<p>Smaller college fairs have also been hosted at local community colleges.
The pluses. Not held in a convention center, so not as large & intimidating to families unfamilar with the drill. Also easier to access, as at the convention center it is a major deal time wise, although I believe some classes- maybe the senior english classes?, went to the large college fair as a field trip. ( on block days). They also worked on essays as in class assignments.</p>
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<p>Exactly. I’m not going to give those ideas away for free either.</p>
<p>problem the ivy league schools along with
vanderbilt,wake forest,duke ,the state schools and maybe a couple other schools are over run.</p>
<p>what to do? can you tell a 17 years old student hey…I know you never heard of the school I rep, you never been further then 20 miles from home (less the one visit to disneyland as a kid) now trust me if you apply and then attend this school , you will get a full ride, learn an amazing amount and make lifelong friends all on a beautiful safe campus. just stop and talk to me for 10 minutes and I can change your life forever. good luck!
I do think the one thing schools that have college visits (road trips)can do is add in a couple of lesser known schools and expose the students to schools other then the usual suspects. that will turn on the light for a lot more students , it may not diversify the schools people look at when the college fair comes but it would help.</p>
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<p>Were they among the schools listed in the <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-14.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1348012-automatic-full-tuition-full-ride-scholarships-14.html</a> ?</p>
<p>I would think a visiting a few classes the day before the fair. Visit the high school and ask to sit in on a couple honors classes or AP classes. Ask for 2 minutes to compliment the kids, introduce yourself and invite them learn more at the fair.</p>
<p>And a lot of HS kids don’t even know the right questions to ask. Many recruiters are not very engaging at all. It’s just a table with stuff on it. A fair is not ideal for a long conversation but the Ivies do a road show which seems very successful - maybe other clusters of schools should do that even if it’s just within a single state. A short, informative presentation by each school, a little q&a, then visit some tables. Do it during a school lunch period or as an after school event.</p>
<p>Give kids a link to a video about your school.</p>
<p>Invite kids for a special open house. Ask them to sign up at the fair to be contacted. Have a fair, tour, breakfast, waive application fee, etc for those that attend. Travel a state doing this.</p>
<p>Target your audience. If you don’t have much of a football team, don’t waste time with a star player being recruited by other schools. Target kids in clubs that don’t get a lot of attention, invite them to campus to meet kids interested in the same thing. Robotics, book clubs, business clubs, etc. They are a rich source of involved, academically inclined kids.</p>
<p>Instead of the big college fair the visits by college reps (scheduled after school at my daughter’s HS) are a better idea. The kids can get some real face time with the reps and can ask questions all in a better environment.</p>
<p>LOL 99!</p>
<p>Took my S14 to a fair this fall. It was good for him to go, because he learned how to talk to the reps and he got to ask his own questions. I had pre-selected schools that had his major of interest, so there was some focus to the day. It was mobbed and it would have been a waste of time without specific schools to target. However, he did talk to several other schools on his own. He actually got more out of it than I expected.</p>
<p>Surprised someone mentioned the seniors were getting all the love. There were hardly any seniors at this fair, most of them already deep into applications at their chosen list of schools.</p>
<p>Tell the schools to print a bunch a little cards that say:</p>
<p>“Yes, you are recruited by [insert exclusive school]”</p>
<p>Then DO tell the kids and THEIR PARENTS to make sure to tell everyone on the sidelines of the Y games, at the health club, at the book club, or in the carpool lane about how the recruiting of little Sally or little Jabob has started. Of course, for full effect, it is important how annoying it is to escape the persistence of the Ivy League! </p>
<p>By the following year, the tables will be bombarded with request of that magical piece of paper that triggers the envy of everyone in the community. </p>
<p>And so it goes along the shores of Lake Wobegon!</p>
<p>PS And for the ones who missed the card, just remember that having made eye contact with the person manning the booth is just as good to claim being recruited. A handshake? That is a guaranteed scholarship!</p>
<p>Instead of showing up at schools all at the same time, colleges should be more strategic. Is the school having a play? Then the theatre departments of your school should visit, have a table, and a program ad. Science fairs, send someone from your science department… etc. </p>
<p>Be there when the kids you are looking for are more likely to be there.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’ve ever seen an Ivy at a college fair around here! There are some who do the 4 or 5 college traveling shows, which we have attended when there wasn’t a sporting event at the same time. My kids have not had much benefit from the college fairs in this area because colleges they were interested in do not come here. Their reps usually skip our HS when they visit schools in the area also! I think the smaller evening presentations are more helpful. There were 4 LAC’s in the area last year, all 4 of which my D was applying to, but she had a playoff game that night she could not miss. Our college lists have been made from online research, a huge college fair is too overwhelming without preplanning.</p>
<p>ucb-none of the schools my D has talked to are on that list. I’ve found little to no useful information about HBCU’s on this site-I’ve done my own digging and found the info on my own, usually in the full catalogs on the college websites. Many of the HBCU’s offer a series of automatic scholarships based on GPA, and usually SAT/ACT scores. The higher the grades, the higher the award. Spelman has one of the highest bars, Benedict one of the lowest.</p>
<p>"Or maybe a big sign that just says- our REAL price is _______!!! "</p>
<p>Exactly SteveMA!</p>
<p>How about a sign that reads. “Only suckers pay the sticker price.”</p>
<p>“This is especially important at fairs in areas that are home to the kind of students you want to recruit.”</p>
<p>This line makes me think that this is about recruiting certain students, and who those students are, the article doesn’t say. But apparently they live in certain areas. Are they looking for full pay in affluent areas? Are they looking to boost their diversity? How they market to the students would depend on who they’re trying to attract. The latter group might be willing to give them their info if the college offered a voucher for a free application.</p>
<p>If this fair is at a high school, the high school could help students by providing them with a list of participating colleges a couple of weeks in advance. Then students could look at the admission stats, majors offered, etc. ahead of time and make their own list of which tables they want to visit. They’d also have better questions for the reps.</p>
<p>The high school could also assist by having students fill out a form with their name, address, e-mail, academic interests, etc. ahead of time and then printing out a page or two in small business card like format for each student. Then instead of spending valuable time filling out forms, they could hand the reps one of these info “cards”.</p>
<p>Giveaways are also a good incentive for a stop by. </p>
<p>But I think it all depends on who they’re targeting, and a direct approach by the colleges would probably work best. They could have something on their display highlighting some profiles of who they’re looking for.</p>
<p>I’ve noticed that many of the tables at our school’s college fairs have been pretty bare and dull… just a lonely rep standing there, a small sign, and a stack of brochures. I always feel sorry for them. The booths that attract the most attention have big, eye-catching displays with lots of pictures, a video or slideshow running, free cookies or popcorn, and/or some kind of giveaway (t-shirts, pens that play the fight song, etc) for students who fill out an info card. To me, this seems kind of obvious, but I’ve been surprised at the number of reps who don’t bring anything “interesting” to attract students to their tables.</p>
<p>How about having some real reps and not clueless alumni volunteers? Perhaps inviting selected students to stop by ahead of time?</p>
<p>I’ve never been to one of these meetings, and I’m not sure I regret that.</p>
<p>Agree with having knowledgeable and engaging recruiters at the events.</p>
<p>If they’re overly crowded, perhaps putting a limit on the number of students who can attend or scheduling events that run multiple days to spread out the crowds, but then when there’s an opportunity - ask the students name, refer to them by name, ask their interests, explain how your school can meet those interests - tell them about the involvement in the intramural program in their favorite sport, tell them about the favorite professor that everyone loves in their intended major, tell them about the activities that meet their personal interests. Follow up with the student after the fact by email or phone and make sure the follow up is personalized and that they aren’t just getting a form letter… it’s all a sales game. If there’s a school present that a student is not familiar with, but the student leaves feeling like the recruiter took a personal interest in them, leaves feeling like the school fits their particular interests, then they are going to be motivated to look into it further.</p>
<p>On the other hand, my S had received A LOT of mail from a particular school, we weren’t certain it was a good fit, but when I saw them represented at a college fair, I decided to give the recruiter a shot to convince me I was wrong. Although the table wasn’t crowded, the recruiter barely made eye contact with us and in response to my questions some brochures on the school, which I’m certain I must have already received in the mail, were pushed in our direction… S did not apply to the school.</p>
<p>Fairfax County in VA has a back to back college fair and college night in October. The fair is held on a Sunday night after closing hours at a mall in the western side of the county, the night is on Monday at a high school in the southern part. I attended the fair with both of my kids all 4 years and now am on the other side of the table representing the university for which I work.</p>
<p>When I was there as a parent, we ignored all the state public school tables as they were packed and we knew we could visit easily enough. I think my older one got more out of it than my younger but I wouldn’t deem any visit a waste of time. Some Ivies were there, some were not. Not only the service academies were there but representatives from the local congressman also attended to answer nomination questions.</p>
<p>When I am there as an employee of my school, my primary focus was to get our name out to students in all parts of the country. Like most schools, we want geographic diversity. Our home campus is in the midwest so students from both coasts are highly sought after.</p>
<p>Because FCPS College Fair/Night is so heavily attended, the students can preregister and get a scannable ticket. All the colleges are issued the scanners and we get all the information that would be filled out on the old info card.</p>
<p>I found college fairs to be helpful for first generation students. A mother of my D’s friend was intimidated with the process as she had not been to college herself. She and her daughter went to a local college fair with us. The recruiters helped to put her at ease and gave them their contact info.
I enjoyed meeting them and finding out about the different schools. There were things I could not have learned about the schools otherwise. In one case, a school was not a good fit for my D, but a great fit for her friend (they have different interests) so I was able to find her friend and introduce them.
I don’t know if college fairs are as helpful for students who know exactly that they wish to attend a well known school, but for a student who is open to new possibilities they can be helpful. I think it helped my D’s friend’s mom.</p>
<p>One thing I noticed reading the author’s suggestions is that some of them violate NACAC rules and regulations. Most of the smaller college fairs I attend abide by these rules as well. Colleges are not to have more than two people behind a table and they must remain behind the table. Reps are not to call out to prospective students, have giveaways, etc.</p>
<p>It has been my experience that the best way to generate fair traffic is - as others have suggested - visit area schools in advance of the college fair. Another resource I have found to be effective is the “Jesuit Excellence Tour.” For those if you who are unfamiliar with the JETs, we Jesuit college reps rent a bus and do mini college fairs at high schools in a metro area. I spent this morning packing my travel bag for the Baltimore/Washington JET. :)</p>