Andover students looking to begin or further their college research process were given the opportunity to attend a college fair on Monday, September 19. Held in Snyder, this open event featured schools such as Yale University, Dartmouth College, Amherst College, and more—providing students with the chance to converse with representatives, ask questions, and grab informational brochures. Students shared why they attended the fair and how the event could be improved in the future.
Nigel Savage ’23
I wanted to meet the different representatives [and] gain more information about schools [to] see if I wanted to apply to any new [ones]. I like that there are a lot of different options to learn about, but I don’t like that it was very crowded and the lines were very long. [But that’s] just a sign that people wanted to come. [Overall], I think it was very well-planned and very well done. I hoped to learn about schools I haven’t really heard about before and get to talk to them, and I think I did get to learn about that.
Minh-Khue DoBa ’24
[I went to] see what colleges had to offer, how they correspond to what I wanted to do, [and] where I want to study. I’m really looking for a school that can represent what I like to do and what I want to learn and build a community. I think that the fair would [have been] better with more people in each station. The lines are long and it would be nice having more people to talk to. Also, there’s usually only one person representing each school and that can get really stressful.
Fred Javier ’23
I like the openness all the admissions officers [have] towards our questions and how friendly and [willing] they are to discussing the schools they represent. They seem very approachable, so it’s not very intimidating to go up to a school that you might not know about and ask for information. My main objective was to find defining features about each school. I’ve been asking all the officers about what it is that really defines their school, what attracts people towards it, and what alumni of the school come out of it with.
Victoria Ortiz ’23
I really like the setup of the event itself. I think it’s super accessible because it’s open to not just our school but people in the nearby area. There’s a pretty good flow, especially because we’re in Snyder and it’s easier to walk around and hit the schools you want to visit within the time frame. Hearing about traditions from each school is also really special. I visited the Davidson [College] table and we were talking about different school traditions that students get to engage in with the nearby community.
Ben Perez ’23
I came here to talk to some of the schools I’m thinking about applying to, especially about being Hispanic. What kind of accessibility do they have for that? What kind of programs do they have for what I want to study? [But] some schools had a very long line, so it took a lot of time to be able to talk to those people. The day that it was chosen to be on was also not very optimal, especially because it was the first full week of classes. I would break the event down little by little instead of making it one day with all the schools. Maybe we could make it a week-long type of thing or program it on a day that’s not too busy for everyone.
Isabella Murray ’23
I think that the representatives that colleges choose to send here were telling of who the colleges are. I’m also behind on my college research, so I thought it was nice and fun to have them all here. I don’t like how everyone is flocking to the Princeton and USC tables because I know that we are part of an elitist society, but I think that we should all be more open-minded as to where we invest our attention. Even if we do go to Andover, there’s a bigger world out there other than Ivy Leagues.
