60 juniors recently embarked on a three-day college trip to Southern California, visiting 6 schools along the way.

From Feb 6th to Feb 8th, 60 Woodside juniors, accompanied by teachers and parental chaperones traveled by bus to Southern California to visit colleges. Sponsored entirely by Woodside’s Foundation, they visited Cal State Fullerton, Chapman, UCLA, USC, UC Santa Barbara, and Cal Poly Slo.

“I liked how many schools we went to,” junior Natalie Gerola said. “I thought the time was used very efficiently.”

The tour provided an opportunity for students to visit colleges in a low-cost way. Also, because it was a school-sanctioned trip, the absences were excused, making it easier for students to visit colleges without damaging their attendance records.

“It was a lot better than a virtual tour,” junior Calvin Pfeffer said. “You learn more. You also learn about the admissions process.”

While on the trip, students stayed in a hotel together and traveled in groups to the various schools each day.

“Both nights we stayed in the same hotel,” Gerola said. “It was four people per room and two per queen bed.”

Because the six schools visited were so different, varying from small private schools like USC to large public schools like UCLA, students had a range of opinions about which ones best suited them.

“My favorite one was UCLA,” Gerola stated. “I liked the programs they offered and the tour was very immersive.”

At each school, students were met either by a former Woodside student who went there, or a trained tour guide, who showed them around and answered questions.

“[UC Santa Barbara] had the coolest vibe,” Pfeffer said. “It’s right on the beach, and they have a whole college town.”

One important benefit of the trip, paid for entirely by the Woodside Foundation, is that it allowed students to visit colleges for free. This helps expand access to college trips that may otherwise be expensive, perhaps prohibitively so.

“It was awesome because it was free,” junior Maggie Mein said. “I didn’t have to pay for any of it besides food, and that was a cool opportunity. Just having to get down there, either by flight or by driving, would take so much more money.”

The trip was funded out of the College Access Program, a new suite of services offered by the Foundation, including test-prep, an additional college counselor, college essay editing, career exploration, and more.

“I enjoyed the trip,” Pfeffer said. “It was very nice to actually go and see a lot of the campuses in person, and get a feel for the type of people on campuses.”