Every Monday from early September until late November, the Hub hosts college representative presentations. These representatives come from colleges and universities all across the nation, to give talks concerning admissions, financial aid and general school information. The 33-minute long visits also serve as a way for students to get into contact with colleges, and ask any questions that they might have.
The exact format of the visits can differ, depending on the size of the school and the methods of the college representative.
“The presenters from the admission offices come in and do an overview of their college. Depending on the size, it will either be a formal presentation or just sitting down and having a conversation with students,” said Beth Arey, a counselor and the College and Career Services Coordinator.
While the visits help students get a feel for schools that they are interested in, they can also play a part in the admissions process.
“One of the most important things is getting to meet the college reps and potentially forming relationships so that when the colleges, particularly small colleges, are reviewing applications, they remember the student and have formed some kind of an opinion and idea about the fit of that student at their college. They can then advocate for that student in the admissions process,” said Arey.
For many students who haven’t had the chance to visit the campus of a school they are considering, the college representative visits can be especially helpful.
“They’ve been pretty good,” said senior Lexi Lennon, who has been to seven of the visits. “Most of the visits I went to, I had already visited their campus, so I knew most of what they said. For the schools I hadn’t visited it was nice to get information about their school and campus. It was also nice to meet the counselor for our area.”
Although the visits were appreciated by a multitude of students, others used it as a way to skip class. All college-related visits are excused absences under ETHS policy, and some students took advantage of that to go to the Hub instead of class.
“It was a bit annoying when people would show up to the visits just to skip class, and [they] weren’t interested in the school,” said Lennon.
