<p>There will be two college fairs in town this week and DD does not really want to attend neither.</p>
<p>I know it is a good opportunity to get to know several schools at one day at such fairs. What are other benefits for attending such fairs? Do students typically dress up and have resumes on cotton papers, like attending a job fair?</p>
<p>I say drag her to them. If my son and I hadn't gone to a college fair then he would not have known about the college within Michigan State University that he is attending now. The college fair we went to was informal and we just talked to the people to give them a idea of his strengths. Came home with tons of brochures.</p>
<p>We went to 2, both were very informal, kids still in uniforms, shorts or jeans. If she has labels with her name, address, high school name and email it will speed up the process. The recruiters want this information, and more, from all the kids they speak with. Daughter did not take resumes.</p>
<p>Have organized 2 busloads of kids going up to our "local" college fair in two weeks. The fairs can be a real zoo so the important thing is to remind kids to focus on the schools they are interested in instead of randomly wandering to start with. No one dresses up. Most reps do NOT want resumes, transcripts, etc. They are there to give you material and information and talk to the kids. I agree with the address labels and also encourage kids to take along a small notebook so they can jot down any info they collect that interests them (was it college A or B that offered that course, financial aid, etc???) As a parent scouting for a variety of kids who could not attend, I carry a small note book and gluestick. When I talk to an interesting rep I just glue their business card onto a page and add whatever info I need onto the same page. I've even had other reps come after me offering their cards and information to be included in my "book" :) Afterwards I share my information with the schools' guidance counselors and other kids. Most kids from here who attend the fairs have a blast (even with the 3 hour bus ride each way) and some have returned the next year as well.</p>
<p>Yes. the reps don't want anything handed to them--their hands are full with the stuff they are passing out. Nor do you need to dress up. The college fairs are a chance to meet admission officers in person and find out what they are like and how they think, and a chance to hear about colleges you might not have considered.</p>
<p>It was good for both my Ds, in that they really put the college process in the mind- and also that there are ALOT of amazing schools</p>
<p>Sometimes kids get so wound up in one school, that they don't consider other ones</p>
<p>It also helped both my D verbalize what they wanted, and opened their eyes to other possibilities</p>
<p>As well, it gives you two time to talk</p>
<p>The only college fair my daughter attended was the one given at her high school. So I encouraged (forced) her to go, and it was a mixed bag. Each college had a room (the larger ones) or a booth (the smaller ones) and put on 20-minute presentations. She wasn't into the college process at the time, so I ended up encouraging (dragging) her to presentations for schools that I thought she would like. </p>
<p>It was a bit overwhelming, and I think the experience actually turned her off to the college hunt for a while. But maybe that's just my kid. She never showed much enthusiasm for the process, even in senior year. I also attended one (by myself) for the SUNY schools, and that was pretty much a waste in that the staffing was so low, alumni were manning the booths, and in many cases they were uninformed and couldn't answer questions.</p>
<p>In general, if it's convenient, I would say to attend. You can ask about programs and pick up literature, which of course will just duplicate what you'll be receiving in the mail anyway! :)</p>
<p>The college fair for D1 was very informative, but maybe not in a good way. She was extremely organized to begin with, and already had created her own list of about 20 schools, based on good research and several important factors to her. One of her wishes was to "get out of the South" and she really didn't want to be where a lot of her hs classmates would be going (she was pretty darned sick of hs drama). We (parents) were really hoping that she'd change her mind somewhere down the line and head to the awesomely good UNC-Chapel Hill, instate tuition plus merit $$. When we got there, the Tarheel table was mobbed and never thinned out much. She gave me the "that's what I was talking about" look and we breezed by. She did apply, sorry for all the non-NC tarheel-hopefuls, it was one of her match/safeties.... And much to the disdain of lots of CC folks, she opted to go to University of Maryland at College Park, where she LOVES it.</p>
<p>One good take-away from big college fairs is that it really, really shows you that there are lots and lots and lots of options out there. Here in CC, it's easy to get fixated on the top few, and overlook the thousands of other colleges where you could still get an excellent education.</p>
<p>p.s. I like the notebook/glue stick plan---how uber organized!</p>
<p>My daughter gained a lot from the college fair she went to junior year. She knew which college booths she wanted to visit, but was open to going to others. She had prepared some very specific questions ("I've been dancing for x years, what are the dance opportunities like for a nonmajor") that led to her having some good, in-depth conversations with several reps. She avoided college tables that were mobbed, and went to ones that weren't -- another reason she had several long conversations. She also went to colleges that she knew she wouldn't be able to visit because of time/distance constraints, as a way to show interest.</p>
<p>While it is true that these can be mob scenes, I know that admission reps do remember some of the kids they meet at these (I've been told this by an admissions rep). If a kid makes a good impression, the rep may do something to remember him/her (like jotting notes on the back of the card they filled out), and then look out for the kid's application. My daughter received a couple of personal letters from the admission reps she met at the college fair.</p>
<p>And she dressed very casually and had no resumes to hand out.</p>
<p>Casual is the word. The one in hour town does not have any formal presentations except a general one for FA that is geared for the parents - lets kids walk around on their own and talk to reps. It is very much just walk from table to table and collect stuff. The label thing is a great idea, because everyone wants you to fill out an interest card - a label would really speed things up.</p>
<p>my D walked around and wouldn't go to booths that weren't from States or cities she was willing to go to school in</p>
<p>They are very valuable. The original info we got on both my Ds current #1s came from a college fair. </p>
<p>The first one they attended though they didn't really have much of a plan. D walked around, approached tables representing Western schools Catholics schools and looked for anything related to bio, soccer, or horses. It really did generate lots of good info from which to build a list.</p>
<p>historymom- Did your D actually find schools that had anything related to horses?
My youngest is still young but already stating firmly that riding must be part of any college she attends.
A friend from her barn is on the riding team at one of the state colleges.</p>
<p>there is no harm in going and can be great benefit</p>
<p>If your college fair has good attendance from schools, I would definitely go. The only one down here has reps from about 200 schools. All the GCs seem to know about are the Ivies and the local state universities. The fair gives students a chance to see what else is out there.</p>