This summer as the pandemic promised to wane, the group of colleges know as the CTCL schools (www.ctcl.org) decided to host a series of in-person college fairs for sophomores, juniors, and rising seniors and their families. Virtual college fairs can certainly do in a pinch and provide much need access to students all over the globe, but people were hungry for human interaction -college admissions reps and students alike!
The first CTCL series of fairs took place in Texas in early August and events were held in Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. Our Director of Admissions, Caroline Randall, and one of our newer counselors covered these fairs.
First in-person college fair in 18 months!
Next was the Midwest and South circuit – Atlanta, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, and Denver in nine days! It all started with a little friendly hazing of one of our other new staff members, Joseph. Our first flight departed at 5:20am and the airport is 70 miles away!
One of the things that makes all the crazy road warrior stuff worthwhile, is the adventure and comradery of it all. As we always say in Admissions, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. Things go sideways all the time when traveling, and even more so during a not-so-waning pandemic. Flights were delayed, rescheduled, missed; luggage was lost for several days, dinner was unusually difficult to secure after the fairs, but in all of the craziness, getting to know and lean on my colleagues from other CTCL schools meant everything to me.
The in-person interaction and conversations we had with sophomores, juniors, and seniors, and many of their family members was also lovely! Many people thanked us for coming and for being able to connect with us in-person. We saw relief in people’s eyes too when they heard about the various different ways that one can do college! All of the CTCL colleges are small (under 2,000 students), 4-yr liberal arts colleges, with a unique offering of some kind. Each of us welcomes individual conversations with students either in-person or over zoom. We actually want to get to know you as you think about applying to our colleges! Generally speaking, we are a friendly, gregarious, bunch of college admissions professionals. Please check out our profile as well as those of my CTCL colleagues: www.ctcl.org
Here are some more photos from our combined CTCL adventure!
The Chalkboard 