<p>“[Colleges] can recruit more of the right applicants at high school college fairs if [they] can overcome three distinct marketing challenges . . .”</p>
<p>There are lots of savvy parents here. Do you have any brighter ideas than the ones presented in this article?</p>
<p>I agree-college fairs are a great way to get your name out there but not really a great way to “recruit”. We used them mainly so the kids could see a name on a sign, pick up some literature and move to the next table. They are too noisy for any real conversations, you always have a handful of parents monopolizing the ad comms time and for kids just starting the search process, they won’t have a lot of profound questions to ask. </p>
<p>I would say that the best way to recruit students is to have as much information on your website as possible and have good stats on college search boards like SuperMatch, etc. I don’t know how much control the colleges have over what is on those though. We found most of the kids’ options through those search engines though.</p>
<p>Every college has a lot of books in their library and offers a lot of options for classes but the stuff we wanted to know was hard to find–like how many kids stay on campus on the weekends–don’t lie, tell me if I ask. If everyone goes home on weekends, that is a good match for some, not a good match for others. I want to see what your school has to offer outside of classes. I can see that on your website–what about activities for 18 year old kids to do on a Saturday night?</p>
<p>One problem with fairs is that I have a limited amount of time so I want to spend it wisely. I need to target colleges that are appropriate. I would want to know where I stand with my GPA, SAT, and ACT in respect to their mid-50% spread. Too high or too low will probably take it off my list right away. Unfortunately, they are not arranged in order or have little signs posted.</p>
<p>The only college fair I attended was a zoo - with crowds around the ivy league tables and others empty with lonely looking admin people. Yet, every college offered the same thing to us - a glossy brochure, the person’s business card, and a form to fill out to get on their mailing list. I think for small and relatively unknown colleges the key is just to be there - so somebody hears your school name and possibly pursues looking into your college.</p>
<p>College fairs are obsolete, since more and better information can be gathered on the Internet. (And shame on those colleges/universities that don’t have good websites!)</p>
<p>Of the colleges that made DS final list all but the state school and another well-known Southern college was “discovered” by talking to recruiters at a college fair. He met with several recruiters at a CTCL event and we visited those schools where he made the best connection. Unfortunately, if he didn’t love the recruiter he dropped the schools from his visit list. I tried to get him enthused about a few schools even though he “wasn’t feeling it” but he wouldn’t budge. Luckily the event was well run and it wasn’t so full that it felt like a mad house. We went to other college fairs that were a zoo and came away with nothing more to show from it than a brochure. </p>
<p>One thing I noticed at some of the fairs is that the sophomores and juniors were not given the red carpet treatment compared to the seniors. DS spent junior year looking at schools and applied to most of his choices before school even started. If a few schools had shown him a bit more love as a junior, maybe the results would have been different. At least the visits would have been. It would have been nice to visit Tennessee and Kentucky instead of Wisconsin in February.</p>
<p>In our area college fairs were ways to get on mailing lists, which could have been done online or even by mail.
Visits to the high schools made more of an impact.</p>
<p>I agree with emeraldkity - the high school visits are a much better way to connect, especially if they can be well-publicized at the school. At our high school, we in the PTSA created a little ($100) scholarship fund to “bribe” the kids to attend college rep presentations - every time you attended a presentation, you got your name entered an additional time in the drawing for the scholarship.</p>
<p>Agree with most of what’s been said. I like the smaller college presentations, where five to eight similar colleges get together. We went to one of those mega-NACAC events, and it was pretty worthless. We did a CTCL event that wasn’t quite as bad, but, really, they all started to run together because they were so similar.</p>
<p>I’m just not sure they’re effective at all.</p>
<p>My older D discovered one of the schools she applied to-and got in-at a “zoo” college fair. She did learn most about it on the website and the visit, but it would not have been on her radar at all had we not gone to the fair.</p>
<p>My younger D discovered her interest in HBCU’s at a very small black college fair, where she had a chance to talk to reps in great detail. By the third table or so, she knew exactly what to ask to compare them. There are some nuances that the best website in the world won’t give you. Colleges at some of the larger black college fairs will conditionally accept junior and senior students if they bring their SAT/ACT scores and transcripts. Doesn’t seem obsolete to me.</p>
<p>Our high school eliminated college visits. They took away from classroom instruction and they didn’t think that lunch should be skipped to meet with reps.</p>
<p>That reminds me, another thing both of their high schools did was have recent grads return to have lunch with the seniors. School provided the lunch & college & other post graduate plans were discussed ( like gap years, military, vo tech school, americorps, etc)</p>
<p>My friends daughter received a full tuition scholarship by going to an HBCU fair. She just had to bring her test scores, and a transcript, and they offered it on the spot.</p>
<p>I’d be furious if ds’s HS got rid of those visits. Both kids found them incredible helpful because, for most schools, it’s pretty intimate and an opportunity to ask specific questions and make an impression. The schools they were more interested in they went to both junior and senior years.</p>
<p>We also do an event with grads and seniors. I like the lunch idea. Ours is an evening event. I’m sure a lunch would be better attended.</p>
<p>ETA: The HBCUs sound like they know how to do it!</p>
<p>"My friends daughter received a full tuition scholarship by going to an HBCU fair. She just had to bring her test scores, and a transcript, and they offered it on the spot. "</p>
<p>Partyof5-That’s good to know-I didn’t know if the scholarships had to wait for the traditional app process. Where did your friend’s D end up going? </p>
<p>Youdon’tsay-the HBCU’s also encourage middle schoolers to attend and ask questions, and treat those kids seriously rather than just pat them on the head. I was really impressed with the respect the younger kids were given. The reps gave them real advice that they could use both now and in the future as they get to high school and college. They CARED, and you could see it.</p>