Want to know how to get seniors fired up about the college application process? Make it a competition! Columbia GEAR UP is having a competition with the senior class to do just that. Thinking about every aspect of applying for college can be a daunting task, especially to a teenager. At Columbia, we have turned it into something fun. Here’s how the competition works. We have set up a points based system for every activity involved in the college application process. A couple of examples are; 50 points per application (college/scholarship), 20 points for a college visit, 50 points for filling out the FAFSA along with many others. All of the senior names are tracked along with their points. We have set up a bulletin board in a classroom and update the scores weekly so that the students can visibly see how they stand among the others. So far, the competition has been fierce. The more competitive students are virtually tied and quickly filling out as many scholarship applications as they can. This competition also helps us, as a GEAR UP staff be in constant contact with each student and be informed of exactly what they have or haven’t gotten accomplished in their quest to get to college. We plan to take our top 20 seniors on an educational trip to reward all their hard work and efforts in making their college dreams a reality.