College Fair

College fairs and high school “College Nights” give you the opportunity to both learn about colleges and universities AND to make positive impressions with college representatives. At these events, be ready to ask “intelligent” questions and to show how you are organized and prepared for meeting with representatives. Doing this will give you an additional edge with college admission officers when you apply for admission at those schools.

Prepare for college fairs and “College Nights” by doing the following:

1. Think about the college factors that are most important to you. This way you can focus on collecting information from schools that have the factors you’re looking for and appeal to you the most. Think about:

- In which area(s) of the U.S. do you want to go to college?
- What size college or university do you prefer to attend?
- What setting do you prefer for your college campus – urban, suburban, or rural?
- What major(s) are you considering studying in college?
- Which extracurricular activities are you most interested in?
- Is there anything special you want to see available at your college?

2. Write a short list of questions to ask college representatives; to compare several schools, ask identical questions at each table. Questions should be unique to your interests and situation. It may be helpful to print copies of generic questions to ask.

If a list of participating schools is available before the fair, you may want to research basic information about those colleges and universities so you will be better informed and able to ask more school-specific questions.

3. Bring several copies of your student résumé; it will be VERY impressive if you provide your résumé to college representatives.

4. To show excellent organization and preparation skills, bring several (20 or more) pre-prepared Avery address labels to put on college information request cards. Information on the labels should be typed and include your:
- Name
- Address
- E-mail address
- Telephone number
- High school
- Year of graduation
- GPA
- Intended major(s)
- Extracurricular activities of interest
In addition to impressing college representatives, having pre-prepared address labels will give you more free time because you won’t have to fill out the same information over and over at each college table. You just have to peel and stick.

Make college fairs and “College Nights” a two-way street; gather information from colleges AND give information about you to colleges. Take advantage of opportunities to meet with representatives who can influence decisions made in the admissions office at your favorite schools.

For more information visit MyCollegeCalendar.org