The Promenade Mall Hosts the Eleventh Annual College Fair

By ​Mackenzie Cox

     On Saturday, September 21, colleges and their representatives lined the floors of the Promenade Mall, marking the eleventh annual college fair. High school students and parents flocked to the mall to look over and speak to representatives of over three hundred different colleges, vocational schools, and military institutions to gather more details about post-secondary options. From 10AM until 2PM, the representatives answered questions and provided information for prospective students.

High School students and parents flock to the Promenade Mall’s college fair. Source: Mackenzie Cox

     The four-hour period allowed for students to get to know the colleges that they were looking into better, and for those who did not know where to start, to get to be better acclimated with the process of searching for colleges. “It gives people an opportunity to really talk to the colleges and explore the majors that they are interested in, as well as find out information that will actually help them apply and be able to get into that school with ease,” Senior Rachel Danover commented on the importance of the college fair. Danover and many other students like her have been attending the college fair year after year, so that they can possibly get the most information that they can in order to smooth out the rough process of applying for colleges.

---

     It is no secret that applying to college is a difficult process. That is why many of the colleges that attended the fair offered pamphlets with information regarding the application process, as well as other useful tidbits such as the standard grade point average (GPA) of their incoming freshmen. This way, students who might not have been able to speak with a representative of a particular college could do their own individual reading and acquire the same information, hopefully answering their questions. In regards to her own process of applying to colleges, Danover stated, “It’s been difficult. I’ve had trouble trying to figure out what schools would be good for my major and what schools would offer the best scholarships for me.” But while walking around the floors of the Promenade Mall, she and other students were able to get their difficult questions answered by representatives from schools such as Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) and University of California San Diego (UCSD). The different schools were able to provide information for specific majors as well as scholarship opportunities. If the schools’ representatives were unable to give proper answers, many of them referred their inquirers to another person within their schools who could offer additional help. Case in point, the representatives did their best to take the stress of college off the shoulders of the students and parents who attended.

     As the clock began to near 2PM, the colleges started to pack up their things and helped answer any remaining questions the students and parents still had. Even with only four hours of time, colleges, vocational schools, and military institutions were able to help provide students and their parents with the information they needed to go forward with their post-secondary plans. Although the eleventh annual college fair is now wrapped up and closed, students can look forward to returning next year when the Promenade Mall opens their doors again to host the fair.