STUDENTS SEARCH FOR COLLEGES CLOSE TO HOME
More than 400 low-income students will visit six metro colleges this week

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 1, 2010 

CONTACT: Emily Jacobs or Marie DeMars   651.917.3525

St. Paul, Minn. – More than 400 low-income high school students will fan out across the Twin Cities Wednesday and Thursday in search of the perfect college. They’re a part of Admission Possible’s Metro Visit Days, which offers Admission Possible students a chance to tour one of six institutions without leaving the metro.

Metro Visit Days are a key component for the 1,400 greater Twin Cities students participating in Admission Possible’s free after-school college preparatory programming. For many students, it will be the first time they set foot on a college campus.

“Without visiting classrooms, meeting staff and asking questions, it’s hard for a student to see her own potential to attend college,” said Peter McGarraugh, Admission Possible AmeriCorps events planner and coordinator for Metro Visit Days. “For the first time, students can start to envision themselves going to college.”

The high schoolers will visit St. Catherine University, the University of St. Thomas, Northwestern College, Bethel University, Concordia University and Augsburg College and participate in campus tours and panel discussions with current students – including Admission Possible alumni.

Columbia Heights senior Derrick Greaves, who’s been on three Admission Possible college visits, couldn’t imagine how he would have gotten to college without some help. “Admission Possible helps make the college applications and campus visits easier,” Greaves said. “It has really changed my life.”

According to Admission Possible Program Director Bethany Albrecht, colleges want to recruit a more diverse student body, and need to do so as the overall number of college-age students decreases and becomes more diverse in the Upper Midwest and across the nation.  Albrecht also notes that colleges have difficulty in finding and reaching those students.  That’s where Admission Possible and its students – 93 percent of whom are students of color – come in.

“Admission Possible has been really successful in helping campuses identify diverse students through our program,” Albrecht said. “They’re reaching the many students we serve who are the first in their families to attend college, and who have worked hard through our two-year program to be well prepared to succeed in college.”

Metro Visit Days is just one of roughly 31 campus visits Admission Possible will arrange this school year, partnering mostly with public and private colleges and universities in the Midwest. McGarraugh said Admission Possible students also receive help with “fly-in” applications, where an institution buys a plane ticket for an out-of-state student to attend a special visit.

About Admission Possible:
Admission Possible is a nonprofit organization founded in Minnesota in 2000 and dedicated to helping promising low-income high school students prepare for and earn admission to college by providing ACT/SAT test preparation, admissions and financial aid consulting and guidance in the transition to college. The program operates in two metro areas – the Greater Twin Cities and Greater Milwaukee.  In 2009-10, 1,540 low-income high school students are participating in Admission Possible in 23 high schools across the two metro areas.  Admission Possible’s college program currently supports 2,200 Admission Possible high school program graduates as they transition to college and pursue a degree. Since 2000, 98 percent of Admission Possible students have been admitted to college. For more information, go to www.AdmissionPossible.org.

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