IV Form Explores College Fairs

          On the evenings of April 16 and 17, the Office of College Counseling held its annual college fair, hosting representatives from 150 colleges in the Loucks Field House. IV Formers were invited to learn more extensively about and identify the institutions where they hope to spend their future years by interacting with regional admissions representatives. 

          Xavier Penn ’25 described the fair as both a “hectic and informative” opportunity to meet the people who may be reading his applications next year. Before the event, his college counselor had suggested a list of colleges aligning with his career interests. While the fair confirmed his interests in certain schools, “the number of students rushing to complete their college list made it chaotic.” For example, he was unable to speak to representatives at a few popular schools due to their long lines. For Penn, meeting the admissions officers broke down the wall between students and the college application process. “I now see them as people rather than faceless individuals determining my fate,” he elaborated. Reflecting on the event, Penn remarked, “If I were to do this again, I would have done deeper research.” “You don’t want to waste your own time or their time,” he commented.

          Sharing Penn’s sentiment, Kosiso Okonkwo ’25 agreed that “the lines at the college fair were long and the space [was] full of heat,” making it difficult for her to visit all of her desired institutions. However, her questions, focused specifically on study-abroad programs and her intended major, gave her more insight into different college programs. “[One college’s] representative told me about their pre-dentistry program and 100 percent admissions rate to dental schools, which made the school stand out for me,” she elaborated. In the past, when deciding which high school she wanted to attend, Okonkwo focused on student life and type of campus, but when looking at colleges, she is paying more attention to “how [her] long-term goals would be met.” Despite being “scared and intimidated” when going into the process, Okonkwo found the fair to be “very enlightening,” as it “showed [her] more than what [she] preconceived about many colleges.” Ultimately, she noted that “there is nothing that [she] would do differently.” “I did everything that I could and left no regrets,” Okonkwo remarked. 

          Prior to the college fair, Lena Haefele ’25 did not know what to expect. “Nobody really told me what the event was going to be like,” she explained. Haefele focused on asking questions about her intended major and topics that she would not have uncovered on schools’ official websites. Unlike most IV Formers, however, Haefele chose not to wait in line. “I didn’t have priorities as to which colleges I wanted to visit first,” she explained, “so when I saw an open spot at any schools I [was] interested in, I went immediately.” As a result, Haefele engaged in conversations with more schools than she had expected. Additionally, she noted how the event allowed her to view colleges “through a less intimidating lens.” More specifically, Haefele articulated that she enjoyed hearing about campus life and student culture at colleges. Ultimately, Haefele remarked that “the event gave [her] more options [of colleges] to look at, but it didn’t subtract any schools from [her] list.” She further urges underclassmen to remember to “engage actively with [their] college counselors before the college fair.”

          While the college fair could be overwhelming and hectic, it served as an important step in the college research process for IV Formers, providing them with the chance to further understand which schools would be the best fit for them.