
WILMINGTON —As the pandemic-affected school year winds down,
TeenSHARP and the
Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) are ramping up their annual college prep blitz—and they say it’s more important than ever.
It would seem so: more than 500 students have registered for the
Delaware Goes to College Academy (DGCA) Bootcamp, which began Monday, May 17, and runs through June 4, to give students a jumpstart on the college application process. The program is free and open to all Delaware high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and rising seniors.
TeenSHARP CEO and co-founder
Atnre Alleyne said that he is not surprised about the substantial interest in DGCA this year because college admissions has become more competitive and more complicated during the pandemic. Even before the pandemic, he said, waiting until the Fall to start getting ready to apply to college “is just stressful.”
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Atnre Alleyne[/caption]
“Starting early can make all the difference for a student, and at TeenSHARP, we see it does,” Alleyne said in a statement. This year, for instance, TeenSHARP students are celebrating banner wins, like five Early Decision admissions to Cornell on full-rides. That’s despite great challenges.
“In 2020, college admissions were historically competitive, with more students applying than ever before,” Alleyne continued. “That won’t change much by the Fall. As schools will be preoccupied with the new school year, we’re getting students ahead of the curve with the DGCA Bootcamp."
During the DGCA Bootcamp, students will learn about the college admission and financial aid process, assess their academic performance, coursework rigor,