<p>I'm going to a college fair tomorrow, and I'm trying to think of questions to ask...
i.e. questions that cannot be answered by the website</p>
<p>Student life? Traditions?</p>
<p>Did you guys ask any questions in particular? </p>
<p>Need some ideas. Thanks!</p>
<p>I haven’t had the chance to go to a college fair yet, but you should ask things like:
-Do you have a (math club/history club/any specific student activities you’re looking for)? What sort of activities/events do they do?
-Questions about specific majors like how many students are in the major, whether it is a good major for pre-law/pre-med if you’re interested in that, etc. You might want to ask specific questions about the major’s focus, like for architecture if the program focuses more on the technical side or the arts side, stuff like that (specific to your interests).
-Ask if there are specific experiences they like to see in applicants
-Ask about financial aid, how difficult it is to receive merit scholarships, etc.
-Ask how the college is planning to grow/change in the next few years. This will clue you in to the financial health of the school and if your favorite programs aregoing to undergo major changes while you’re there.
-In general, spend a few days thinking about what you still want to know about various colleges that the website didn’t answer. The questions will vary with the school and your personal interests.
Hope this helps!</p>
<p>Having been to a few college fairs I would say this: the web is a much better place for information than the fairs. So why go? Because of the randomness. When you do web research the odds of finding a school you or others on the same forum, blog, etc know nothing about but is actually a great school for you is low.</p>
<p>When you go to the fair check out the schools where even the name is not familiar to you. The people at those (typically empty) tables are usually the nicest. Start by saying “I don’t know anything about your school” The resulting conversation will bring up all sorts of topics which you can then also bring up at the tables for schools you do know. Now at least you’re doing a bit of apples to apples comparison.</p>
<p>I haven’t had the chance to go to a college fair yet, but you should ask things like:
-Do you have a (math club/history club/any specific student activities you’re looking for)? What sort of activities/events do they do?</p>
<p>Most schools list this on website and the rep will not know that level of detail.</p>
<p>-Questions about specific majors like how many students are in the major, whether it is a good major for pre-law/pre-med if you’re interested in that, etc. You might want to ask specific questions about the major’s focus, like for architecture if the program focuses more on the technical side or the arts side, stuff like that (specific to your interests)</p>
<p>Again WAY too specific for an adcom rep. They might know the most popular major but that’s it. US News lists largest majors. Many school shave over 100 majors. </p>
<p>mi-Ask if there are specific experiences they like to see in applicants</p>
<p>Bad question. They will just answer leadership or other very general stuff</p>
<p>-Ask about financial aid, how difficult it is to receive merit scholarships, etc.</p>
<p>May have a general clue but see website.</p>
<p>-Ask how the college is planning to grow/change in the next few years. This will clue you in to the financial health of the school and if your favorite programs aregoing to undergo major changes while you’re there.</p>
<p>Nobody would say anything negative and most don’t know. </p>
<p>-In general, spend a few days thinking about what you still want to know about various colleges that the website didn’t answer. The questions will vary with the school and your personal interests</p>
<p>Best Q’s would be stuff not on website. Traditions, social life, town/gown relations, weather etc.</p>
<p>I went to one college fair with my S and it was kind of a zoo. Don’t worry about making a long list of questions because if it is like the experience we had, you will be lucky to get in a few minutes of conversation – in most cases there were a number of people at a college’s table at the same time vying for the attention of one representative. Except for one or two schools which were not as busy, my son mostly introduced himself to the college representatives, had a small conversation, and the filled in information cards to be put on the school’s mailing list. If you want to explore a bunch of schools, it is worthwhile to go to, just don’t expect too much.</p>
<p>^^ we had the same experience at two fairs. One was for the CTCL event and another larger one in DC. They are generally packed with other students and parents, so you can easily just grab brochures and info. without having to chat much.</p>
<p>If you are seriously interested in a school, then yes, do wait in line until you can ask at least one question with the rep. and make sure to fill out the name/address card and let them know you plan to apply. They’ll make a note of it usually since they are your local area rep. Always good to ask questions about a specific major program, but do your homework a bit before going for the schools you are most interested in. At least be familiar with the programs you are considering majoring in. I once went to a Duke admissions session and the adcom told us that we would be surprised about how many applications they receive each year for a major they don’t even have, lol! So do your homework for your reach and higher target schools at the least.</p>
<p>I just realized you attended the fair yesterday, ah well, this is for future reference then, lol</p>
<p>Thanks for all the suggestions, I read 'em before I went to the fair and it helped. I got there a bit early so I had a bit more time to talk to the college reps (didn’t really have to wait to get to talk to 'em).</p>
<p>I’ll be going to another in a few weeks, so all the suggestions are really appreciated.</p>
<p>BTW, for all those ppl who are going to one soon, bring your cv. I gave a few copies to the college reps and it make a much better impression compared to just writing your info on the postcard-thing.</p>
<p>The fairs I do now use a scanner system and each student has bar code. We just scan it and they are in the system. All that filling out forms is way out of date.</p>
<p>At my college fair we each had our student number, but some colleges still had the postcard-thing. Well, I’m an international student, so its a little different anyway.</p>