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2005
Parent Feedback |
The Ventures
Scholars Program provided an end-of-year survey to parents/guardians
of Ventures Scholars. Parents/guardians provided the
following information:
Ventures
Scholars Program Biweekly E-Newsletter
Here’s what some of the parents/guardians of Ventures
Scholars said about the biweekly e-newsletter:
- The e-newsletter has been extremely helpful. Though
my son makes excellent grades, goes to a great high
school and has scored extremely high on standardized
tests, I am working two jobs and have very little
time to keep up with what deadlines etc. are approaching.
I would have had no opportunity to attend the counselors
programs etc. as I work from 9:00 a.m. on the first
job until 10:00 p.m. on my second job on weekdays.
The newsletter alerts me as to what to expect regarding
deadlines scholarships etc. and when to expect them.
- The Venture Scholars Program has been very helpful
to my child. She was able to seek information about
scholarships and information to help her prepare for
the ACT. Thanks a lot.
- Yes, very helpful. There is an incredible amount
of useful information related to college choices,
scholarships, careers, college application assistance,
and on and on. I'm sure it was a contributing factor
for my son getting into [a member institution], that
he was a Ventures Scholar. I've saved all the e-mails
and attachments so I can refer back to them.
- The newsletters help to keep us focused and pass
along very useful information - wonderful links. It
gives a kind of "heads up" as to what we
should be considering, and keeps us on track. Many
careers and schools we wouldn't have considered have
been introduced to us through both the newsletter
and the website. Thanks!!
- The VSP newsletter has been very helpful in the
areas of the college entrance process, financial/scholarship
aid, career paths in the sciences, and it provided
first-hand information on member institutions.
- High school has been very challenging for my child,
and I have appreciated receiving the bi-weekly newsletters
as reminders of the tasks other than studying that
are necessary for future success. It has been wonderful
to read the questions and answers other students and
parents have. I especially like the idea of the buddy
system, that identified students in college and allowed
current high school students to ask questions.
- The newsletter has absolutely been helpful, especially
the helpful hints about the college process. Since
I didn't go to college, it helped me be able to guide
my daughter better.
- Yes, they have been very helpful with reminders
of deadlines regarding college materials. They also
prepared us for what we could expect and instructed
us on what to look out for regarding the college entry
process.
- Your newsletter has helped my daughter (high school
senior) and me in many ways. It has provided us helpful
information about colleges, careers, financial aid,
etc. I cannot think of anything that I have not read
about on the newsletter. The information is very precise
and it covers a wide variety of subjects pertaining
high school students in general.
- I am an Hispanic parent that cares a lot for kids
well being. And your organization has helped very,
very much. You taught us things that I or my son never
knew.. keep up the good work. My son is finishing
up is junior year, and is very happy... He still has
a ways to go, but he looks forward on being a senior.
We still ask for your help. Because choosing a college
for my son is going to be a bit hard, but Venture
Scholars has helped. Thanks again for your most great
help.
- I feel you are doing an outstanding job with the
information you provide to both, students and parents,
via the e-newsletter. I enjoy the articles and appreciate
the information provided regarding upcoming college
information sessions and how to handle certain situations
with your children.
- The VSP biweekly e-newsletter has been a tremendous
help to me and my family. Without you informing us
we would not be aware of the additional information
that is out there. We are well informed and knowledgeable
of what is available for our son.
· The newsletter has been extremely helpful.
I can't tell you how many times I've had to refer
to it for advice topics ranging from financial aid
to how to study for physics. The Venture Scholars
Program and newsletters were a superb compliment to
my daughter's hard work.
- Yes, the biweekly e-newsletter has been very helpful.
I look forward to receiving it. I read it thoroughly.
It has assisted me in many ways. I have found summer
programs for my son to apply to. I have found the
information about what he should be doing now, to
be particularly helpful. Because of the information
in that column, it made me realize that my son should
look into taking the SAT Subject tests as he is finishing
the courses. He is now registered to take the SAT
Subject Test for World History.
- I've enjoyed getting the newsletter in my inbox.
It keeps the college process in the forefront of my
mind when I see it and read it. Very helpful articles
and links to scholarship information and various schools/programs
that my daughter is interested in.
VSP
Web Site
Many parents/guardians take advantage of the VSP Web
site since there are links to hundreds of college and
career planning resources. Here’s what some of
the parents/guardians said about the VSP Web site:
- The web site has and still is helpful to me. I go
on it at least twice a month, to see what else I can
use to help myself and others. Some of my relatives
and friends are not members of this program, but I
use what I have learned from the website to help them.
- The website is wonderful. I believe that I use
the information more than my daughter. This really
helped me decide on the school for my daughter, being
able to see the scholarship programs, upcoming events,
academic insight, etc. This was probably our most
used site during the college search.
- The VSP web site is an outstanding e-tool for high
school students and their parents to use when they
want to find out just about anything regarding college.
We used it primarily for researching financial aid
and scholarship information.
- The website has been a helpful reminder that your
organization stood behind her and was there to help.
That was really important.
- There are questions answered that many students
are asking. The information provided is informative
and useful.
- It has been a great source for colleges that have
her major and also for financial aid process.
- Yes, the web site is also very helpful. It is very
resourceful. You can find information for most topics
regarding high school, college and math and science
related fields. It is user friendly too. I don't know
of any thing else you could possibly add to the web
site. It is great!!!
- We were able to get clarification on services offered
and information on participating schools.
- Yes it has, especially when he was getting ready
for his exams, and SAT's.
- I have also utilized your website searching for
different topics. It is user friendly and fairly easy
to navigate. College information sessions, scholarships,
internships are always good information to have. My
daughter has read many articles from your website.
- The links offered via the web were invaluable.
It was a real time saver when it came to searches.
With a simple click, I could get tons of information
on different topics I needed to get familiarized during
the application process.
- The VSP Web Site is also helpful with information
that is needed to further our son education. With
3 more children rising up to the challenge, the information
we have received from VSP will benefit them also.
- Yes, it helped us research schools and gave us
contact information. When my son's first choice school
was listed, we contacted the person listed. She waived
his application fee and had us send his application
to her directly. Not only will he be attending this
school in the fall, but also he received a $50,000
scholarship from them.
- The website is in my favorite folder, and I click
on it often.
Additional
Comments
The Ventures Scholars Program asked parents/guardians
to share additional feedback about the Program. Here’s
what the parents/guardians said about the Program:
- In dealing with a teenager, sometimes it's better
to show them rather than tell them about how they
need to prepare for college. Many times, I have printed
out articles, suggestions and comments from different
VSP sources to share with Terrence. This has helped
us both tremendously.
- I think it helped him gain confidence in realizing
he has the potential to do many different things in
his life. At this point I believe it has helped him
gain entry into an excellent university and I think
it will continue to help him as he thinks more about
various careers.
- We feel that the VSP was helpful in many areas.
However, the certificate that you sent was of particular
importance. It was included in each of her applications.
She was accepted at every university that she applied
to. Most of them had a minority contact to which she
was immediately assigned to. This was really helpful.
- The Venture Scholar program helped my daughter,
who just completed her freshman year, to select [a
member institution] as her choice for undergraduate
matriculation. She also obtained a presidential scholarship
and other financial assistance in order to make her
choice a reality. Our second child is now a rising
senior and he too is utilizing VSP to assist with
his collegiate endeavors.
- My son was accepted to a program at [a member institution]
for minority students interested in engineering and
was able to attend it in February. Again, I stress
that someone with my schedule would have had no way
of even knowing the program existed. I found out about
the program through the newsletter. My son had assumed
that it would be too expensive to fly there. My wife
and I were more than happy to do whatever needed to
be done for him to get that experience.
- I am grateful for the program. I feel I receive
timely information to help my child prepare for college.
The program has exceeded my expectations. We are still
overwhelmed with the decisions that we must make,
but this site has provided much needed support.
- The program allows us the opportunity to access
valuable information from the comfort of our home
and points use in the direction we want to take.
- My son was admitted to the college of his dreams.
Thanks to the Venture Scholars Program, he will be
attending [a member institution]. He was introduced
to this college through the VSP newsletter or a special
announcement. He applied to the prospective student
weekend, visited the campus last November, and decided
to apply for early admission. He was accepted and
of course he is very thankful to the VSP for helping
him to connect with [a member institution]. He never
would have considered Swarthmore without the VSP because
he didn't know about it.
- It helped to be practically hand held through the
whole process and for my daughter to have access to
peers reviews of colleges/majors and helpful hints
for admissions.
- In general, Ventures Scholars Program has helped
given my daughter a better idea of what her science
and math careers options were. She excelled in these
areas but was unsure of what a career in these concentrations
would be like. The Ventures Scholars Seminar at City
College placed her around people who were actually
working in the fields she dreamed about. She was able
to ask questions and listen to what the experts in
these fields presented. She was impressed and from
then on seriously pursued a career in the engineering
field.
- The Ventures Scholars Program has helped my daughter
and I comprehend a lot about how to become a successful
student in high school. It has also given me tips
and advice on how to help and support my daughter
so she can be a great student.
- The program has made us aware of the different
programs and opportunities available to the students
and parents that are navigating through the college
admission process.
- Because we were able to get information on what
schools would waive the application fee, we applied
to schools we otherwise would not have. We ultimately
decided on a Venture college that offered exactly
what we were looking for. We then enrolled my nephew.
- Our son gained more independence and maturity with
his experience in the summer ventures program. He
is a very responsible person, and very focused. The
program is a good start for the students to learn
about college life experiences.
- It has helped us enormously. Please continue to
comb through the overwhelming number of resources
available on the internet and provide students and
parents what I found to be only the best information.
I credit the venture scholars Program and the resources
it offers with assisting my daughter in deciding on
a career and being accepted to a great college to
pursue her dreams. Thank you again.
- We listed that he was a Ventures Scholar on every
application. When we tried to contact schools just
via email, we had little response. When we said he
was a Venture Scholar and used the website's contact,
we got an immediate response.
- First, I think it helps my son self-esteem to know
that he was chosen. It helps to add that to his resume.
It helps me to have a place to reference in answering
many of the questions I have in regards to my son's
educational aspirations.
- My son was accepted to a program at Penn. State
University for minority students interested in engineering
and was able to attend it in February. Again, I stress
that someone with my schedule would have had no way
of even knowing the program existed.
- I was reluctant to sign up as there are so many
programs out there that are fakes and out to make
money on unsuspecting families. I thought that this
might be one of them. After many e-mails, I finally
allowed my daughter to sign up. I have been very happy
with the caliber and thoroughness of the information.
It's an excellent resource, especially for those of
us who don't have the advantage - connections, personal
experience - of knowing how to make the most of this
whole experience. Thank you!
- Something I found very helpful from the Venture
Scholars e-mail was the "College Information
Session" telling us about colleges that are going
to be in our area. Being a novice at this I think
it is wonderful and timely information for my high
school junior.
Suggestions
for Ventures Scholars Program
The Ventures Scholars Program asked parents/guardians
how we could improve the program. Here’s the feedback
from the parents/guardians:
- An article about no-loan colleges would be VERY
helpful and insightful for many….including in
the article about how low a family's income needs
to be to be eligible for a no-loan, grant only education.
- I would like to see individual success stories
on current and former Venture Scholar participants.
- One topic I'd like to see is budgeting/money-wise
tips for the undergraduate. I'll lend my services
to write the first article.
- Would like to see more specific programs (such
as the latest nursing one) and scholarships one can
apply for with information on who qualifies and/or
how one qualifies. Especially in relation to women
in math and engineering.
- If this information is available, I would like
to know if colleges usually make determinations of
the number of full or partial scholarships they will
grant to a certain number of students from a particular
high school.
- If you can, please include the colleges that give
scholarships to National Hispanic Scholars and African
American Scholars from the College Board. This would
really help in the college searches!
- more specific scholarships and programs for engineering
and science, especially in relation to a graduate
in 2006 as a math and engineering major.
- More specific information on scholarships would
be nice. Although we did get enough information, this
was lengthy and complex. Sometimes it was also outdated.
The VS could add information for freshman and sophomores
about what to expect in the years to come, for example,
what schools are looking for. A section for them sort
of "ask the college counselors" could be
nice. I know that some parents are taking their children
to private college counselors to prepare their freshman
for college. Since most of us readers could not afford
to do this, the site would be a great way to help
parents.
- I would like to read additional information from
veterans parents and their child who have being using
the VSP program and how this program has help or has
played a role in their child(ren) future.
- 1. Resume/Areas of Interest posting of the kids
so that the university/colleges partners could review
and contact the kids directly. 2. More direct interaction
between the university/college partners and the students
3. Some sort of conference/summer program where the
kids could get together/meet and have the university/college
partners there also.
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