On Tuesday, April 18, from 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., juniors attended the Hartford Area Independent Secondary School College Counselors Association (HAISSCCA) College Fair at the Westminster School in Simsbury. The HAISSCCA College Fair presents an opportunity for students to learn more about certain colleges and to meet the admissions officers that will be reading their applications.
KO’s Form 5 students have been attending this college fair for many years, and it has become an integral part of the KO college advising process. However, the fair took a three-year hiatus due to COVID-19, and this is now only the second year the fair has been held since the start of the pandemic.
The college fair is only open to college advisors and students at Avon Old Farms, The Ethel Walker School, Kingswood Oxford, Miss Porter’s School, Suffield Academy, Watkinson School, and the Westminster School, as they are all part of HAISSCCA. A unique aspect of the experience is that the fair is not open to the parents of the students. This gives students the chance to be independent and ask the college representatives questions that are important to them.
Students enjoyed dinner at KO before the event and rode in buses to Westminster. Since this college fair is such a great opportunity, KO providing transportation ensures that every student is able to attend. “This event gives students a chance to learn a lot about different schools that maybe they had never heard of or talked to,” Director of College Counseling Jami Silver said. “It also allows students to have meaningful and interesting conversations with the college representatives there.”
The fair was successful, and Form 5 students had a valuable experience. “My experience at the college fair was really beneficial as it gave me the opportunity to learn a lot of new things about college that I had not considered before,” junior Audrey Karasik said. “I also enjoyed interacting with the representatives as they were very insightful and fun to talk to.”
Junior Diya Mistri agreed with Audrey’s input. “I learned about Drexel and Rutgers, which are two colleges I am interested in,” Diya said. “Overall, the college fair gave me the opportunity to meet representatives from these schools and ask them different questions, which was very helpful.”
While the fair had its share of benefits, there are some aspects that students would change about it. “The only hard part about this event was that, due to high amounts of students there, it was hard to see all the schools you wanted to,” Diya said.
Audrey also felt this way. “There were so many colleges there that you just couldn’t visit all the schools that you may have wanted to,” she said.
Overall, the HAISSCCA College Fair was a success, and was a beneficial experience for Form 5 students.
