The beginning of senior year is arguably the most stressful time of any student’s high school experience.  Many seniors take multiple AP courses with heavy workloads, on top of preparing several college applications and trying to plan their futures.  With this in mind, it can be extremely difficult for students to balance their schoolwork and the looming pressures of the future.

One of the main components of the college process is on-campus touring.  However, touring is not always practical for upperclassmen with busy schedules and limited budgets. Thus, it is enormously helpful when admissions officers from various universities visit Schreiber to tell students about the school they represent.  This resource allows students to learn invaluable information about colleges they may be interested in, even influencing which schools seniors choose to apply to or take off of their list.

The one downside about these visits, however, is that they occur during school hours. Though missing class, especially an AP class, is not ideal, many students feel that it is necessary in the case of college visits.  When weighing the costs and benefits, it is ultimately more important to take an opportunity that may affect your future, as it only requires students to miss one class for which they can make up the work.

Despite this sentiment, many teachers do not agree that students should be excused from class.  If a teacher does not allow a student to attend a college meeting, however, they may lose a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to gain insight about a specific university or even the college process as a whole.

For some teachers, their one request if a student plans on missing class to attend an in-school college meeting is that they let their teacher know in advance.  This seems perfectly reasonable—advanced notice lets both the student and the teacher adjust accordingly. However, reminders regarding college visits are typically only sent to seniors the day before, making it impossible for them to speak to their teachers before missing class.  This lack of advanced notice may cause the student to fall behind, or not be able to attend the meeting at all.

The Schreiber Times believes that seniors should be excused from class to attend college meetings, and that they should be notified about these visits earlier.