Even though I had arrived 10 minutes before the scheduled start time, the cafeteria was already a hub of activity. As I surveyed the room, I saw freshman to seniors looking at the various posters that the representatives had set up for their schools. I walked around, and the students excitedly told me how the college fair helped them with their college application process.

Colleges can also feel daunting and overwhelming to high schoolers, especially to the juniors and seniors. As colleges become more competitive, high schoolers are forced to apply to more colleges just to increase their odds of getting into at least one or two. Through the college fair, a variety of different colleges can come and connect to these students as well as help allay many fears that some high schoolers may have.

“The college fair is helping me get more of a feeling of ease from most of these schools”, Dotson said. “I’m learning more about these schools, which makes me feel that I’ll actually have a chance at being accepted.”

However, for other students, the gathering of approximately 200 colleges seemed to have the opposite effect, making college even more daunting than it had once seemed. Junior Simon Baek said that the college fair had just overwhelmed him.

“From this fair, I have just realized how large these colleges can be are and how many people they interact with each year,” Baek said. When asked whether this change was a positive or negative one, Baek responded with a chuckle, “Maybe a negative”.

For Junior Jacob Pustilnik, the college fair served as a way to gather information about schools and colleges. For Pustilnik, it helped him get lots of information about colleges that he felt he should know.

“As a junior, I know very little about colleges right know.” Pustilnik said. “Going up to a college booth, I can talk to a representative and learn about the college and understand more than what a website gives me.”

Pustilnik felt that the one-on-one interactions was an aspect he really values at the college fair. The personalized conversations helped him make connections with the recruiters.

“Looking at a website is not the same as speaking to someone,” Pustilnik said. “I talked with a representative from the University of Houston Honors College and he was very informative. He gave me his contact information and I expect that he will be able to help me in the future.”

Junior Mohamed Gadelrad appreciated the friendliness expressed by the representatives.

“The college representatives are very friendly to the students.” Gadelrad said. “They give you as much information as you need, and they make college feel really comfortable. If you have concerns, the representatives will answer them thoroughly, so you have no fears.”

Cornell University College representative Meghan Pierson explained why it is so important for colleges to travel far distances to attend the college fair.  

“Cornell is in upstate New York and so visibility here in Texas is very important.” Pierson said. “I often recommend to local students ‘Oh, you should come visit’ and they tell me ‘I can’t fly that far’. So, I think going to a college fair as a student is really beneficial and for us, it was really great to get to talk to them one-on-one. You get to see the vibe of the students.”

The college fair allowed students to learn about colleges regardless of where they looked.

“You get to see the colleges and you could find some colleges that I never would have been interested in if I had not come to this fair,” Dotson said. “You might even be able to find some colleges that may be more interesting than you thought they were.”