According to Linda Christy, college counselor at the College and Career Resource Center (CCRC), seniors will listen to presentations about college admissions and student life from 9:30 to 11:03 a.m. on Oct. 17 instead of taking the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test like they have in years past.

The presentations will be given in three rotating stations, according to Christy. One presentation will feature admissions directors from six Indiana colleges, another will be an interactive convocation about financial literacy and another will be about what to expect from student life at college and selecting a major.

“Part of that presentation is, ‘What if I don’t have a college major?’ (Speakers are) talking to students about how it’s okay to not know what it is that they want to do in college,” Christy said. “(College is) really about the experience and finding those classes, and colleges help students find a major, so the presentation is really to alleviate those fears.”

In addition, there will be an optional presentation for one session by an admissions director from Yale University for students who are interested in applying to selective colleges. Only 120 students will be admitted to this session.

Christy said the seniors would no longer take the ASVAB because she thought the CCRC could better help the Senior Class prepare for college in other ways.

“We felt like at this point in the senior year, there were better things we could do to help seniors not be so anxious and to help them better focus on what their year’s going to be like,” she said.

As for skipping school in order to avoid the convocation, Christy said she advises against it.

“I would hope that (seniors) would decide that they don’t want to skip the sessions because it is going to provide valuable information,” she said. “If they choose to have a parent call them in sick, that’s a family decision, but if they skip school, and they can’t be accounted for, then yes, there will be a punishment.”

“I think the senior year is one that can be very challenging. Students are balancing their classes, their activities and their college applications,” Christy said. “I would say the purpose of this program is to help with all of that transition, help ease their anxiety about going to college, to help them better prepare for college and to help them stay strong for senior year.”