great insights!

Kelly Arango, varsity senior: 

Since there are eighteen girls on our Queens varsity team (our biggest graduating class), it was vital for us seniors to share our knowledge and experiences of the college process with the upcoming seniors and juniors. Six girls participated and organized the senior advice panel during academics to wrap up college pride month. During the panel each of us talked about the ride to college: SAT testing tips, the lengthy Common Application, picking the right college, transcripts/resumes, and so much more. Every senior on our panel come from a different high school – Francis Lewis, TWYLS, Bronx Science, Flushing, Academy of American Studies, and LaGuardia High School of the Arts. The diversity in our schools helped us explain the importance of time management, picking the right classes, and figuring out how your particular school will help you apply for college. Bianca Davila gave good insight on managing honors classes and AP classes. Julia Bittencourt also provided tips on college visits, especially those that are across the country, which are hard to visit. We also saved a section of the panel to discuss recruiting. I mean, how could we not? Nicole Doyle and Chloe Rosario were the best candidates for the recruitment section, since they spoke to many coaches from various divisions in their college search.

My favorite part of the panel was when we all shared strengths and weaknesses throughout our college process. I appreciated Anthea Daley’s confession the most, where she wished she had asked more questions instead of guessing the way through applications and supplements. We’ve all been there. I thought it was important to share the significance of parent/guardian involvement in the college process, specifically when applying for FAFSA. From my experience, I realized money has a huge impact on college applicants and I believe financial aid should be given extra attention. The panel ended with a Q&A that answered awesome questions and clarified many things. Hopefully it geared up the next flight of girls for their own road to college!

Wendy Lam, varsity sophomore:

The college application process is very stressful during high school. Everything you do – grades, tests, Regents, etc. – has something to do with college. As you start to prepare your college application, to make sure it looks nice, more questions seem to go unanswered then those that do. The Senior Advice Panel was a great opportunity for seniors to tell the younger members on the team (like me!) their personal experience with college applications and mistakes they have made, and what they’ve gained from the experience. As the Senior Advice Panel came to an end, we asked the questions that are often unanswered, and they helped us understand the work it takes to get into college.

Even though we row together and talk about college every day, the Senior Advice Panel was really helpful, since the varsity girls gave the younger members a chance to hear even more about their experiences.

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