Hundreds of colleges and universities from around the country will gather at McCormick Place tomorrow for the Chicago National College Fair.

Hosted by the NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling), the event will run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and will host the most amount of colleges and universities out of all college fairs in the Chicagoland area.

“The college fair is good because it’s going to have the most number of colleges that are accessible to students,” College and Career Center Coordinator Beth Arey explained. “If colleges are going to pay the fair fees and the travel cost, they’re likely to do it for the National College Fair, because more students will be there than at other fairs.”

However, some students aren’t aware of the importance of college fairs, and some don’t know the difference between college fairs and simply visiting colleges.

“No one is really telling us what the college fair is for,” junior Dylan Kull said. “I don’t really know the difference between going to a fair or just looking up a college online.”

The fairs are said to be beneficial to students, providing them opportunities to see more schools and allowing them to engage with admissions representatives.

Though they provide numerous opportunities for both lowerclassmen and upperclassmen, college fairs also have their drawbacks.

“The main downside is that some college fairs are crowded, so some students may lose the opportunity to engage with schools,” Arey said. “As much as you might want to have a full extended conversation with a college admissions representative, there could potentially be lines of students by really popular schools.”

According to the NACAC, nearly 500 colleges and universities from all over the country will be gathering at McCormick Place tomorrow. All of these schools will have representatives ready to speak with students one on one about their future plans and the schools they represent.

For additional information and how to sign up to attend the fair, please visit https://www.nacacfairs. org/.