College Bound Goes Virtual

On the morning of Monday, Aug. 10, more than a dozen high school students began their first day in College Bound, St. John Fisher College’s annual summer program aimed at demystifying the college search and application process.

While the delivery looks a little different this year—the program is fully virtual, with large group meetings and individual one-on-one sessions with mentors—the students were no less ready to learn and engage with each other.

Stacy Ledermann, director of freshman admissions for the College, said the team grappled with how best to move the program forward, given the rapid change brought on by COVID-19, and at one point, considered cancelling. But, there was a group of students who had already applied to participate, and the team didn’t want to let them down.

“These students have to do their college search and selection process this year, and the summer before senior year is critical timing for them to get a jump start,” she said. “We have a strong commitment to helping them; so we revamped the program to deliver the most critical elements and core pieces of the program so we could serve them to the best of our ability.”

Throughout the week, students heard from speakers on a variety of topics, including campus visits, being a master student, financial aid, and more. They also met one-on-one with staff members from Fisher’s Office of Admissions and spoke with admissions counselors from Nazareth, Daemen College, and SUNY Geneseo. On Friday, Dr. Gerard Rooney, president of the College, addressed the group before a panel of past College Bound graduates shared their advice.

“We included a mix of educational and motivational presentations,” said Ledermann. “Our goal was to give students tools that will equip them to be successful in their search process and also serve as a motivation to persevere through the process.”