Tour helps Catholic students make college decision - Catholic Colleges And Universities - the College Tour

National Catholic Reporter, Oct 25, 2002

By CATHOLIC NEWS SERVICE
Huntington, N.Y.

Picking a college is one of the most momentous decisions in one's life, yet flipping through catalogs, word of mouth or searching online are the only methods of searching many prospective students have. Parents often lack the time to take them to every college they are interested in, and when parents do, students can feel embarrassed to ask questions.

A local youth minister and Catholic school college counselor has offered an alternative since 1998: the College Tour.

With a church van from St. Patrick's, Huntington, Tom Hanley traveled with 10 Catholic students to a dozen schools in 1998. This year, he took 47 prospective college students, chaperoned by five high school counselors or teachers, to more than 20 schools for eight days in July in a bus.

Hanley, a college counselor at St. Francis Preparatory School in Queens for the past nine years, began a new job as director of college placement for Loyola School in New York City this fall. The tour he founded gives students the freedom to see a lot of schools and choose their favorites to revisit with parents.

"I knew nothing about college and I didn't know where to start ... but [on the tour] everyone was my age, we were all in the same boat," said Shelagh Christ, 17, who attends Our Lady of Mercy Academy, Syosset, and is a parishioner at St. Philip Neri in Northport.

Some parents wished they had discovered the program a few years ago. Edie Esposito, who spent numerous weekends driving three of her children to various colleges, was thrilled when her fourth child, Michael, a student at Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, took the College Tour.

From the trip, he discovered "five schools which he is applying for right off the bat. He just loved the trip," Esposito said. "It gave him a feeling of independence."

At a cost of $995 each, the students received three meals a day and stayed in hotel or dormitory accommodations. They met with college admissions groups in seven states and the District of Columbia, and learned about the admission process, college life, campus facilities, and the requirements of strong high school grades and respectable SAT/ACT marks. They discussed each college or university after their visit and mentioned their likes and dislikes and had access to the expertise of the counselors on their bus for questions.

Jessica Guerrero, 16, a parishioner at St. Anne's Church, Garden City, said the tour "made life easier. I got the idea of the type of school I wanted and I can go back to the ones I liked with my mom."

All the schools they visited were Catholic or "public and private institutions that were respectful of religious practice," said Hanley, a part-time youth minister at St. Patrick's.

Students taking the tour attend both public and Catholic high schools, but all shared a common Catholic faith.

"I really like the Jesuit education," Christ said. "They want you to think about your religious beliefs, to challenge and question things and I do that a lot."

John Reedy, 16, who attends Chaminade High School and is a parishioner of Corpus Christi, Mineola, said he had been "always so intent on staying home and going to St. John's University." His relatives encouraged him to take the tour to "get a taste of what it was like to go away," Reedy said. Now, he is looking into Loyola College, College of the Holy Cross and University of Delaware.

Hanley has already received calls for next year. "We may have to rent two buses," he said.