Virtual College Fair - Review

Happy Monday everyone! I wanted to share with you all my opinions/experiences on the Virtual College Fair that was held by College Week Live. There were three different components: School Profiles, Presentations, and Group/One-on-One Chats with College Representatives. 

School Profiles

    Each college that participated in the event has a profile with information such as major/programming offerings, scholarship information, methods of contact to admissions representatives, and videos of each institution's campus. 

Profile for Champlain College

My suggestion for using the profiles on College Week Live is to watch the videos that are uploaded, as well as, look at the 'Fast Facts' about the university to gauge whether you want to pursue this institution further.  The profiles also offer links to different aspects of their websites. 

Presentations

    Throughout the Virtual College Fair, different experts presented on topics related to the college search. I watched the presentation entitled, "Safety, Reach, and Realistic Schools," by Jessica Tomer, Editor-In-Chief of Carnegie Communications. It was a really interesting presentation with a different frame of viewing the colleges that you apply to. 

Presentations like this one by Jessica Tomer, are uploaded frequently on many different topics on the College Week Live website.

Group/One-on-One Chat

    This is a really unique feature of the Virtual College Fair because many different universities were available to chat with, like you were at an in-person College Fair. I entered three group chats just to see how the conversations were going; one with Syracuse University, one with UCLA, and one with SUNY FIT. The larger universities at the Fair had more than one representative, which I think worked well because they were able to answer more questions. Also, not only did they personally answer the questions (not like a robot!), they also offered specific links on their websites that those students may be interested in following. 

Syracuse University Group Chat

SUNY FIT Group Chat

I also did a one-on-one chat with a representative with SUNY FIT. If you have specific questions that you want addressed and you don't want to discuss them in the group chat, the one-on-one chat is a good option. However, if the group chat is busy, there is a chance that those representatives are also busy with other chats, so be patient while waiting for the answer. 

Overall Review: In general, I think that the Virtual College Fair is a good option if you are unable to travel to a larger in-person college fair because the variety of colleges and universities that were at the Virtual College Fair would be far more that those at a normal college fair. This is also a great way to not become too overwhelmed by all of the tables and information booths at a normal college fair session.  I hope that if you attended the Virtual College Fair that you were able to find some colleges that you hope to pursue further! Any comments about your experiences are definitely welcome!!

enjoy the chase,

skylar