Faring Well at College Fairs and National College Fairs FAQs (continued)

Mapping out a strategy

Before you leave for the fair, make sure you have the following supplies: a small notebook with your list of colleges and questions you want to ask; a pen or pencil; and a backpack or tote-bag to hold all of the college information you'll be collecting.

Students with access to computers may wish to print up a few sheets of self-stick address labels. Include your name, address, phone number, e-mail address, high school, year of graduation, intended major(s), and any extracurricular activities you're interested in. At the fair, slap the address labels on the college information cards to save you time in filling out the same information over and over at each college's table.

The real strategizing begins when you arrive at the fair. Look for a map of where each college is located. If it's a relatively small fair, all the tables may be in one large room, like a school gym. At big fairs, like NACAC's National College Fairs, hundreds of colleges may be spread over many rooms and even in different buildings.

Especially at the larger fairs, it's important to map out your route. Note where each college is located and plan the most efficient way to visit the colleges on your list. (For example, you want to make sure to visit all the colleges of interest to you in one room before moving to the next.) Also, make sure to check out the schedule of information sessions: many fairs have sessions on the search process, applications, financial aid, and other issues run by experts in the field. These sessions are a great place to ask general questions about the college admission process.

Your notebook and pen are great tools for keeping all those conversations straight. After you leave a table, jot down your impressions of the college and the answers the admission representatives gave you. Try to do this before you visit the next table, while your impressions are still fresh.

Teaming up

Depending on the time of day of the fair, both students and parents may be encouraged to attend. If a family member attends the fair with you, talk about your plan ahead of time. You may decide to split up--perhaps a parent can attend the financial aid seminar so you can visit more colleges. Another option is staying together for part or all of time. You may find that your parents or siblings ask different questions than you do. Also, it can be helpful to get a second opinion on your impressions of particular colleges.

Browsing

Planning ahead ensures that you get to visit the colleges that most interest you. But also make sure to leave time for browsing.

"Be adventurous! Don't just focus on 'name' schools," says Hallenbeck. "You may find that a school you've never heard of offers the exact major, extracurricular program, etc., that you're seeking."

Following up

By the time the fair is over, you'll have a bag filled with information about colleges--and a possible case of information overload. Don't succumb to the temptation of just piling all those brochures in some obscure corner of your bedroom. If you're feeling overwhelmed, take a day or two away from the college search. Then get out all of those brochures, along with the notes you took while at the fair, and read through them. You may find that some colleges aren't as interesting as you first thought. Others only look better the more you research them. For those colleges, follow up by filling out the information cards in the brochures or by starting to schedule college visits.