College Fairs: A Parent’s Perspective
A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of accompanying my daughter, a freshman in high school, to her first college fair. This was not a first for me though. I have two sons, now 22 and 24, who have been down this road before. But I learned that the college fair scene has changed a bit in the last five years.
The last time I attended a college fair, my son and I spent most of our time filling out comment cards and forms at each college booth that interested him. Now, you complete a student registration online (or at the event) and receive a barcode that is scanned by interested institutions. Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t Hide, Get Noticed by Colleges
Have you ever played the board game, Risk®? I never won, nor fully understood the game. But, I did recognize that a well-thought out strategy was important to winning. Much like Risk, strategy is an important component of the college search and application process. A college contact strategy is a vital plan to ensure that a college knows who you are beyond your college application and knows that you are serious about attending their institution.
Most college admissions offices have software that tracks your contact with them. So, each time you place your college contact strategy into action, you should remember to inform the admissions department whom you spoke with, when and where—and be ready to explain why the meeting was so important to you—in order for your meeting to be tracked by the college. But remember, you can’t get tracked unless you have a strategy in place: Read the rest of this entry »
College Fairs: I Missed This Part, But That Doesn’t Mean You Should
Just the other day I learned that colleges and universities like to see prospective students actively demonstrating interest in their school. Attending a college fair or fairs is one of the early steps in demonstrating that yes, you really are interested in a particular school and this makes the inevitable decision process of “which college do I attend” that much easier on you.
Think of it this way: let’s say that you attend a college fair at the end of your sophomore year of high school. You will already have an idea of the type(s) of school(s) you would like to apply to, thus giving you an opportunity to see whether or not a school might be the right fit for you. Read the rest of this entry »
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