College Fair

<p>I am going to the National College Fair in Philadelphia next weekend, and I have a few questions.
How many schools should you look at at the fair?
What are the most important questions to ask?
Is it important to make info cards for the admissions people like my school has suggested? If so, how do you make them?
Thanks.</p>

<p>anyone please?</p>

<p>I'm going to a regional college fair tomorrow with over 300 colleges represented. I'm wondering the same things. What should I ask?</p>

<p>Most kids ask about strength of different majors, weather, what the town is like, admissions requirements, and aid $$$. Bring pre-printed address stickers to put on the cards. You'll have time to visit 20 or more schools.</p>

<p>I don't understand what these cards are that you two are talking about. Don't they usually have forms to fill out at their booth to join their mailing list, etc.?</p>

<p>Yes, walt, they do, but how many times do you want to write your name & address? And how much time do you want to waste doing it? If you have address labels, you put that on the list or the Request More Info card, and you're set.</p>

<p>Your label should have your name, your address, your birthdate, and the name & city & state of your high school (if the city & state are different than yours).</p>

<p>But if I don't have time to make labels (it's tomorrow), they're not absolutely necessary, right?</p>

<p>No, the labels are only a convenience. They are not necessary if you don't mind writing your name and address by hand several times.</p>

<p>I've met with admission counselors individually, and I already have a fairly good idea of what schools I'll be applying to - should I look around at the other schools there or go straight to the booths? Also, I'm sure the counselors are bombarded with questions about "chances", and that probably would NOT be a good idea to bring that up, correct?</p>

<p>So basically, the most important question to ask is about your intended major?</p>

<p>walt, don't ask about your chances; they won't tell you. They don't have your full application (and even if they did, they wouldn't tell you).</p>

<p>I'd suggest checking out colleges other than the ones you already know about; the point of a college fair is to introduce those schools to you. You never know - you could find a hidden gem.</p>

<p>Ryno, the "most important question" is the one you want an answer to. To some kids, it's the major. To others, it's the social scene/Greek life. To yet others, it's performance opportunities for non-performance majors. Ask the question that is important to you. Remember, this is not an exam - this is where the colleges are trying to sell themselves to you, not the other way around.</p>

<p>a college fair is a bunch of tables with a representative of the school- could be someone from admissions, could be a local person, could be a student- it varies</p>

<p>mostly college fairs are there to show off their schools, get names of interested students and answer questions</p>

<p>filling out the card for schools you want more information about is a good idea, and it goes quick</p>

<p>as for the labels, you can quickly type up the info, copy it several times, you can get 10-12 to a page and print it out, then just bring a glue stick, no one will care how the information got on the card</p>

<p>when my Ds went to fairs, they looked at the cities schools were from and in doing so, learned about some schools in locations they hadn't considered, so if you see a pattern in what schools you are looking at, maybe look at similar schools</p>

<p>and beleive me, you won't spend lots of time at any one booth, to do so, you just annoy everyone</p>

<p>This might be a weird question - and probably a stupid one at that.</p>

<p>But, do any colleges offer fee-waivers at college fairs (like they would on college visits, etc.)?</p>

<p>Unlikely. Too easy to lose info at a college fair. (And see above for who mans the tables.)</p>