Since September, the Berkeley High School College and Career Center (CCC) has begun hosting a series of over 100 college visit presentations. The visits go throughout the entire school year, but are primarily in the fall. At these presentations, representatives from the universities come to speak to students about their school’s programs, social life, and overall school culture. “We have in-state, out-of-state, public, private, international schools come through,” Yasmin Navarro, a BHS college counselor that works in the CCC, said, “I would hope that students who maybe hadn’t considered a school decide to maybe show up to just kind of learn a little bit more.”
Nell Harte and Rosie Silverberg, two BHS seniors, attended the Pitzer College presentation on Thursday, Sept. 3, 2026. Silverberg valued that the presentation felt very conversation-based. “It was less of a presentation, more just an opportunity to talk to the admissions officer, the person who would be reading your application to ask them specific questions about the college, and what they look for in an applicant,” Silverberg said.
Harte and Silverberg were two of six students that attended the Pitzer College presentation. A group of such a small size was uncommon for these presentations, but it made it possible for students to have a conversation with someone who might be reading their essay. Navarro has observed many of these presentations, and said that students take advantage of these opportunities the most by asking questions.
“It’s the questions that students ask, because the reps always come with their spiel. It’s not a bad one, but it’s ‘where we are, what we do, what we’re known for,’ which are all things that you can garner from the online system or even just from emailing the rep,” Navarro said.
In this day and age, most students can go online and find information on a lot of what the representatives go over, but you can’t look up first-hand experience or wisdom. Navarro feels that face-to-face interaction makes the presentations more effective.
“Sometimes the reps that come in have done grad school there, or maybe they were undergrad students there. So they’re really, really familiar with that space,” Navarro said.
An important thing for students to remember during these presentations is the perspective of the presenters. The fact is that the presenters are trying to sell the school to students, and that intention shapes what they share about the school.
“It’s kind of hard to be objective because, of course, they’re doing these presentations to try and sell you on the school. It’s kind of a business pitch,” Harte said, “But I mean I think (the Pitzer representative) was very transparent and honest about (like) ‘if you have these qualities’ or ‘if you have these passions’ you can really thrive at this specific school.”
Another thing that’s important about these presentations is their accessibility. Navarro brought up that not all students at BHS have access to in-person tours of colleges, especially colleges that are out of state or on the East Coast. The presentations are a way that students can learn and interact with representatives without having to visit that college in person.
College visits in the CCC are open to all BHS juniors and seniors. Students must pick up a college visit “passport” from the CCC — the permission slip which lets them be excused from one class period with approval from their teacher — before attending a presentation. These visits have begun to help many students narrow down their list of college possibilities, and allow them the chance to hear perspectives that they might not otherwise have access to on various college options. College visits the week of Monday, Sept. 28, 2026 include University of Toronto, Reed College, Stanford University, and Oregon State University.