<p>There are two college fairs this month near my home. One is specifically for the "Colleges that Change Lives". What can I expect at these events? Is it worth going? Does talking to the rep's help with admission?</p>
<p>Basically, there will be a lot of booths for a lot of colleges with people at the booths handing out promotional material, talking nice about their schools and answering questions you have. Kind of like a cattle call atmosphere. Often, a booth may have not just a school admissions rep but also a student. They are helpful for getting a lot of promotional stuff on a lot of schools at one time and learning a little about many schools you may never have heard of. Not a vehicle for aiding in any way to your admission.</p>
<p>I've been to a few of them and found them to be of little value. About all that happened was that people (students but mostly parents) would go by the booths the colleges sponsored and grab brochures. They were so crowded there was really no way to have any quality time with anyone there or even know in what way they represented the college (admin, alumni, volunteer, student, etc.). Any of the info could easily be found on the college's website. Hopefully other fairs are better than these were.</p>
<p>What's more helpful is to attend some college admissions sessions from college admin people where they discuss admissions for their particular college including tips that could be used at all colleges. If this is part of the fair, plan to attend some of these - especially from colleges of the same tier and type as you're interested in (if the exact college isn't being represented).</p>
<p>They are mainly a way for you to get lots of questions answered about college that may interest you. If you happen to be someone who could be a top recruit for their school, it also could help you with admissions, but, frankly, in that case, you'd not need a boost to get in.</p>
<p>Mostly good for gathering info in one quick place. You can get some added info not in the materials but it will be from a biased source. There is time to talk if you are patient. No admissions impact I know about.</p>
<p>I am a Mom...the first one was the most helpful, in that it helpt shape my D's thoughts about what she wanted in a college---and what she did not.I believe it is a good starting point-it may illuminate schools that otherwise would not be on the radar.</p>
<p>Joyce, I think the College that Change Lives fair is worth attending. There will be a crowd there, but it is a great way to learn about some colleges that you might not otherwise consider, and there are reps from each college who can answer questions. Yes, it is noisy & hard to have much in the way of a conversation, but you can fill out interest cards there and if you don't have the money to go traveling around to visit colleges, that's one way you can be "demonstrating interest" and increasing your chances of acceptance -- plus, if you are seriously interested in a school, you could follow up a meeting with an email to the rep who was there -- and thus stay on their radar screen as well as establishing more direct contact. So I think it does potentially open an avenue of communication. </p>
<p>You might want to review the CTCL list, first - and learn something about the schools in advance. At the time my daughter attended, she thought she would be interested in Goucher, so she went straight to the Goucher table with the questions she had. My son, a prospective transfer, could not attend but told me he might be interested in Antioch or Evergreen, so while my d. was talking to the Goucher people I found those reps, picked up some literature and asked a few questions of my own. I learned info about Antioch that was very important and differed from what was on their web site, in terms of the whether my son could get certain kinds of credit if he transferred -- it wasn't good news for my son, but it certainly was useful to know and we would not have found out otherwise. </p>
<p>Given that admission to the CTCL event is free, I would say it is well worth going if you don't have to travel too far to get there.</p>
<p>My daughter found the college fair to be very helpful, but she went in prepared. She went through the list of colleges, and circled the ones she wanted to talk to. She targeted out-of-area schools that she knew she might not be able to visit -- as a way to show interest. She also avoided schools that attracted long lines of people, instead going to booths that were empty. She had a list of questions that were not easily found on websites, and engaged in some long conversations with the reps. Some reps she found helpful, and others were useless. </p>
<p>She did get personal letters from some of the schools later, so she made it onto their radar screens. </p>
<p>Most of the kids, though, just bounced from table to table picking up literature and got little from it.</p>
<p>I have an acquaintance who does college fairs for an admissions office. He will make notes on the back of the cards that the kids fill out if a kid impresses him. He remembers them when their application comes in.</p>
<p>I went to the Philadelphia college fair with my son a couple of years ago and thought it was worthwhile. I would have liked to attend a CTCL one but I don't remember any close enough when I was in the search mode with my kids.</p>
<p>We found it useful to talk to reps from oos colleges that my son was marginally interested in to just get more of a feel of the school. He also prepped for it (okay, I nudged a bit) by highlighting the ones that sounded good and making up a sheet of labels with his info on it: Name, address, phone, and e-mail. It was really easy to just stick the label on any of the interest cards. I thought it was time well spent. It was crowded but not that bad.</p>
<p>Links, for those of you who are interested. I'll be going to Exploring College Options in my town, next week. </p>
<p><a href="http://exploringcollegeoptions.org/%5B/url%5D">http://exploringcollegeoptions.org/</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/Events/CollegeFairs/NCF/%5B/url%5D">http://www.nacacnet.org/MemberPortal/Events/CollegeFairs/NCF/</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://www.ctcl.com/events/index.htm%5B/url%5D">http://www.ctcl.com/events/index.htm</a> </p>
<p><a href="http://admissions.yale.edu/events/%5B/url%5D">http://admissions.yale.edu/events/</a> </p>
<p>My D found out about some wonderful summer programs at some art schools, that she wouldn't necessarily want for her college, but would find great for summer classes</p>
<p>As well, they both helped my girls focus on what they want, and to see that there are so many choices out there, that you don't have to just look at "name" schools or at prestige</p>
<p>As a college freshman, I found the college fair to be a good starting point. I went just a few weeks into the start of senior year, which is just right IMO. It's late enough that you have those very important final grades of junior year and the first sets of SAT and ACT scores, so you'll have a good idea of whether a school will be a reach, match or safety when compared to your stats. But it's early enough so that a school you might have never known about or considered later on could be on that list of schools you'll apply to. The fair will also refresh your memory about schools you visited 6 months ago during spring break. </p>
<p>Personally, I hadn't thought extremly seriously about what colleges I would apply to at that point. I had taken the SAT once and had average junior yer grades, but really hadn't made any headway at all in figuring out where in the world I would be a year later. It put the process in motion.</p>
<p>My highly intellectual and supportive <em>rolls eyes</em> counselor's from my school stressed the importance of attending College Fairs. When I got through going to each booth, saying hello and filling out information for colleges, collecting papers, and exposing myself to the 'college world' I thought it was a complete waste of time. I mean, yes it is important to at least make sure colleges get your contact number, but I mean, it is the same one sided happy, go lucky attitude that you get about the colleges. It doesn't really help you in the whole admissions process.</p>
<p>We attended one in the Boston area recently and it was a complete and total zoo.</p>
<p>Buses were dumping thousands of students at the door, and they then moved in hordes throughout the exhibit area. College booths were swamped, and the noise level and atmosphere was such that it was impossible to have any kind of meaningful conversation with the school reps.</p>
<p>The event was the first foray of my daughter into the college search process. It did result in our first discussion of what my daughter is seeking in a school.</p>
<p>I agree with Barrons. Be patient and these fairs can be quite worthwhile. Sure, many students whom attend are not particularly focused, but just wait your turn and get acquainted with the college representative, particularly if that person is a senior officer in the Admissions Office. Believe me, an applicant who makes a good impression at a college fair is remembered by the Admissions Office (so be sure you provide contact information if you're truly interested in the school).</p>
<p>If you are interested in smaller schools, like CTCL schools as well as others, talking to the rep and filling out an interest card is a way of showing interest and will be of assistance to you.
In addition, my daughter sent emails to all of the reps that she talked to, thanking them for their time and reiterating her interest in their schools.</p>
<p>We had to beat it into her head that sometimes sucking up is a good thing.</p>
<p>My high school actually hosted a college fair and made it mandatory for sophomores and juniors to go. They're useful insofar as you can get brochures that, while obviously not objective evaluations of the colleges, will still answer at least a few of your questions plus give you ideas of what kinds of majors, programs, and focuses the different colleges have. Actually, what I would suggest if you go to any of these things is to be sure to get your name on the sign up sheets that most of the booths will have. Believe it or not, colleges like to track how often you initiate contact with them to gauge your interest level.</p>
<p>Bring those pre-printed address and info labels. Saves everybody time and it is easier to read than some hurredly written info. By the end of the day all our pens usually have disappeared.</p>