A recap of the 2016 college fair

During the evening of Oct. 18, students of all grades entered the gym to walk down the aisles full of college representatives speaking for more than one hundred colleges and universities. For the hour and a half during which the annual College fair took place, they offered insight about the admissions process and any aspect or detail about the school.

“I had two children attend Wash U,” Washington University in St. Louis alumni parent Mickey Schleien said. “My kids attended it for many years so I’m very familiar with the university and can answer many of the questions that people have from the perspectives of a student and a parent.”

The spokespeople could not only answer many questions in detail, but present a more human element to the institution rather than just the attractive pictures and the perfect terminology typically seen on colleges’ websites. By doing so, they enabled seniors, juniors, sophomore and even freshmen to have a clearer picture of the colleges they initially were interested in and to discover new schools they previously were not aware of. Approximately three quarters of the representatives at the event are actually the people who will read your college application first.

The designated purpose of the college fair varied from one grade to another. For seniors, it helped consolidate their college list and perhaps even introduced them to some new schools. Sometimes students attending the college fair who would find a college that becomes attractive to them and they end up going to it.

“You get more interaction with the people representing the colleges and you can ask more personal questions,” senior Jared Ehrlich said.

For freshmen, sophomores and juniors, the college fair presented some of the many options for their future school. Although walking into the college fair may be intimidating the first time as a freshman or sophomore, those returning as juniors or seniors already have a feeling for what the event feels like and what they want; this helps them navigate all the available options.

“For juniors it’s like shopping for a car. You’ll go test drive a few, go talk to some of the representatives,” college counselor Harry Nerenberg said.

If you are a junior or in any lower grade, you are strongly encouraged to come to the next annual college fair because you never know what college you may discover about the colleges represented there or yourself.