Thursday, October 23, 2008

The university fair as it was

This was the third year that the American Colleges Overseas group visited our school, and the second time they held a fair. Once again, they were impressed with our students and were happy with the results of the visit. None of them offered medicine as a major, which was disappointing to some of you, but they all had varied programs.

As usual, I had a lot of good help to get ready.






Each of the schools gave a presentation beforehand. This gave some important information and at least got your hard drives working with possible questions. Very often, universities can seem similar on the surface. They all offer the same types of programs and majors, they all have nice campuses, they all have services for students, they all offer some type of financial aid. Reading about schools in viewbooks and their websites, doesn't let you distinguish them much. Meeting a rep in person allows you to ask questions that are specific to your own situation and needs.









One of the important things that I try to do as a counselor is establish relationships with reps from other schools. This is Radek Coufal from Richmond. Now I haven't seen Radek in about four years. The last time he came on his own, and gave a small presentation in the library, yes our library, it wasn't my idea to put him there. This year he is back with the group and he remembered me right away. If you want a good school in the heart of London then you should think about Richmond. They give away a lot of scholarship money too.



My friend Mr. Essam. He has always been a big supporter of the university events and can always be counted on to bring his classes to the events, which brings up another point. I can't do what I do without cooperation from the teachers. If they don't bring you to the events and let you out of class then we don't have events at our school do we? They realize that these meetings are valuable for you and I am sure they appreciate a little free time as well.



I have included some other pics of students who insisted that I put them on the site. I apologize for not including you in the first draft, but here you are after all.

It is important to have fun at these things also. Thinking about college can be stressful, so if you can make it enjoyable then good for you.


Once again the teachers are taking an active role.

Thanks again to Karen Ballard for organizing the visit for a third year in a row, and thanks to all of the reps who came and gave their time to meet with you.

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