On Monday, March 9, more than 200 college and university representatives from across the world gathered in the NC fieldhouse for LT’s annual College Fair. 

LT partners with the Illinois Association for College Admissions Counseling (IACAC) to facilitate the registration process for schools to bring their four-year universities to attendance, as well as a station for College of DuPage (CoD) and the Illinois Student Assistance Commission for financial aid assistance and information. 

“The [LT] College Fair is a great opportunity for our students and families to explore options, meet with admissions representatives, and gather important details about many schools across the country,” Division Chair of Counseling and Student Support Services Drew Eder said. “Many students don’t know that in many cases, the people behind the tables are the folks who make decisions on students being admitted or denied, or at least are advocating on their behalf to larger committees when it comes to the final admissions decisions.”

The fair was open to all students, but is mostly attended by sophomores and juniors. The fieldhouse was set up in a donut formation with smaller school tables and larger, more popular school tables in the outer ring. Additionally, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) had its own breakout room with sessions that ran every 15 minutes. 

“The College Fair is so important and gives students an idea of what a college can offer them without traveling to a campus,” administrative assistant to the College and Career Center Christa Arquilla said. “It is a great first step to the college process.”

When students registered for the fair, they signed up through Strive Fair, ensuring that if anything happened and they were unable to attend, they could opt in for information about schools present at the fair. Attending the event leaves students with many opportunities and benefits for their future. 

“[Students can learn] more about the different options out there, [are] able to ask questions and interact with the admissions counselor who often reads the applications, [learn] about financial aid opportunities and scholarships, and [are] able to collect information and compare/contrast what makes each school different,” College and Career Counselor Cody Dailey said.

When students walked up to a table at the fair, they were greeted by a representative from the school. After having a conversation about the opportunities, careers, and life at that school, students were encouraged to sign up for emails and text messages from the school to receive more information and reminders about applications and tours. 

“I got to see all of the different colleges and find my future path,” attendee Nora Grill ‘27 said. “I wanted to see what colleges stood out to me and can offer the best experience, as well as what I can expect for my future life.” 

The College Fair has been running at LT for over 20 years and has been under the control of Dailey since 2022, providing students with first looks for underclassmen and last looks before making their final decision for seniors. 

“We want this to be a great fair experience for both students and college staff,” Dailey said. “My favorite part is meeting all of the excited students and families as they come in. We really want everyone to have a worthwhile and smooth college fair experience, so it’s great when people are engaging with the reps and talking to them, and to see the entire fieldhouse full. I also love our First Generation Dinner, [which] we do before the fair for our first gen students and college reps.”

Some of the regional schools in attendance were among the most popular choices from past years, such as the University of Iowa, UIUC, and Indiana University, as well as international schools such as American College of Greece, American College of France, and Franklin University in Switzerland. The fair also hosted some community colleges, such as CoD and Parkland College. In addition to the traditional education-based schools, the United States Naval Academy and the United States Military Academy at West Point were also in attendance for students looking to go into the armed forces. 

“It means so much to me that we have an administration and community like [LT] that supports this program and that we also are able to partner with IACAC to provide such a great fair,” Dailey said. “A lot of high schools don’t have College Fairs, so to be able to host a fair, especially of this size, on our home turf is super special.”

In addition to this event, the College and Career Center offers representative visits at NC from many of the schools in attendance, as well as others that couldn’t make it, a Scholarship Club for seniors as a tool to help them find and apply to scholarships, and regular appointments that can be made with Dailey for any questions regarding post-high school life.  

“I think it can be really nice to see what your options are,” University of Kansas representative Taylor Thomas said. “There are so many places you can go in the country and in the world. It can be really overwhelming for high school students. I even remember being in high school and thinking, ‘How am I supposed to decide between all of this?’ It is really nice to just be able to walk up and get information, whether or not [students] process the conversation or just go home and read the packets they picked up. It is really about the ability to see all of the options.”