For Uppers, the advent of spring represents the beginning of an exhausting year of schmoozing admissions officers and filling out college applications. This past Monday evening, students and parents perused the offerings at the annual Phillips Academy Spring College Fair in the Case Memorial Cage. Over 150 colleges, ranging from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland to the University of Wisconsin in Madison, were present at the event. Representatives from each college staffed their schools’ tables, passing out promotional pamphlets, dispelling stereotypes about their campuses and doing their best to answer the endless stream of questions. The apprehension was evident on Uppers’ faces as they clutched colorful brochures to their chests and scanned the tables for the next college on their preliminary lists. Even younger students seemed to catch the college bug. “I’m a Lower, so thinking about it all . . . It’s finally sinking in,” said Gauri Thaker ’10. Arun Saigal ’09 said that he was able to “get a feel for different colleges that [he is] looking at,” and is “better aware of where I want to apply and go.” Local students and families also attended the college fair. Sarah Rutter ’09 said that she encountered about ten people from North Andover High School. A friend from the Brooks School in North Andover told Rutter that Brooks sent two buses full of students to the college fair. One student from Concord Academy came well-equipped for the tedium of filling out her name, address, and preferred fields of study at each table, by bringing stickers printed with her personal information. Anna Mackey ’09 tracking down the table for Middlebury College. Although already acquainted with the school because her brother enrolled this past fall, Mackey was happy to learn that the school offers Chinese and environmental studies. “[Middlebury] fits with all my interests,” she said. Mackey, who asked several questions and listened as others posed their own, found her approach to the College Fair relatively relaxed. “I don’t have anything pre-planned,” she said. Although Mackey knows “[some people] who researched and wrote out a list of questions,” she said that she thinks it is “better to be yourself.” However, Rutter described a certain art required to achieve maximum success at a College Fair. She explained, “I don’t want them to think that I’m sucking up to them, but I also want to make a good impression.” Margaret Finch ’09 was not thrilled with her experience at the college fair and found a downside to attending the event accompanied by her mother. Although Finch found her mother’s input helpful, especially since Finch “didn’t really want to talk to people wearing suits,” she also found herself being steered in the direction of her mother’s alma mater. Finch said, “Pretty much, [the college Admissions officers] all say the same thing,” so the College Fair “doesn’t really help narrow things down. But I got on some mailing lists,” she added, joking that now she will have “more paper to recycle.” Jennifer Fan ’09 found the College Fair “very informative.” She explained, “I can get a good impression of the school . . . [by] talking to the reps.” An international student, Fan was originally worried that Rice University in Texas had few students from outside the United States. However, after talking to the Rice delegation and learning that a significant percentage of Rice students study abroad, Fan said that she was convinced of the school’s commitment to international diversity. Representatives seemed well aware of certain stereotypes about their colleges and so tried their best to deflect the traditional criticisms. When asked about the social life on the University of Chicago campus, the representative first replied in a deadpan tone that UChicago students have no social life. After a few moments, the representative, an Assistant Dean of Admissions, broke his serious façade and explained that the university’s students are generally “nerd”-like but also participate in conventional college social activities.
