Milford Jr./Sr. High School hosted Apply2College Day in the school's cafeteria on Oct. 15, giving students an opportunity to learn more about colleges throughout the country and encouraging them to apply to the schools that suit each student's plans.
Seniors also scattered throughout the auditorium to listen to advice and a quick questions-and-answers forum with John Baylor, founder of John Baylor Test Prep.
During his 35-minute speech, he encouraged students to cast a wide net and apply to multiple colleges. At least seven, he said. Colleges have begun offering more incentives to gain students in the pandemic and competition between schools may draw more lucrative scholarships.
“Throw the net out,” Baylor said.
Baylor also told students to make themselves marketable and sell themselves on paper to schools. He encouraged them to accentuate their small-town Nebraska upbringing and work ethic.
He talked about the benefits of going to a trade school right away, starting at a two-year school and then transferring to a four-year institution, and the prospect of going to school away from Nebraska. Baylor mentioned the benefits of staying local, like how University of Nebraska-Lincoln has waived its application fee currently and the quality of education students receive at Southeast Community College, while also listing incentives schools from other states offer to Nebraska high school students. South Dakota State and Kansas State, for example, offer in-state tuition to Nebraska high school seniors, currently.
“In some ways, this is a fortunate time to be looking at colleges,” he said.
Baylor also outlined the current job market and encouraged students to think on a larger scale with their dreams and then take steps to fulfill those dreams. He said that while globalization and automation are the two major determining factors in the workforce, they can create their own path forward doing what they enjoy and making it marketable.
