2023 College Fair: How it was for me

On Apr 18, Blake participated in the annual College Fair with the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). Mr. Marshall, went around to all the 11th-grade English classes and made sure all Juniors were aware of this great opportunity and encouraged them to take advantage of it. 

On the actual day, all juniors met up in the auditorium to get assigned buses and understand the plan when we got there. It was about a 30-minute bus drive, and when we got there, let me just tell you just how crowded it was. This event is held for all MCPS high school juniors, so it’s safe to say that there were a LOT of people there. 

The whole idea of the college fair is for students to get to talk face to face with representatives of these major colleges all around the country and even some study abroad options. It was held in a big complex where each college basically had a little booth. It was table after table with representatives, so it was pretty crowded. Some colleges like Penn State had a large table with about five different representatives, while some had just one representative. 

As fun, as it was, it was also extremely stressful. There were hundreds of juniors there, and we were only given about an hour to try to talk to as many colleges as possible. Mind you there were hundreds of colleges there. Adding onto that stress, the lines were long for some of the popular schools like UMD. 

Apart from that chaos, there are many things you can do to prepare for the College Fair. Especially with the time crunch, preparation is key. 

Before going to the College Fair, I made a list of questions I wanted to ask, and some specific colleges I wanted to visit. Along with making a list of questions, you’d also want to make a list of the colleges you’d want to visit. You don’t necessarily have time to go visit every single table, so do a little bit of research to use your time more efficiently. You don’t need to OVER research, because after all, those representatives are there to answer your questions.  The colleges on the top of your list are definitely the ones you’d want to go to first, or spend your time waiting in lines for. The information that these representatives can give you is definitely important when you plan on applying and even life on campus. 

When preparing for your next College Fair visit, I highly suggest you take these tips because it’ll just make your search for colleges and readiness for applying so much easier!