Over the past few months, we’ve talked about several pieces of the college admission puzzle – admission interviews, SATs and personal statements being just three.
But the next topic is near and dear to my heart and is rarely discussed in online fora. (Fora = plural of forum; always trying to help you with the SATs here)
I think the general consensus is that it isn’t that important.
I think the general consensus is – or, at least, can be – very wrong.
Meeting an admissions counselor or alumni volunteer at a College Fair can be an invaluable experience in your college search. It can rewarding and it can be as “real” as any part of your college admission journey.
Admission counselors travel from hotel to hotel in their Ford Tauruses (Tauri?), living off fast food, PTA dinners and USA Today. They do this because they love meeting people and love the concept of a College Education and are usually genuine about their enthusiasm about the College they are promoting.
They’ve generally already spent a full day working for the College and are excited about this opportunity to meet the students they have been sending all of that mail and all of those emails to. (To which they have been sending all of those….anyway…)
They want to talk to you. They don’t want you to just walk by and take a brochure (the same one they’ve mailed to you twice already). They don’t want you to just “fill out a card” since you could have done that online without stopping at the table. They want to talk to you, help you, guide you, make a friend, establish or strengthen a contact and – to put it in layman’s terms – possibly “make a sale”.
They probably will explain how their school can meet your needs, but they will also generally be fairly honest about where the fit may NOT be, how your background fits into the admission profile of the College and (if there is no match to be made) other schools that they are aware of that might fit your needs and wants.
So, go right up to that table. Talk to them about your academic, athletic and other relevant interests. Have a conversation. Ask them about the admission process and campus visitation policies. You won’t regret it. If they have a name tag, address them by their first name – it’ll make their day. You’ll find that you – to use a layman’s phrase – might just make a sale, as well.
Nice post, Mike, but what the heck is that title all about?
Oh, yeah, almost forgot – sorry. I was at a College Fair once when I was working for a school that began with “College of”. It was not in an area where we drew many (read “any”) students. And, like most college fairs, the colleges were arranged alphabetically. I found myself between Colgate and Cornell. I expected a looooong night. A funny thing happened. I ended up in a few wonderful conversations with families waiting to talk to the representatives from those two better known institutions. And most of those conversations started with a glance from the student and a motion to the set of pens on my table. And that’s when I got to utter the title phrase above, so that they could fill out the inquiry card for the colleges to either side of me.
But, ultimately, I gained a wonderful student that decided to come to my school (and did very well, by the way) and I enjoyed some great conversations. All because I brought some extra pens.
So, go to your high school’s college fair, or a regional or national fair in your area. For my New Jersey contingent, don’t miss the National Fair on April 6, at the Raritan Center. Make a few friends, learn about a few schools and maybe even make an impression that makes the difference in terms of admission.
As always, I welcome your comments and questions. Please feel free to email me at info@cc4therestofus.com, call or text me at 908-403-3819, join me on Facebook on “College Counseling for the Rest of Us” and join me on Twitter at @MichaelCCR.
College Counseling for the Rest of Us 
Mar 17, 2011 @ 21:40:37
Spot on, Michael! We (our son, Sean) had this very experience. Just by chance we’d attended a fair at William Patterson, here in NJ, with Sean. We were interested in Engineering programs, met and spoke with several colleges – and wound up liking a particular admissions officer from a very good school (which we didn’t think Sean would get in to, or which we could afford). She made it very easy to see a path toward gaining entry to the school, became very interested in our son – and was his biggest advocate when his application went before the admissions board. Sean was accepted, AND received a very good merit and financial assistance package. A Cinderella story!
Mar 17, 2011 @ 22:10:02
Thank you, John. And March Madness seems the perfect time to tell a Cinderella story!
Mar 18, 2011 @ 08:58:55
Just as alumni connections are helpful and sometimes necessary post college, they are just as crucial when trying to get in! And nothing beats talking to someone in person at a college fair. A student might have their heart set on a certain college, but after talking with someone in person, they may find it’s actually not for them and will meet a better college by accident! Great article Michael!
Mar 18, 2011 @ 09:03:10
Thank you, Hilary! (And thank you for the #FF Twitter shout I just saw!)
Have you ever served your alma mater as an alumni rep? (If not, I think you’d be a good one!)
Mar 18, 2011 @ 15:10:37
Great stuff, Michael! It is vitally important that students have conversation with Admissions Officers. I have always encouraged my students to ask questions and learn as much as possible about, not only the institutions they are interested in, but all other colleges as they never know what can come out of a single conversation.
Mar 18, 2011 @ 17:50:41
Thank you, Tamam!
Mar 21, 2011 @ 12:06:05
Michael,
Thank you for promoting the use of college fairs in the college search and selection process. Having participated in a “few” over the past 37 years I can attest that matches such as the one you and several of the people who have already commented to happen. However, I feel that those kinds of connections are the exception not the rule. I’ve always felt that somehow there had to be a better way to encourage meaningful conversation between the college reps and students at college fairs. In my experience seldom do the conversations get beyond, “”what majors do you offer”, “how many students attend your college” “what is housing like” “what GPA and test scores no you need to get in”. Most of these questions could be answered by reading a guidebook so neither the “essence” of the school nor the “essence” of the student are ever discussed.
I might have gone my whole career lamenting the lost opportunity of the school student exchange at a college fair if I hadn’t taken a position at a college of art and design. Because most good colleges of art and design require a portfolio for admissions there is a National Portfolio Day Association (NPDA) that holds portfolio days all over the U.S. and Canada. In someways these events resemble a college fair but the biggest difference is the student brings their art work and in turn they receive feedback on that work from the college reps. This process gives an “organic”
reason for the student and rep to have a deeper conversation about the student and institution fit. I believes these exchanges are very valuable to all concerned and I wished their was a way for students and reps to have that kind of deeper conversation about student/institution fit in the college fair setting. I know in many ways it wouldn’t be practical for large and/or very popular schools to have those conversations when they have so many people coming to their table but I’d like to think there may be ways that all of us; college reps, students, counselors and parents could find a way to make sure the conversations at college fair are more meaningful.
Thanks for bringing up another important topic.
Ed Schoenberg
V.P. Enrollment Management
Otis College of Art and Design
Los Angeles, CA
Mar 21, 2011 @ 12:25:40
Thank you, Ed, for your – as always – insightful commentary. Too much of the College Fair experience (for both sides of the table) is, unfortunately, a waste of time. That’s why I wrote the blog – it’s those few opportunities when it does work that convince me how underutilized an opportunity it really is.
A reality re: those meetings of deeper meaning is that, too often, the schools that are interested in having them and the schools the students want to have them with don’t always align. (Unless you bring extra pens!)
Two quick sound bites: I’ve always thought that pre-Fair contact with inquiries always has been an underutilized tool of admission officers. And I wonder how cyberspace fits into the future of College Fairs; really don’t have a good sense of that.