College Fairs: seeking input from BTDT parents

[Anonymous]

A lot of folks on here will never attend a college fair (totally valid) but for parents who want to try attending a college fair — any advice on how to get something out of the experience?

I’m appalling clueless re mechanics of college admissions in 2024 it turns out!

Local college fair seems like a relatively efficient way for my sophomore to stick their toe in the water and preview a bunch of schools.

- any recommended questions for student to ask reps?

-any advice on what I can tell my kid to try to accomplish at the is fair (meet reps, work on list, show demonstrated interest)?

- are any of these college reps actually looking for specific (taking notes/flagging files)?

-do buyers and sellers use these fairs differently in any ways?

This kid did fairly well on PSAT getting emails from reps to see them at college fairs. I’m wondering if this is 100% used car sales or something they can meaningfully benefit from.

TIA!

[Anonymous]

First objective is for DC to learn about each of the schools. A good question to ask any school is how they differ from other schools, but do not take the answers at face value.

DC needs to have true safety schools, targets, and reaches. So looking at a broad range of schools at a college fair would be wise.

If DC has a specific major in mind, they should ask each about that specific major also.

[Anonymous]

Get there as soon as it starts. They become zoos later on. My kid had visited with seven colleges and was ready to leave when the masses started pouring in.

Last time I went, when the kids registered, they get a QR code and can scan it with the reps of the schools they are interested in. It gets them on the mailing lists, possibly demonstrates interest for the schools who track that.

My best suggestion is to look at the list of schools with your kid BEFOREHAND and narrow it down to interesting schools, and find those dozen-or-fewer schools. That way you aren’t wandering aimlessly. Plus, you can tell the rep whatever or was that made you sell them out (school size, location, particular program, etc).

Have fun!

[Anonymous]

^^^ whatever it was

[Anonymous]

Ooof, and “seek them out” not “sell them out.” Sorry! Typos!

[Anonymous]

The Your College-Bound Kid podcast just did an episode on "Tips to Get the Most out of a College Fair." Apparently, someone from DC asked the question. Maybe they are on DCUM!

https://yourcollegeboundkid.com/2024/03/08/ycbk-411-tips-to-get-the-most-out-of-a-college-fair/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get there as soon as it starts. They become zoos later on. My kid had visited with seven colleges and was ready to leave when the masses started pouring in.

Last time I went, when the kids registered, they get a QR code and can scan it with the reps of the schools they are interested in. It gets them on the mailing lists, possibly demonstrates interest for the schools who track that.

My best suggestion is to look at the list of schools with your kid BEFOREHAND and narrow it down to interesting schools, and find those dozen-or-fewer schools. That way you aren’t wandering aimlessly. Plus, you can tell the rep whatever or was that made you sell them out (school size, location, particular program, etc).

Have fun!

Yes, this!

College fairs are fun, but I think they vary a lot. My kids go to a pretty good suburban school. Their college fair is "mid." Mostly schools that DCUM would not be impressed by.

The best schools get SWAMPED, so I agree, get there early. Be open to chatting with schools you're not seriously interested in ... they might surprise you, and the chats are good practice. My DC and I had a lovely conversation with the rep from the University of Maine. We love Maine, but my kid isn't going to go that far away ... still enjoyed the chat!

[Anonymous]

If you want to gain something, as a parent, go. Only if the rep wasn't busy with students, I'd ask about transportation. Sometimes universities have university transportation for the OOS students from airport/or train to campus. They should, but sometimes this isn't advertised very well. That bit of info made a huge difference in our decision.

Generally, if the student can get one-on-one time with a rep, it's worthwhile. They can be in touch with the rep later and form a connection. If it's a mad house, not happening.

[Anonymous]

I've participated in a lot of college fairs as an alumni. With rare exceptions, they're about information-gathering. I have zero input as to whether you're accepted, so there's really not a huge need to impress. For whatever that's worth.

[Anonymous]

In my experience the most popular schools have been swamped. I encouraged my kid to use it as a chance to find some lesser known schools to add to the list to explore as safeties.

[Anonymous]

Totally useless, in my opinion.

We researched schools online, according:
1. My kid's preferred majors and how developed they were at each institution.
2. Those colleges's acceptance rate and accepted students' stats, to assess what was a reach, target and safety compared to my kid's stats.
This is how we built a short list.

Then we visited those campuses, including Canada but except the one in the UK, to get the general campus feel and so that my kid, who had never visited any such institutions, could get an idea of similarities and differences and try to see himself there. It acted as a wake-up call for my kid to really start thinking about his college essays, which turned out to be one long torture to write - he's slow and perfectionist, and made so many drafts, tailored to each college on his list.

Then we did all the Admitted Student Days, which turned out to be critical to sort out the top two contenders: he turned down the reach, on a campus and with a curriculum he realized was not suitable for his goals, and chose the target/safety (same price) with a campus and curriculum he liked much better.

None of this would have been apparent in a college fair. It's only when he talked to the director of the program at one school, and attended lectures by professors at the other, which only happened during the Admitted Student Days, and not during the campus tours, that things became clear.

[Anonymous]

It will help if your kid has a few standard questions ready to go. They could ask about things like music opportunities for non-majors, study abroad, research or internship programs in their major, campus housing (are freshmen required to live on campus? is housing guaranteed after the first year?), intramural sports, etc. That will get the conversation started, and help them get a feel for the school.

If it’s a huge event, they’ll want to make a list of schools to prioritize. But if it’s a smaller fair, maybe at their own school, it should be OK to browse the tables. But you should at least review the list and help them hone in on a few they should be sure not to miss.

[Anonymous]

Good for getting your kid into the mindframe that there are people at these institutions they aren't just random stats on a website. Have your kid generate questions they want to ask, what they want to get out of it. Also, good practice for talking with adults you don't know--likely to be rewarding because they are doing this because they want to market themselves but also because they like connecting with students. This will increase their confidence and also just put them in that future mindset.

Agree with others that the best thing to do is to go in finding likelies and targets you're less familiar with than crowding the tables of schools you know you will visit or that are target reaches.

[Anonymous]

Look at the schools before and have a list. Stop by, introduce yourself to the rep. My child already knew a couple who had been to events at his school and said hi. Ask a couple generic questions about majors, dorms, campus, etc. Don’t plan to park at one desk too long. It’s an intro. You’ll get emails and mail after.

[Anonymous]

The drive to and from the college fair was more useful than the info we gathered. We discussed the basics, big vs small, urban vs rural, in-state vs OOS, warm vs cold climate, which was the start of the plan for picking our spring break campus visits.

The George Mason fair is like Times Square on NYE, you can barely move. The lines at the popular schools are 5+ people deep just to grab a flyer. We spoke with reps for a few small private schools and then left. There isn't any information to be gained that we couldn't just look up online.