by Sophie Citro
Between the unreliability of the ferry system, the boredom of long drives and the difficulty of planning, visiting a college from the San Juans can be an incredibly arduous task. One has to make arrangements, get to places on time, in some cases even board a plane — not to mention the cost of it all! Depending on the college you’re interested in, though, it doesn’t have to be that way at all.
Sixteen of the United States’ most prestigious colleges are part of the Small Town And Rural Students Program, and offer free fly-ins, scholarships and even online curriculums to those who qualify and are interested!
To sign up for the STARS program, just navigate to https://starscollegenetwork.org, then scroll down the page until you find the sign up button. It’ll add you to their mailing list for free, with no strings attached! From there, you’ll be notified when a new event is happening. Events range anywhere from local admissions counselor visits to free fly-in programs for 16 different colleges. For events like the fly-in programs, you’ll need to apply and be accepted in order to attend. If you run into any trouble along the way or have any questions, fear not: the program also has excellent support, and in my personal experience, any questions I emailed them were answered in one to two days!
I recently traveled to Brown University through one of the fly-in programs. My flights there, back, my food, my transport while I was there, and the hotel I stayed at were all fully paid for by the program. My first day was spent traveling there and meeting my fellow rural students. The second day we spent learning everything we possibly could about the application process and how we can be appealing candidates. If you’re even remotely interested, I cannot recommend this program enough; I know more about Brown than I’d ever be able to learn online, and I have a much better understanding of how college applications work. Even if you think you understand it well, I assure you, getting to talk to admissions officers one-on-one is an invaluable experience – plus, you get to visit a beautiful college campus for free.
With all that in mind, I’d like to add one last thing: there is quite literally no downside to signing up for STARS. Even if you’re only in your first or second year of high school, it’s a good idea to get a feel for what sorts of things you like and dislike about colleges, and the absolute best way to do that is to visit them in person! STARS offers an opportunity for rural students to do just that, minus almost all of the hassle you’d normally face, and plus an enjoyable, memorable experience. If you live in the San Juans and plan to go to college … sign up!
