Virtual College Fairs

College fairs can feel overwhelming (both when they are in person and online), but they provide a great opportunity for students and parents to interact with a wide range of admissions officers and to learn about many different colleges in a short period of time.  Last year as I joined several of the virtual college fairs it took a little time to adjust to the format, but I also really enjoyed the chance to hop on to various sessions and learn about different schools without having to set up individual appointments with separate admissions offices.

There are two main organizations that are coordinating and facilitating the virtual college fairs.  The Ohio Association of College Admissions Counselors will be hosting college fairs on October 18th and October 21st.  The other organization is the National Association of College Admissions Counselors and they are hosting 4 more days of virtual college fairs on October 14, October 24, November 2, and November 14th.

I'm not sure if it will be the same as what I experienced last year, but I had a hard time figuring out who all had sessions running at any given time and felt like I was doing a LOT of jumping around.  One hint, in case it is helpful is that if you search for exhibitors by state you will see the colleges for that state and you can then scroll down to look at see when they might be running formal sessions that you could attend and on what topics.  So, for example, a college might have a general information session a few times, they may have a session on honors or other special programs, and they might have a financial aid and scholarship related session where other colleges may just have admissions information sessions.  They sent us an email today with a link to this 2 minute video on getting around and while I think it seems easy when I did it I didn't use all of the options they gave as easily as they made it seem.  So I strongly suggest you watch the brief video first.  And here is a quick start guide.  Also, one other hint - Don't look for OSU in the alphabetical list as "OSU" or even as "Ohio State" they are "THE Ohio State University."  Yep, under T's... not where I thought I would find them.

All of the college fairs are free of charge, but you do need to register for them.  Here are the links to sign up:

Ohio College Fair (not just Ohio colleges!): https://www.strivescan.com/ohio/ 

National College Fair: https://virtualcollegefairs.org/

These are great opportunities and I hope you will take advantage of these experiences to learn more about potential colleges for your future!