Where Will They Go to College - from The Messenger

Brianna Galvan, 18, a senior at Fort Dodge Senior High, has already made her decision about where she's going to college.

She's filled out her paperwork, been accepted and is only waiting to know what dorm room she'll be in this fall at the University of Iowa in Iowa City.

On Friday, she got to learn a little more about the school from several of its staff members who were on hand to talk to students during the Decision Day event.

It helped put her at ease a bit.

"It helps a lot," she said after visiting with a representative from the school. "It's nice to talk face to face."

Her friend Lizzie Baker, 18, will be attending the University of Iowa, too. The two will actually share a dorm room.

The visit helped her as well.

"Especially for a place that far away," Baker said. "This gets me excited for going to college."

The two have considered the day-to-day issues that might crop up as roommates.

"We have equal levels of tidiness," Galvan said.

The event served both as a celebration of the seniors moving onto college and as a mini college and career fair for the ninth through 11th grade students still working on making their own decisions about where to go and what to study.

Claudia Gonzalez, an admissions counselor for Iowa State University in Ames, said a lot of the students she spoke with were concerned with paying for college.

"A lot of them have questions about scholarships and financial aid," she said.

She said that while the deadline for applying is almost past, there are still students applying.

"It's better if you apply early," she said.

Skylar Edgerton, 18, is already enrolled at Iowa Central Community College in the criminal justice program.

He likes being able to attend a smaller, less expensive school close to home.

"I just didn't want anything that was really big or that would cost a whole lot," he said.

He won't have to worry about getting homesick, either.

"I'm actually going to live at home," he said.

Megan Grove, assistant director of enrollment management at Iowa Central, said that Edgerton's reasons for selecting the school were among some of the top advantages it can offer: lower cost, smaller campus and a sense of community that a larger university can't equal.

"We get more involved," Grove said.

Events like the annual student activities held during the first few weeks of the new school year are among those. It starts with a special event in which President Dan Kinney welcomes students on the first day, through various other social activities.

Grove also cited Iowa Central's many one- and two-year programs that prepare students for a skilled well paying trade and said the number of students in those programs are on the increase.

Deb Malsom, regional business development manager for Manpower, was also on hand to share a joint venture her company is engaged in with the Chantland Company in Humboldt that allows students to go to school during the day and work at a part-time paid "internship" until they finish their coursework. The students can become eligible for continuing education reimbursement after working there permanently for one year.

"We're excited about the program," Malsom said. "It's a great program."