THOUSAND OAKS : Students Mull School Choices at College Night

Flanked by her father, 15-year-old Michelle Jordan tromped through the Thousand Oaks High School gym, bumping elbows with about 2,000 other college-bound students.

“I’m claustrophobic!” the Newbury Park High School junior said, gripping an armload of glossy college brochures as she bulldozed her way through the student throng.

Welcome to College Night--the Conejo Valley Unified School District’s annual event where about 100 college representatives tout their schools to Thousand Oaks youths. School counselors have sponsored the event for 15 years.

“The goal is to familiarize children with colleges throughout the United States and get them to think about where they want to go to school,” said Carole Krieger, a counselor at Newbury Park High. “This gives them a chance to see what’s out there.”

About 80% of the nearly 18,000 students in the district go to college. Officials say events like the one held Monday night help bolster that statistic.

“When I came here, kids were waiting in line to get in--and it’s not a football game or a basketball game or a rumble,” Assistant Supt. Leean Nemeroff said.

College Night provided students a plethora of information about schools near and far, big and small.

“I’m just kind of taking everything,” Michelle said, picking through the materials she collected on fashion design programs at various colleges.

“When I was in school, you were on your own,” said Michelle’s dad, Tim. “This is good; it’s giving them an idea. So much of the time, kids just go through (school) and don’t know what they are going to do.”

For Westlake High School senior Eric Guenther, 17, College Night was a last-minute introduction to college, since applications for UC and Cal State campuses are due next month.

“I have no idea where I want to go,” Eric said.

Newbury Park High senior Julie Hansen perused brochures from about six colleges she is considering attending next year.

“It’s not so much last minute,” she said of her college quest, “but more about learning the administrative process, to make sure I have everything I need.”

Of the colleges represented Monday night, recruiters from Cal Lutheran enjoyed the shortest trip to the Thousand Oaks High campus--about a mile--while others traveled from the Midwest and the East Coast.

Cal State Northridge recruiter Gigi McGuire handed out an off-beat promotion--bumper stickers announcing CSUN’s recovery from the Jan. 17 earthquake.

“A lot of people have questions about the status of our campus,” she said. “It has become part of our job to explain what is going on.”