For a tool meant to simplify college preparation, SchooLinks seems to be doing the opposite for some students at the Regional.
“SchooLinks is time-consuming and overwhelming,” said junior Miles Wilander. “I don’t know where to start or how to get ahead.”
However, junior Hashem Fayoumi has a different opinion.
“I believe that SchooLinks utilizes useful resources that are personal and built for the use of teenagers,” said Fayoumi.
SchooLinks serves as a portal for seniors to upload important documents, navigate the college process, and record academic progress. Students can also set goals for things like the SAT and ACT, grades, and prospective schools.
Director of School Counseling. Kendra Cantrell said the switch from Naviance to SchooLinks updates the district’s college planning resources.
“The Naviance platform was much out of date. Due to customer service issues and glitches, we decided against it,” said Cantrell. “Integrating SchooLinks into the district’s middle schools also allows for improved college and career readiness and engagement via personalized assessments.”
Many students said that while SchooLinks aims to make the college process convenient, both they and their counselors still struggle to adjust to the new system.
“I think we [students and counselors] are all a little clueless because SchooLinks is so new, and that makes it overwhelming,” said senior Bryce Montejo.
Other seniors, however, said the transition to a new platform has made the college process easier to manage.
“I feel great,” said senior Keegan Gregorczyk. “I really feel as if the new application makes things simple by providing a ‘To-Do’ list. If I have any questions I feel comfortable meeting with my counselor. The process of meeting with them is fairly simple and convenient.”
SchooLinks allows seniors to request two letters of recommendation from their teachers on every college application and some staff said they have run into issues with the platform as well.
“Although the process [uploading a letter or recommendation] is fairly simple, I ran into a mishap,” said math teacher Zack Berman. “I accidentally uploaded a blank letter—because it asked for a template— onto a student’s college profile and had to ask Ms. Knorring [school counselor] to revise it for me.”
Some underclassmen said they see little need for the platform. Besides help with college preparation, SchooLinks offers career exploration and personality tests to show students how their attributes might lend to certain career paths.
“All I’ve done on the app is take personality quizzes that aren’t insightful,” said sophomore Breea Martel.
With upperclassmen relying on it for applications and underclassmen questioning its use, opinions remain sharply split.
“It’s supposed to help us plan our futures,” said Wilander. “But sometimes it just feels like more work.”
With SchooLinks being implemented for the first year, time will tell whether or not the new platform can truly help students as they maneuver through their four years at the Regional and prepare for their future.
