Students got a chance to visit with 120 colleges from all over the country in the Haben Center by attending BSM’s annual college fair on April 12.

For students who are beginning the college application process, the college fair helped introduce them to see many different options all at the same time. “The college fair is definitely helpful because students get to see a lot of good [colleges] that meet their needs, and they get to meet with admissions counselors who actually deal with BSM students’ applications,” said Mrs. Amanda Anderson, college counselor.

The event was mandatory for juniors as part of their grade for their guidance and college-planning half-credit class. Even though juniors were required to attend, most thought it was very helpful. “[The college fair] helped [me] decide on how to narrow my search, and I got to see [some] colleges I would have never come across,” said junior Peggy Renier. “I got to ask college admission counselors how well known their colleges are in a certain area and ask them if they had what I am looking for.”

Sophomores also took part in the fair as well. With an event like this, there are always conflicts with sporting events that make it hard for juniors to go and even harder for the sophomores to have the chance to go to the fair. “We normally get about 70-80 sophomores to come,” said Mrs. Anderson.

There is a lot of planning that went into the event: Mrs. Anderson, Ms. Amy Desmond, and Mrs. Patty Gilmore had to think of and invited schools that would be of interest to students. Then they had to see if any schools asked to come, and finally arranged all of the schools so that they all fit into the Haben Center. “We first invite about 250 schools and only about 120 schools accept the invitation. This is very convenient because we can only fit that many schools into the Haben,” said Mrs. Anderson

Even though BSM had to organize all of the schools that came, they didn’t have to worry as much about providing information. The colleges, at their individual tables, provided students with detailed information about admissions, financial aid, the campus culture, and much more. The only thing that BSM prepared was a sheet of questions that students could ask admission counselors.