With over 100 different colleges in attendance, College Fair hosted a range of private universities like the University of Pennsylvania to public ones such as Binghamton University on April 17 in the Worthington Johnson Athletic Center (WJAC).
Students were able to meet college representatives and ask questions about the makeup of their student bodies, religious affiliations, locations, and more.
Leon Gopaul ’24 said that the fair “helped him identify new options” and look more closely at different colleges. He was impressed by the variety of colleges present and saw an excellent opportunity to discover colleges he was not yet familiar with.
The College Counseling Office notified students of the schools that would be attending a few weeks prior to the fair to give them “time to formulate questions,” Carter Foster ’24 said. College representatives provided brochures, answering questions, and had one-on-one conversations with students. The College Fair served as an effective way for students to broaden their horizons while learning more about colleges they already expressed interest in and “ask questions that aren’t easily answered on a college website,” said Ms. Landesman. Students were also able to hear answers to questions asked by their peers while waiting in line, which helped them consider new factors in their college search.
Extensive preparation and effort were necessary to make the fair a reality. Office Coordinator of the College Counseling Office Ms. Megan Jackson was the primary coordinator of the event took a lead role and worked closely with Communications, Facilities, SAGE, and ITS during the planning process to make the fair a success. Geared towards fifth-form students as part of the college counseling curriculum, the college fair served as a “chance for them to speak directly with representatives of colleges they are considering — and ones they haven’t yet explored —– to learn more about their programs, campus culture, and admission,” explained Dean of College Counseling Ms. Marcia Landesman.
The college fair offered much information, with crowds of students lining up at booths for access to college representatives. With long waiting lines in front of most booths, “more time would have been helpful,” suggested Gopaul.
Choate plans to host another College Fair next fall. Along with the college fair, there are many other initiatives taken by the College Counseling Office to expand the horizons of students and allow them to learn about different schools, such as the Spring Break trip that recently took place. Gopaul, who participated in this tour, found the college fair to be helpful in building upon his own experience with the schools he previously saw on the trip such as Lafayette, Rutgers, and Drexel.
Overall, the College Fair proved to be a huge success. It enabled fifth-form students to learn more about prospective colleges and broaden their exposure through engagement with a variety of schools.
