To get a clue about their futures

Marisa O’Neil

Want to study business at Cal State? Cookery at the Culinary

Institute? Law at Harvard? Music at Oberlin?

Even know where Oberlin is?

Newport-Mesa high school juniors and seniors who know exactly

where to send their applications, and those who haven’t a clue, can

get information from more than 100 colleges at College Night on

Tuesday. Organizers for the annual event hope to have something for

everybody this year, from big-time Ivy League schools to small

universities, such as Oberlin in northern Ohio, and everything in

between.

“A lot of kids don’t want to go to college right out of high

school, and some parents can’t afford to send them,” Harbor Council

PTA member Susan Ostrowsky said. “This year, we’re making a real

effort to get kids involved who might want to do community college

programs or certificate programs. We try to approach this from every

angle.”

For the last 10 years, the PTAs from Corona del Mar and Newport

Harbor high schools have alternated hosting the annual event in the

schools’ gyms. This year, the district has stepped in to help expand

College Night, which will take place at the Orange County Fair and

Exposition Center in Costa Mesa.

Besides representatives from Big Ten and Pac 10 schools, Ivy

League Universities and the University of California and California

State systems, students can investigate small, private universities,

community colleges and art schools.

Organizers have also made a special effort to reach more students

this year by including trade and technical schools, said Barry

Barowitz, director of secondary curriculum and instruction for the

Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

Having about 125 educational institutions represented will open

students to a wide range of possibilities, he said.

“It’s almost like going to a huge car show and being able to get

information on every product,” Barowitz said. “There will be

representatives there to tell people everything they want to know

about individual colleges and universities, like the application

process, courses of study and student life.”

Students will be able to pick up information on financial aid and

student loans, Ostrowsky said. Many private colleges that will be

there offer scholarships, she said.

“It doesn’t just have to be UC and Cal State [for students],”

Ostrowsky said. “We want everyone to think of all the options.”

Event Chair Lisa George said that they hope to reach students who

may be the first in their families to attend college. Busses will

shuttle parents and students from Ensign High School and the Costa

Mesa Community Center to the event, and translators will be on hand

to cut through language barriers some parents might face.

“We’re trying to get kids interested in taking the first step,”

George said. “This is the computer age, with virtual tours of schools

online. But this puts a human face on a college, makes it more

reachable. They can actually talk to someone who’s a part of the

staff or someone who went to that school.”