<p>My daughter's high school is soon hosting a college fair. About 400 schools send representatives, and the kids have about four hours to meet and greet and attend four information seminars.</p>
<p>I've looked at a lot of threads here and the feeling seems to range from fairs are "zoo-like with no benefit" to "a good way to gather some preliminary information." I have garnered some good tips from the threads like have a plan going in, bring pre-printed contact labels, explore the lesser known schools. But I'm curious - has anyone's kid gone beyond that at a fair. I mean has anyone been able to cut through the chaos at these things and make a meaningful connection with a college rep - get on their radar screen? If so, explain. </p>
<p>Much thanks</p>
<p>Oh, and my daughter is a junior so she will be able to attend this fair and again her senior year.</p>
<p>D2 did not. D1 did by chance literally run by one while she was an undergrad and did talk with one rep, she did later get in as a transfer and i think mentioned the rep. she later decided not to transfer.</p>
<p>We went to one - it was a zoo. Good only to get names of schools you might not have thought of. If they have info sessions - spend time at those rather than visiting reps at their tables.</p>
<p>Some schools start counting contacts as early as at college fairs, so if you student is interested in a school, have the student sign up for their mailing list or whatever. I think just going and seeing everyone else there helps some students recognize this really is quite a process to go through.</p>
<p>If the school is hosting it and it is not open to the general public, then it may not be a zoo and your kid might have a good chance to talk to some reps.
I’ve only been to the large ones held in convention centers and they are a zoo once the school buses full of students arrive! Hint: go early, grab a copy of the floor map to plan your stops, leave when it becomes crazy. I had a few interesting chats with reps from schools outside the U.S., a whole word of possibilities I knew nothing about. My son did have some useful and encouraging talks with reps so I think he thought it was worthwhile. Not as useful as when the reps came to his school to give presentations and answer questions.</p>
<p>I agree that if you are looking at any small schools, it can be a good chance for face time. If you are putting any small schools, or hidden gems on the list, the fairs are great. DS hated the fairs, but was able to meet a lot of admission reps that were actually reading his applications. He also knocked a few off the list that looked great on paper after meeting with the reps.</p>
<p>My daughter and I have attended two college fairs–one at a local high school (all regional colleges/universities) and one at a convention center with national colleges/universities and some international schools. </p>
<p>My daughter did not want to attend the local fair (it was the first one we attended) but she realized the value of it once we got there. It was not crowded at all and she could ask as many questions as she wanted at all of the booths. We had questions that couldn’t be answered at one booth and they suggested we attend the fair at the convention center because the advisor that could answer the questions would be there (she was and our questions got answered).</p>
<p>If your daughter doesn’t know which colleges she is interested in, a college fair will at least give her some ideas about what is out there.</p>
<p>I have represented my alma mater (state u. of NY) at college fairs. We live in NYC where there are around 400 different high schools of different size and rigor. At big, citywide fairs, like the one run by the State U. of NY and private agencies, with hundreds of schools in a convention center, there is always at least one rep who works at the admissions office. At individual high schools, it’s much more likely that there will be one or two alumni with a bunch of brochures.</p>
<p>In neither case was there any opportunity to take resumes, although there were students who tried to hand one in. But a list was kept or cards collected or electronic scans at the big fairs for students to be placed on a mailing or email list. So for schools that give brownie points for expressing an interest, it may be useful. But it’s a very surface kind of connection. I started working at these fairs when my daughter was a sophomore and I did a circuit of the room each time to talk to people at tables for schools that I thought she may be interested in, and according to whether there were reps or alumni, and how well-informed the alumni may have been, it might have alerted me to a school I hadn’t thought of on my own.</p>
<p>Of course it may be very different at places that aren’t as huge as NYC and for schools that aren’t as selective (very!) as my alma mater.</p>
<p>I went to a college fair at my local CC once, which was fairly small and only had in-state publics and some privates. I did have a really good conversation with my safety school, because nobody was talking to them. I’d asked her what questions she gets asked most often and as it turns out students who knew a little more about the school than I did were asking things I hadn’t thought about. I also asked which questions she wished she got asked more often. If I had been more mature about the prospect of having to attend my safety, she could have been a very valuable resource later on for any questions I might have had, she gave me her card and was really willing to be helpful. I ended up getting into my first choice so I didn’t end up pursuing anything any further. </p>
<p>For what it’s worth, the reps at first choice school were too busy eating and wanted nothing to do with speaking to me-- they were actually quite rude. I picked up some literature I didn’t need and left, their booth was a waste of everybody’s time. I loved my time at the school, though.</p>
<p>D1 went to our regional NACAC National College Fair a couple of times. It was quite helpful, but mostly because she was interested in LACs in the Northeast that weren’t getting a lot of attention from the Upper Midwest kids attending the fair. All our local schools and big-name, nationally well-known schools were mobbed; the reps for most of the Northeastern LACs were pretty lonely, and they were very excited to talk to a real live prospect. So she ended up having a number of extended, in-depth conversations with admissions officers, in most cases the admissions officer whose territory included our state. She picked up a lot of information about those schools, and I think she generally left a good impression with the admissions officers, notes on which may have made it into her admissions file at several of the schools. At the end of the day, though, the only school she applied to was her first-choice LAC, where she applied and was admitted ED.</p>
<p>Boy this thread brings back memories. Like MSNDIS I attended the college fair at my D’s private HS. I insisted my D accompany me, something she’s not forgiven me for (yet). After that disappointment I tried a national college fair at the local Convention Center … just to see if it might be useful to D. It was one of those 3-day affairs, and it was a complete zoo. In many cases the tables were unmanned … literature and slide show only. Ugh.</p>
<p>I’m going to give college fairs the benefit of the doubt here, since the colleges are putting out good money for them. It’s no fun standing behind a table for three days, trying to be encouraging to young people you know little about. As for the college fair at the private HS, it’s my suspicion that the colleges in attendance were trolling for full-pays. (Just my jaded opinion of course.)</p>
<p>If you decide to attend a national college fair, get there early, and depart before your student’s eyes glaze over. Four hundred colleges? “OK, what college was that at Booth No. 146? Do you recall if they had an equestrian team or not?”</p>
<p>I remember the ones that I went to were helpful. There were quite a few schools that I had never heard of… that’s actually where I found out about the school I wound up going to. Also, I’m not sure if schools still do this or not, but for like a year after attending these fairs I got booklet after booklet after booklet in the mail from various colleges. I’m not sure if it was because I was just in that age group or because I went to the fair. </p>
<p>On the flip side of this would be job fairs… I remember going to a job fair hosted at my college during senior year and smoozing it up with employers. I made a contact at a place that seemed really interested in me (it helped that my roommate had done her internship there) however they didn’t really have a position open that I was interested in at the time. Funny how you look back and think how different things could be had you made different decisions!! My work sets up tables at career fairs around here and I always think it would be neat to go - but that’s an HR event!</p>
<p>I do a large 250+ school 2 day fair in our area. Rarely see unmanned tables except for a quick break–not allowed. All the schools get scanners and you should get a bar code that the rep scans and that gets you on the mailing list. No paper to fill out. Most reps love to answer questions but when there is a line keep it to a couple or come back when it is slower.</p>
<p>Our HS is hosting its annual college night this coming week. Below is a list of questions that school suggests to ask the college reps. </p>
<p>What is the most important criteria in your admissions process: grades, rank in class, extracurricular activities, high school curriculum?
When is the application deadline?
How do I find out about scholarships and financial aid?
Which majors are the strongest on your campus?
Does the college have the major/minor I want?
Must freshmen live on campus?
What do I do if I haven’t chosen a major?</p>
<p>Do most students live on-campus all 4 years? If not, where do most upperclassmen live
What’s your 4-year graduation rate?
What housing options are available for freshmen? For upperclassmen?
Do you have substance-free dorms?
What percentage of your students do study abroad? What are your most popular study abroad options?
Is there a large Greek scene on campus? An active fraternity-sorority presence may be attractive to some students, a turn-off to others, but my mind it’s often associated with lots of partying and, at some schools, out-of-control partying.</p>
<p>Synthesizing responses DD and I’ve gotten at College Fairs:
(1) All of those are important for admission … but we consider all applicants who are strong in at least one or two.
(2) We encourage students to apply far in advance of the formal deadline, which is noted on our Web Site.
(3) The best source of information on scholarships and financial aid is our Web Site.
(4) Our college/university regularly updates it’s major/minor offerings. Your best source of information can be found on our Web Site.
(5) Yes, freshman must live on campus.
(6) Students aren’t required to choose a major until Junior year. But some schools, like Engineering, require freshmen to declare earlier.
(7) Students may choose to live on-campus or off-campus from sophomore year on. The percentage that lives off-campus changes from year-to-year.
(8) Freshmen are placed by the Housing Office. Upperclassmen may request a specific dormitory.
(9) All of our dorms are substance-free.
(10) Our Study Abroad Programs are very popular. The percentage of students that take advantage of the these programs varies from year-to-year. Most popular destinations change from year-to-year also.
(11) Fraternities and Sororities are available for students who wish to pledge. Greeks make a significant contribution to the campus community.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that representatives at College Fairs are salesmen.</p>
<p>^ Some are more informative than that. Some know that the most effective selling is sometimes done by giving candid, direct answers to a student’s questions. Others give you a song and dance and evade direct answers. My D1 was always more attracted to the schools whose reps were more candid.</p>
<p>D1 was also attracted to schools that said, ‘We outlawed fraternities and sororities 100 years ago, so we have no Greek life on campus.’ And those that said, ‘Almost all of our students live on campus for 4 years, and well over 90 percent of them graduate in 4 years.’ And those that said, ‘Well over half of our students elect to study abroad, and that’s pretty consistent from year to year.’</p>
<p>^ I agree … honesty is considerably more useful than evasion. What I’m suggesting is to ask a couple of questions to gauge how responsive the representative will be. The “substance free?” inquiry obviously won’t accomplish that, since no college rep is going to say “Well here’s a list of our dormitories where substance abuse is permitted.” Of all the questions listed above, I guess the “which are your colleges strongest majors?” could work. And evasive answer there would be a bad sign. Every college has a few weak majors … even the Ivys.</p>