Q: Is there any point in going to a college fair? I went to the NACAC fair held last week at the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan. My friends and I waited on line for half an hour just to get in! Then there were hundreds of booths, and huge crowds, and colleges I’d never heard of. The colleges I had heard of had lots of people crowded around so you couldn’t really get to talk to the reps. I got a lot of brochures, but don’t feel I gained any in-depth knowledge about the schools.

A: There are many types of college fairs, and the one you went to is not designed to provide ”in-depth knowledge” but rather to give a huge array of colleges and universities exposure in a large urban market. That is why these large NACAC fairs are held in major cities across the country. For most students, this will be their first exposure to the many possibilities out there in the word of higher education. It’s a good place to start, to browse, and get a general idea. So the purpose of this was to 1) provide publicity for the colleges and 2) to get students to write, go to the website or visit for more information.

I attended the fair at the Javits Center myself, and also had to wait a long time to enter. This was done, wisely, to control crowding at the booths inside. I just wish there had been a spokesperson for the Center or for NACAC to come down the line occasionally to explain to us why we were waiting.

The other types of fairs most commonly held are 1) public fairs arranged by a small number of colleges and 2) private fairs held at individual high schools. An example of the first is coming up in NYC on May 21. It features the 40 colleges featured in the Colleges That Change Lives book. You may not have heard of many of these schools either – but do go and learn! This fair is free and you do not have to pre-register.

It will be held on Tuesday, May 21, from 7 to 8:30 pm, at the Hotel Pennsylvania , 401 Seventh Avenue in Manhattan. A 30-minute presentation explaining these schools will begin the evening’s program. Then you will have an hour to browse at the college tables and speak with the representatives. Go! This will be a very different type of event, and you will get the more personal attention you wish. You can find details at on their website.

Perhaps your high school has held or will hold an event where college reps come to you. Sometimes several high schools combine their efforts to run one of these fairs. Speak to your college counselor about it. You can also go to a college’s website and in the Admissions section there may be a feature on “we will visit you” or something to that effect. Here they will list their upcoming visits to New York City. Many colleges will plan events for next fall, so start looking over the summer!