Laptops For College Applications

Funded Aug 17, 2015

Thank you so much for your incredibly generous donation of laptops to support our students in their college and career application process. In our College and Career Course, students are guided through the research, application, and financial aid processes. Students started the year by completing in-depth research about careers that match their interests and personalities, mostly through online adaptive programs. Students then completed multiple drafts of essays for their college applications. Many of my students do not have access to a printer at home, so these laptops will enable students students to draft, revise, and share their essays all online. Most college applications are entirely online now, and these laptops enabled me to review students' applications before they were submitted to ensure that they are complete and free of errors. Now that their applications have been submitted, students are not completing complex financial aid documentation online, including the FAFSA (free application for federal student aid). These laptops are allowing students to complete these applications in advance of college deadlines, which will make all the difference in their college decisions.

I could not have anticipated how quickly students would adapt to having more access to computers. They use them to check for email updates from college admissions officials and to look up contact information to quickly call admissions offices and follow up. Students have also adapted quickly to using "google docs", which allowed me to review their essays and give feedback in real time. Last year, students had to wait for hand-written feedback and the essay revision took much longer.

Some of our students have become our technology guides. They put our school website as the homepage on the laptops, so that students can be reminded of and easily check teachers' class websites when they use the laptops. Other students served as leaders in our application process - once they finished their own applications, they sat next to other students and looked over their work for accuracy before submission.

Thank you again!”

With gratitude,

Ms. Moldovan