Optimal opportunities come to the Fairfax County area during College Fair and College Night for high school students considering college after graduation.
The College Fair will be held at Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax on Sunday, Oct. 21 from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Approximately 400 universities from around the world will be in attendance at the College Fair, and over 10,000 high school students and parents expected to show.
When circling through each of the school’s booths, College Fair/ College Night Liaison Marian Kendrick urges attendees to broaden their choices in schools and look at ones they might not have heard of or know very little about.
“We highly recommend that students come to these events to talk with the college representatives concerning what these colleges and universities have to offer,” Kendrick said. “In addition to talking with representatives from schools that students are familiar with, we suggest that they talk with representatives from colleges that they may not have heard about to find the best fit for themselves.”
An admissions ticket is required for the College Fair in the form of a flier, which is available on the FCPS website.
College Night will be held at Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria on Oct. 22 from 7 to 9 p.m.
The night will feature nine workshops involving the college admissions process, standardized testing, financial aid, and writing admissions essays.
For those interested in college athletics, there is a workshop addressing the differences in student life when one is a college athlete.
Although both events differ slightly, Kendrick stated that both are essential for a student considering college.
“Each event includes an open fair format, where students and parents can meet with college representatives from across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia,” Kendrick said.
In order to get the most out of a conversation with a college representative, Kendrick suggests asking questions regarding how the school would be a personal fit rather than focusing on trivial questions that can be answered on university websites.
For students that cannot attend either event, there are other opportunities to help with the college planning process.
“Besides attending College Fair or College Night, we can’t stress the importance of meeting with college representatives that come to individual schools,” Kendrick said. “While the fair format presents an opportunity to talk with representatives, attending college visits at your high school allows you to meet the representative who may be reading your admissions application.”
More information on college visits can be found in the Career Center.
Kendrick also stressed the importance of starting to research colleges early, even if one is not heading off to college for another few years.
“It is never too early to start the college search process,” Kendrick said. “Hopefully students won’t wait until their senior year to start researching colleges and universities.”
Students who decide to attend College Night or College Fair are allowed to pre-register online through the Technology Resource Corp., a service which allows a student to receive a personal barcode that college representatives can use to obtain the student’s personal information.
Kendrick encouraged students to obtain a personal barcode, for the sake of convenience.
“Students can print out a barcode that they should bring with them the night of the event so that interested schools can scan their information,” Kendrick said. “This way, the student will not have to fill our an information card at the event as all their data will be send to the college or university automatically after the fair.”
Pre-registration is highly recommended for both events. To pre-register and to receive the personal barcode, visit http://www.fcpscollegefairs.com/Registration/EventSelectForState?stateName=All.
