Faring
Well at College Fairs
Admission representatives from a
variety of colleges are all gathered in one place, just waiting to
answer your questions. But it's easy to get caught up in the
crowds and confusion. Soon you're criss-crossing the room (or many
rooms), stopping at any booth that catches your eye or seems popular.
When that happens, you end up with lots of pretty brochures, but not a
lot of clear impressions about which colleges you may be interested in.
Making the most of a college fair means planning your strategy before
you enter those double doors. "Treat a college fair like a
buffet dinner," advises a director of undergraduate admission from Experienced buffet diners know that
it's best to scope out their choices before they start filling their
plate. Savvy students can do the equivalent by looking over a list of
college fair participants before the fair. Choose the colleges you most
want to find out more about. If you have time, research these colleges
by reading information in your guidance office or by checking out
guidebooks or Web sites. "Know what you want to find out
at the fair," says a director of admission at a college in The questions you ask should be
unique to your interests and not easily found in standard college
materials. "The college fair is a good time to talk
person-to-person with the representative of that school," says one
guidance counselor. "Your job is to think of good questions." So cross out the questions like,
"How many people are in the freshman class?" Instead, ask what
the two or three most popular majors are (that can give you a good idea
of the main interests of the majority of the students). If you have a
particular major in mind, don't ask "How good is major X?" No
college representative will tell you that a program is bad. Instead, ask
how many students take that major; what research faculty members are
involved in (and the opportunities for undergraduates to participate in
it); or what courses you would take your first year in a particular
major. Students who are undecided should ask about what services and
support are available to help them explore various majors. Other things you can ask about:
extracurricular activities, what kinds of students the college is
looking for, what percentage of students receive financial aid, and
other concerns unique to your interests and situation. Mapping out a strategy Before you leave for the fair, make
sure you have the following supplies: a small notebook with your list of
colleges and questions you want to ask; a pen or pencil; and a backpack
or tote-bag to hold all of the college information you'll be collecting.
Students with access to computers may
wish to print up a few sheets of self-stick address labels. Include your
name, address, phone number, e-mail address, high school, year of
graduation, intended major(s), and any extracurricular activities you're
interested in. At the fair, slap the address labels on the college
information cards to save you time in filling out the same information
over and over at each college's table. At some fairs, colleges, rather than
using information cards, may use scanners that collect your contact
information electronically (name, address, phone number and email
address) onsite, leaving you more time to speak with representatives at
the fair. Ask your counselor before the fair whether scanners will be
available or go online to http://www.nacacnet.org/fairs
and search for the fair in which you’re interested. You must sign up
beforehand to have your information electronically scanned. Although this may be a lot to
consider, the real strategizing begins when you arrive at the fair. Look
for a map of where each college is located and map out your route. Note
where each college is located and plan the most efficient way to visit
the colleges on your list. (For example, you want to make sure to visit
all the colleges of interest to you in one room before moving to the
next.) Also, make sure to check out the schedule of information
sessions: many fairs have sessions on the search process, applications,
financial aid, and other issues run by experts in the field. These
sessions are a great place to ask general questions about the college
admission process. Your notebook and pen are great tools
for keeping all those conversations straight. After you leave a table,
jot down your impressions of the college and the answers the admission
representatives gave you. Try to do this before you visit the next
table, while your impressions are still fresh. Teaming up Depending on the time of day of the
fair, both students and parents may be encouraged to attend. If a family
member attends the fair with you, talk about your plan ahead of time.
You may decide to split up--perhaps a parent can attend the financial
aid seminar so you can visit more colleges. Another option is staying
together for part or all of time. You may find that your parents or
siblings ask different questions than you do. Also, it can be helpful to
get a second opinion on your impressions of particular colleges. Browsing Planning ahead ensures that you get
to visit the colleges that most interest you. But also make sure to
leave time for browsing. "Be adventurous! Don't just
focus on 'name' schools," says an admission director. "You may
find that a school you've never heard of offers the exact major,
extracurricular program, etc., that you're seeking." Following up By the time the fair is over, you'll
have a bag filled with information about colleges--and a possible case
of information overload. Don't succumb to the temptation of just piling
all those brochures in some obscure corner of your bedroom. If you're
feeling overwhelmed, take a day or two away from the college search.
Then get out all of those brochures, along with the notes you took while
at the fair, and read through them. You may find that some colleges
aren't as interesting as you first thought. Others only look better the
more you research them. For those colleges, follow up by filling out the
information cards in the brochures or by starting to schedule college
visits.
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