Westmont Hosts Pre-College Workshop for Native Americans

Expert college counselors team up with admission officers to help participants select colleges, complete winning applications, write memorable essays, learn what turns an applicant into an admitted student and find help with the financial aid and scholarship process.

Students will learn about a broad variety of colleges and universities and establish personal relationships with admission representatives and college counselors that will continue long after the workshop ends.

“Unfortunately, I do not believe students from the Santa Barbara area have never attended this event,” says Krista Caballero, Westmont’s assistant director of admissions for diversity. “College Horizons has not been held in California before and we hope that hosting this workshop will encourage local students to participate and experience this wonderful program.”

Attendance will be limited to 56 participants. To apply, students must be enrolled members of a native tribe and a current high school sophomore or junior with a minimum GPA of 3.0. The complete program cost is $100, including tuition, room, board and all materials. Substantial funds are available for travel and tuition assistance.

The program is sponsored by AIGC, Winds of Change Magazine and the admission and provost offices of Westmont. Grants to the program have come from The Santa Ynez band of Chumash Indians and the KPMG Foundation.

The following colleges will be represented at Westmont during the event: Barnard, Brown University, Cal Tech, Carleton, Cornell University, Dartmouth, Harvard, Macalester, Oberlin, Occidental, Reed, Rice University, St. John’s College in Santa Fe, St. Lawrence University, Smith, Stanford, University of Denver, Washington University, Westmont, Whittier and Yale University.

Applications are being accepted now. For an application or more information on the program, please go to www.whineylaughlin.com and click on “College Horizons.” For application questions contact Christine Suina, program assistant at (505) 401-3854 or contact her by e-mail at christinesuina@yahoo.com. For a local contact, please e-mail Krista Caballero at kcaballe@westmont.edu.