The Joys of College Fairs ?

You have a high school student and they are maybe just a L-I-T-T-L-E bit interested in colleges. You're thinking What can I do to pique their interest? Go visit umpteen colleges? (definitely a good idea for the summer before senior year, and certainly not 20 campuses, but at least several if you can swing it.)  Or buy them Barron's Guide to Colleges?  (save your $$$.)  A great way to get information about colleges, all in one spot, is at a college fair.

College fairs will have colleges from your state, out-of-state, public schools, private schools, and probably military rep's too.  They have great looking pamphlets and lists of majors and colorful banners, and it can be overwhelming. Before attending a college fair, look for a website for the fair to see which schools will be there and find the ones that might be of interest to you or your child. Make a beeline for those schools, but also notice the other ones that are there - you might find ones that have programs that interest your child that you wouldn't have otherwise thought of.

Keep in mind, and this is vital, most schools send their REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES to the college fairs. Meaning, the person that will eventually be reviewing YOUR child's application will usually be manning the table.  AAhhhhhhhh....

So.... while college fairs are a really great way to find out about colleges, they can also be a really great way to make a first impression on a college, especially a small, liberal arts college.  I have heard first hand from admissions directors that they remembered meeting certain candidates at college fairs - in positive ways.

So as a senior attending a college fair at the beginning of senior year, take the business card of the rep at the table of the school you're interested in. Engage with that person in a positive way. Consider this like you would a short on-campus interview, except that you are the one asking questions (not rapid fire, but inquisitive about programs, etc.) and make sure to give your BEST impression, and dress nicely. Not shirt and tie, but nicely. You'll be remembered.  Even if you're a junior attending a college fair you should do the same. 

And then FOLLOW-UP with an email of thanks to the rep (all of them) you spoke with, with details about your conversation to jog their memory. Let them know how glad you are to know more about their school. And juniors, this applies to you, too!!

While you can't always get a full picture of any particular college from a college fair setting, you can certainly get a good introduction to the school, and you might even find out about schools that you never would have considered or heard of previously.  Colleges put a lot of effort into these fairs to attract students from parts of the country they want to recruit from (or from areas they already get a lot of students from).

How do you find college fairs near you? Sometimes your local high school, or nearby ones, offer college fairs in the fall. A great website to look up dates for college fairs is https://www.nacacfairs.org/, as is https://ctcl.org/info-sessions/.

It's worth going to at least one college fair. Do your research first, grab a cup of coffee to recharge your batteries, take a pad of paper, and have your child know they should be their best!