The Montgomery County college fair this past week heralded a myriad of opportunities for middle school and high school students (grades 8-12) across the county to speak to admissions officers from over 300 college and universities across the country about the upcoming application and admissions cycle for the 2015-2016 school year.
“I thought the college fair was interesting because it helped me see a lot of opportunities that I didn’t know existed. I realized that out of state schools were a possibility, and although I am staying in Maryland, it was nice to know I had the choice,” said senior Laura Chambers, looking back on the event when she was a junior.
MCPS junior Darwin Mlachila thought the event was worth-while.
“It was nice to see and hear from colleges that I wasn’t immediately thinking about. It gave me a better idea of schools worth applying to. My only complaint is that there wasn’t enough time to look around.”
Not enough time, and an unnecessarily large amount of colleges was the general consensus among participants.
“I went to check out some colleges, because I don’t know very many and it definitely helped me learn about some places I’d never thought of. It was kind of overwhelming though because there were so many and it was hard to decide which to choose to look at,” said junior Sam Shawn.
Upon entering the fairgrounds, one could easily see that the majority of the students were juniors- the most deeply affected and invested in the college process teach year. Junior year is often dedicated to completing rigid standardized testing requirements, enrolling in difficult courses, and preparing for college application season in the upcoming fall. Masses of students surrounded booths representing local schools such as the University of Maryland and Towson University.
Pamphlets and magazines were a prominent aspect of the event, with many students leaving with bags filled with papers and informative infographics about the schools.
In the words of Ravi Kemburu, a Richard Montgomery High School junior who attended the event, “It was nice to see a variety of colleges and speak with admission counselors one on one. I learned about colleges I never knew existed.”
Article by the MoCo student staff writer Darian Garcia