How to Meet College Admission Officers in Spring 2008

College Search & Selection
1

<p>The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has posted its spring 2008 schedule of National College Fair events. </p>

<p>NACAC</a> Spring National College Fairs Schedule and Information </p>

<p>College fairs offer students (and parents) a chance to meet a lot of admission officers from a lot of different colleges. They usually include specialized workshops on such topics as financial aid and selective college admission. </p>

<p>I'll try to post to this thread, as the information comes in, links to college schedules of regional information sessions or high school visits conducted individually or jointly by colleges. If you hear of any such meetings, please post the news here, and after we attend various meetings, it would be much appreciated to post visit reports to this thread. </p>

<p>Best wishes to all of you students who are looking for colleges to apply to next year, the year after, or farther into the future.</p>

2

<p>Seattle has one too.</p>

<p>College</a> Fair-Seattle08</p>

3

<p>Thanks for the link to the other college fair. Here is the New England spring 2008 college fair schedule: </p>

<p>Spring</a> Fair Schedule - NEACAC</p>

4

<p>Wayne State University recruiting sessions: </p>

<p>Undergraduate</a> Admissions - Recruitment Schedule</p>

5

<p>The helpful reply from barrons gave me an idea for a Google search, and I found several regional association of college admission counselors with websites listing upcoming college fairs. </p>

<p>Hawaii Association </p>

<p>HACAC</a> College Fairs </p>

<p>Minnesota Association </p>

<p>[MACAC[/url</a>] </p>

<p>New England Association </p>

<p>[url=<a href="http://www.neacac.org/cf_spring.cfm%5DSpring"&gt;http://www.neacac.org/cf_spring.cfm]Spring&lt;/a> Fair Schedule - NEACAC](<a href="http://www.mn-acac.org/index.php?s=fairs_mef&print=true&season=Spring&year=2008&type=Representatives%5DMACAC%5B/url"&gt;http://www.mn-acac.org/index.php?s=fairs_mef&print=true&season=Spring&year=2008&type=Representatives) </p>

<p>Pacific Northwest Association </p>

<p>College</a> Fairs </p>

<p>Pennsylvania Association </p>

<p>[PACAC[/url</a>] </p>

<p>Rocky Mountain Association </p>

<p>[url=<a href="http://www.rmacac.org/collegefairs.php%5DRMACAC.ORG"&gt;http://www.rmacac.org/collegefairs.php]RMACAC.ORG&lt;/a> - The Rocky Mountain Association of College Admission Counseling](<a href="http://www.pacac.org/collegefairs/statewide.shtml%5DPACAC%5B/url"&gt;http://www.pacac.org/collegefairs/statewide.shtml) </p>

<p>Western Association </p>

<p>[url=<a href="http://wacac.goalquest.net/index.php/college_fairs/schedules_and_registration/%5DWACAC%5B/url"&gt;http://wacac.goalquest.net/index.php/college_fairs/schedules_and_registration/]WACAC[/url&lt;/a&gt;]&lt;/p>

6

<p>Some colleges have posted, or will soon post, their spring travel schedules. </p>

<p>Exploring College Options Consortium (Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, Stanford) </p>

<p>Exploring</a> College Options </p>

<p>Eight of the Best Colleges Consortium </p>

<p>(Claremont McKenna College, Colorado College, Connecticut College, Grinnell College, Haverford College, Kenyon College, Macalester College, Sarah Lawrence College) </p>

<p>Eight</a> of the Best, One The Road, Admission, Claremont McKenna College </p>

<p>Lutherancolleges.org </p>

<p>Map</a> & Schedule </p>

<p>Claremont Colleges </p>

<p>Claremont</a> Colleges Receptions, One The Road, Admission, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont McKenna College </p>

<p>Clark University </p>

<p>Clark</a> University | Admissions | Clark on the Road - Information Sessions </p>

<p>Cornell College (Mt. Vernon, IA) </p>

<p>Off-Campus</a> Events </p>

<p>Davidson College </p>

<p>Davidson</a> in Your Area </p>

<p>Indiana University </p>

<p><a href="https://www.indiana.edu/%7Eiuadmit/events/index.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://www.indiana.edu/~iuadmit/events/index.php&lt;/a> </p>

<p>Knox College </p>

<p>Knox</a> on the Road </p>

<p>Linfield College </p>

<p>Campus</a> Visit: Fairs and Visits </p>

<p>Northeastern University </p>

<p>Visit</a> Campus > College Fairs </p>

<p>Penn State </p>

<p>Penn</a> State Undergraduate Admissions </p>

<p>Purdue University </p>

<p>Purdue</a> University Undergraduate Admissions: visiting: Purdue Comes to You </p>

<p>Savannah College of Art and Design </p>

<p>Savannah</a> College of Art and Design > SCAD Information Sessions </p>

<p>University of Miami </p>

<p>Regional</a> College Fairs | University of Miami</p>

7

<p>Quick question, what are some things you should ask a college admission officer?</p>

8

<p>One good question that any admission officer should be ready for is "What makes your college different from other colleges?" or "What kind of student fits into your college?" or something along that line. That gives the admission officer a chance to give his or her standard spiel while still giving you information that distinguishes that college from other colleges. </p>

<p>You could also ask any question you have after reading the brochures or browsing the college website. Anything that you've made a decent effort to find out and is still unclear is something worth asking about if it is important to you.</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
what are some things you should ask a college admission officer?

[/quote]

Boxers or briefs?</p>

<p>On a serious note... the general rule is avoid obvious questions that you could resolve on your own with a few clicks on your computer. By asking deeper, more specific questions, you can show that you're really interested in the school and not just applying because their SAT figures are impressive or what not.</p>

10

<p>College Board on how to prepare for a college fair: </p>

<p>College</a> Fairs - college admissions, search for schools</p>

11

<p>Some colleges form consortia with other colleges and travel together. Such joint information sessions are very interesting and pack a lot of information into one meeting. Sometimes one member of a consortium will post the joint travel schedule for all the colleges before any of the other consortium members do, so check each college website for the schedules. </p>

<p>Exploring College Options (Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Penn, Stanford) </p>

<p>Exploring</a> College Options </p>

<p>Eight of the Best Colleges Consortium (Claremont McKenna College, Colorado College, Connecticut College, Grinnell College, Haverford College, Kenyon College, Macalester College, Sarah Lawrence College) </p>

<p>Eight</a> of the Best, One The Road, Admission, Claremont McKenna College </p>

<p>Lutherancolleges.org </p>

<p>Map</a> & Schedule </p>

<p>Claremont Colleges </p>

<p>Claremont</a> Colleges Receptions, One The Road, Admission, Claremont McKenna College, Claremont McKenna College </p>

<p>And plenty of colleges schedule individual visits to college fairs or to stand-alone college information sessions. </p>

<p>Clark University </p>

<p>Clark</a> University | Admissions | Clark on the Road - Information Sessions </p>

<p>Cornell College (Mt. Vernon, IA) </p>

<p>Off-Campus</a> Events </p>

<p>Davidson College </p>

<p>Davidson</a> in Your Area </p>

<p>Georgetown University (showing schedule of Exploring College Options joint programs) </p>

<p>Georgetown</a> University- Office of Undergraduate Admissions </p>

<p>Harvard University (this tends to be updated rather late) </p>

<p>Harvard</a> College Admissions Office: Harvard in Your Hometown </p>

<p>Indiana University </p>

<p><a href="https://www.indiana.edu/%7Eiuadmit/events/index.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://www.indiana.edu/~iuadmit/events/index.php&lt;/a> </p>

<p>Johns Hopkins University </p>

<p>Hopkins</a> Undergraduate Admissions :: Visit :: Off-Campus Events </p>

<p>Knox College </p>

<p>Knox</a> on the Road - Knox College </p>

<p>Linfield College </p>

<p>Campus</a> Visit: Fairs and Visits </p>

<p>New York University </p>

<p>NYU</a> > Undergraduate Admissions > Explore NYU > Visiting Us > Off-Campus Visits </p>

<p>Northeastern University </p>

<p>Visit</a> Campus > NU In Your Area </p>

<p>Penn State </p>

<p>Penn</a> State Visits You! - Penn State Undergraduate Admissions </p>

<p>Purdue University </p>

<p>Purdue</a> University Undergraduate Admissions: visiting: Purdue Comes to You </p>

<p>Savannah College of Art and Design </p>

<p>Savannah</a> College of Art and Design > SCAD Information Sessions </p>

<p>University of Chicago (includes joint programs with Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, and Rice University) </p>

<p><a href="https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level2.asp?id=90%5B/url%5D"&gt;https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/level2.asp?id=90&lt;/a> </p>

<p>University of Miami </p>

<p>Events</a> in Your Area | University of Miami </p>

<p>University of Minnesota </p>

<p>College</a> Fairs </p>

<p>University of Pennsylvania (including Exploring College Options joint programs) </p>

<p>Penn</a> Admissions: Penn in Your Town </p>

<p>Yale University (listing joint events with Brown and MIT) </p>

<p><a href="http://admissions.yale.edu/events/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://admissions.yale.edu/events/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

12

<p>Argh. Very few schools seem to be coming anywhere near the midwest. Looking at a few of these schedules, it seems that I'd have to travel just as far to get to the college fairs as I would to get to the actual colleges.</p>

13

<p>I received some questions by private message, and I think the answers will be of general interest, so here goes: </p>

<p>1) Is it OK for freshmen to go? </p>

<p>Yes, that is fine. My son tagged along with me one time when I was really doing my personal research, and not expecting him to do anything but look around. He was sixth-grade age at the time, and was treated very politely by representatives of a famous college at the college fair I attended that day. They invited him and me to attend a regional information session later that school year, the first I ever attended. </p>

<p>2) Whatever you normally wear to school is appropriate dress; I certainly see high school students who look like regular high school students at most college information sessions I attend. </p>

<p>3) If they wind up speaking with someone, is their contact "tracked"? </p>

<p>It may or may not be, depending on the college. If the conversation begins with "I'm a freshman, and I'm just getting an early start looking around," that shouldn't be off-putting if the student is young and acts younger than a senior. </p>

<p>4) It is a good idea for the student to have a personal email address that looks serious, for example </p>

<p><a href="mailto:jsmith@isp.com">jsmith@isp.com</a> </p>

<p>rather than </p>

<p><a href="mailto:hotpartyingbabe@aol.com">hotpartyingbabe@aol.com</a> </p>

<p>or whatever it is that teens do these days to try to be funny with email addresses. </p>

<p>I hope that helps. Just being your own polite self and asking reasonably informed questions should go a long way toward gaining information and making a (possibly remembered, possibly not) good impression.</p>

14

<p>When's a good time to meet them?</p>

15

<p>
[quote]
When's a good time to meet them?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I mean, in what year of your high school (Sophomore, Junior etc)</p>

16

<p>
[quote]
When's a good time to meet them?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>When you're starting to think about what colleges to apply to.</p>

17

<p>Northwestern is beginning to post its schedule. </p>

<p>Northwestern</a> Comes to You, Office of Undergraduate Admission - Northwestern University</p>

18

<p>On the "Exploring College Options" webpage, when I click on my state, I can't find a "Register" link in the blurb that comes up. The date is about 7 weeks away. Does this just mean they haven't set up the registration yet, or am I missing something on the page?</p>

19

<p>Most likely that means that they haven't set up the registration yet. It has always been working in time before the meetings in past years.</p>

20

<p>tokenadult- your info has been fantastic and very helpful as D would like to explore the whole country! Do you suggest having anything to give reps? such as a resume or preprinted info? Any suggestions for schools you know do not have a good track record with your HS?</p>