Last night I was at a college fair and noticed that students really need a manual called Do's and Don'ts of College Fair Behavior.
So here it is-
Do's and Don'ts of College Fair Behavior
DO.
Obtain a list of colleges in attendance. Research a bit about these colleges and ask intelligent questions.
DO.
Sample Good Questions: What types of internships would I have as a Business
major? What is your admit rate? What is the average freshman class
size? Do you have (insert name here) club?
DON'T
Sample bad questions: What does your college do? How's your English program? Can you tell me a little bit about your college?
Worst scenario:
Student approaches table and peruses pictures
College rep: Hi. Can I answer any questions for you?
Student: Umm...no.
College rep: Ok.
Best scenario 1:
Student
approaches table: Hi. I am a junior and I am interested in Physics.
What type of research opportunities would I have as an undergraduate
Physics major?
College rep: Since we are a small school, you will
have the opportunity to do one-on-one research with a professor in your
early years and then your own research in your senior year. Here is my
card, email or call me and I can get you in contact with a Physics
professor so you can get a better picture of specific opportunities.
Best scenario 2:
Student
approaches table: Hi. I am a junior but I am undecided. I am looking
for a small to medium size school, with easy access to a city, and I
think I would like to participate in Student Government.
College
rep: Great! It's fantastic to have those specifics. We have [X number]
of students, so your average class size would be X. Our students take a
train to the city and it takes about X minutes. There are many options
of student government: class representative, executive board, etc. etc.
Notice the pattern? The student approaches the table with a small introduction for themselves and/or asks a specific question.
It is ok to approach a table without a specific question, but if you do that, then give the college rep a bit of autobiographical information. This way, you two will have something concrete with which to start a conversation.
DON'T.
Do
not have your mom or dad speak for you. Throughout the college process,
the student should be the point person. The student should approach the
college fair table, email/call the college rep, set up their own
interview appointment and overall just do all their own talking. It is
beyond obnoxious when a mom approaches a table and says, "Andy is
interested in playing football." While Andy stands there like a robot.
It is the student that is attending college, so it is the student that
should drive this search.
DO.
Something that college reps
really like is when a student has a list of questions and takes notes
during your conversation. That is awesome.
DO.
Arrive early. College reps like to leave about 30 minutes before the fair is over. Anything over 90 minutes and we get antsy.
DO.
Fill
out the card. College reps sometimes judge a fair based upon how many
cards they collect. Personally, I don't because I wouldn't want to fill
out 10 cards either. The best thing to do is print out a mailing label
with the following information: Name, Address, Phone, Email address,
Name of High School, Graduation Year, Academic interest,
Extracurricular interest. Then you can just stick the label on the
card. So simple!
Do.
Treat the college rep like a person. We like to have conversations, make jokes, and we are there to help you. We hate standing at a college fair for two hours and not talking to anyone because it makes the time dragggg.
Ok. I think that's all for now, but I'm sure that one of us will have more comments about college fairs.
Kelly
