PAGE 8, WEDNESDAY, MAY 7. 1986, WHITBYFREE PRESS By JAN DODGE Free Press Staff Henry Street students John Freek and Antonia Guidotti, like the majority of Durham Region's grade 13 students, are headed for university in September. "I never thought of not going (to university). My mother has been pounding into us the importance of a good education all these years," Guidotti said. Freek is hoping to be accepted into the school of architecture at either the University of Waterloo or Carleton in Ottawa. He also ap- plied to the University of Toronto, but with the threatened closure of that school of architecture, he would be happy at either of the other two. In the event that he is not accepted he has an application at Ryerson for an architectural program which he believes would help him get into one of the schools of architecture later. Guidotti, 18, has already received her . acceptance in biological sciences at U of T, having acquired the necessary six credits by last January. (Henry Street is semestered.) She hopes that course will provide a spring board for medicine. In a telephone survey sampling high schools across Durham Region, the Free Press talked to guidance counsellors to discover graduating students' plans for the fall. Students made applications to a maximum of three universities through. the Guelph Aplication Centre last December. Their ac- ceptances or refusals will begin arriving in June. Of the schools surveyed, those with the greatest number of grade 13 students opting for university were from Whitby. Anderson Collegiate had the highest majority (93 percent); Trafalgar Castle, a private school for young women, had 90 percent, and Henry Street High School had 81 percent. Oshawa's O'Neill Collegiate also had 81 percent, followed by Oshawa's Paul Dwyer (separate board) with 80 percent and East- dale with 79 percent grade 13 students who intend to go to university. About 66 percent of grade 13 students at the separate board's Denis O'Connor High School in Ajax, and at Dunbarton High School in Pickering have applied to universities. At McLaughlin C.V.I. in Oshawa, approximately 60 percent have ap- plied, while at Bowmanville High School slightly more than 50 per- cent have applied. Brock, the most northerly high school in the region is the only one with less than 50 percent of its students planning on university. Thirty-six percent of Brock's grade 13 students have applied. The most commonly selected universities are the big four: U of T, Western in London, Queen's in Kingston, and McMaster in Hamilton. Anderson's students like all of these as do Henry Street's. U of T is the favorite in the region because of its proximity and its programs. Western is the favorite at O'Neill, and Queen's at Bowmanville. For Eastdale students, Waterloo is the top choice. It is popular with Dunbarton, McLaughlin, O'Neill, Bowmanville, Denis O'Connor, and Paul Dwyer students too, mainly because of its co-op programs which allow students to alternate between school and work ex- iigh se] perience. Wilfred Laurier in Waterloo which is also developing co-op programs is popular with Dunbar- ton students. It is the favorite at Brock because it is small. Students at Brock, a small rural high school, also like Trent University in Peterborough, Brock University in St. Catharines, and University of Guelph. Trent is the favorite at Denis O'Connor. "Trent public relations work has paid off ... Our students are used to small classes and want to continue in a more personalized atmosphere," Bilorosek said. Trafalgar students are spread evenly across the province in their choices. They may choose their university because of their course, because their friends go there, or because their parents went there, - guidance head Margaret Swann said. Several guidance teachers noted that some students are selecting the smaller universities, hoping to have a better chance of being ac- cepted because admission stan- dards tend to be lower. The published cut-off point for an arts program at U of T main campus this September is 76 percent, while at Wilfred Laurier or University of Guelph for a comparable program, that point ranges from 65 to 70 per- cent. Dunbarton, Henry Street, and O'Neill students have a number of applications to Ryerson Institute in Toronto, which also requires grade 13 for most of its courses. • For program choice the sciences lead the field, but also strong are the arts, general or honors, business, and engineering. Leo Plue, guidance head at Henry Street, says taking an arts hool program gives students an oppor- tunity to explore. "A lot won't iden- tify their major subject until second year." Lynn Parr, guidance head at Anderson, says, "I tell students the decision to make now is to continue their education. They should ex- plore themselves to as broad an education as possible in their first year." Brock students are selecting an arts-science combination this year for that reason, guidance head Lyda Roman says. Agriculture is also a popular choice at Brock High School. "Twelve to 15 years ago, vir- tually no students applied to business," Robert Owen guidance head of McLaughlin says. "Studen- ts went into arts and social scien- ces, but in the last dozen years the trend has been to business. When jobs are scirce, students look for education that provides jobs." Business and engineering are most popular at McLaughlin. At Eastdale last year Jerry LeRoy, guidance head, says he was surprised to find social scien- ces were the least popular. "Students are now going for honors degrees in math and scien- ce related courses ... One in every four are enrolled there." Business administration, medicine, law and engineering are the strong choices of young women at Trafalgar. It is difficult for students to make choices because there is so much choice, Parr says. "There is a real pressure factor for them to sort out where to go ... To some lucky ones it is very clear what they want to take. For the others there are many careers that could SEE PG. 23 s. j Life after _ ý