<p>Do college reps. look at each other schedules? Most likely not! Or maybe this is a new way of competing against each other?
A few days ago I got an e-mail from GC about a visit from some prominent colleges in our town. Kid is busy that night but I planned on attending since this would be a very first for me and it is nice to learn information from other sources, not just CC :) Well, the other day another e-mail comes in, informing us about yet another group of also very prominent colleges having an info night.........on exactly the same night and exactly same time but a totally different place!
What is going on? Why ?
I know you do not have answers. I am just ranting. Never imagined that getting information could be difficult, but here I have a proof...</p>
<p>Not really. There’s no way to do this in light of how programs are planned.</p>
<p>Schools plan these programs in the late spring and over the summer. We have to start early to secure space and get contracts signed. Only in the late August and early September, when travel schedules start getting posted on websites, could we know that another school is going to be in an area at the same time. Sorry to say, but we don’t have time to comb through websites to see who else is in town when we’re going to be.</p>
<p>If you have certain national fairs or conferences in your area, you will see a big increase in programs around the event. Our NACAC conference is in Baltimore this year and I imagine the area schools are getting slammed with visit requests from people who are going to tack on a few days of travel before or after the conference.</p>
<p>My kids are going to both the Colleges That Change Lives and the 8 of the Greatest Colleges college fairs, which are held at times that overlap / conflict with one another. Such is life. They can’t all possibly coordinate with one another on dates and locations; they’d never get anything done.</p>
<p>We attended a couple of college fairs with kid #1, and found them to be completely useless. Some pretty slides, and the info from the web site. We never went to any with kids #2 and #3.</p>
<p>I guess attending those may give you some points with schools that “track interest”. If you are looking at the very top schools, It won’t matter.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if college representatives from the schools you are interested in are coming to visit your HS, it is wise to go and meet them. These are often the regional admissions officers, who are likely to read your application. And if they came to your school, they are trying to recruit the students from there. If you have a meaningful conversation, and they remember you as a result, it might help your case.</p>
<p>My city is not big and some of the reps do not even make it here. The events I am talking about are happening at exactly the same times, so there is no way you can attend both. I know that they can’t all possibly coordinate, but we are talking about the colleges that are very similar caliber holding info sessions that compete with each other. And this city/state does not send a lot of kids out of state to begin with, so it is very likely that same kids would like to attend both sessions. Just very poor planning in my world.</p>
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<p>I would imagine that coordinating (say) 8 different colleges to all show up in the same place at the same time in X number of cities in a region is challenging enough, without having to worry about what other colleges are doing, too. It seems like it’s a bunch of moving parts on both ends.</p>
<p>I have to agree with nngmm–all of this information is available elsewhere, and can be gathered when it fits your schedule. None of my kids has bothered with the college representatives who come to the high schools either, although I can see there might be some benefit if you can’t actually visit the school. I can’t tell you how much time I spent online during oldest’s junior and senior year of hs. There is sooooooooooo much information out there these days right at our fingertips. And of course now I know it all. ;)</p>
<p>Kelowna, I think my S received the exact same mail that you mentioned. Sept. 15. 
My S is busy that night also, but his is an event that I believe parents will also attend, so I won’t be able to attend a college session in his stead. It’s frustrating, because you are right – very few colleges visit here, and it’s too bad to have to miss one of the rare occasions.</p>