As a junior, I’ve been looking at colleges for a while. I’ve researched the acceptance rates, major and minor offerings, tuition fees, graduation rates and other data of over 200 colleges and universities across the U.S. However, through all my website scouring and Google searches, I’m still left with questions. With such a large list of schools, I realized that I couldn’t attend college visits for every one to get my questions answered. I tried emailing people from the schools, but they often either didn’t respond or only answered one of my many questions. This left me with a lot of questions and no way to get them answered. 

One day, my mom told me about the college representative visits that Park is offering through Naviance. I didn’t think much of it initially, and didn’t even look at the website. Later on, though, I realized some of my top schools were sending representatives to these meetings, so I signed up for one. I went straight from my second period class to Student Services, where I met the representative. No one else had signed up for the meeting, so it was just me and her. We talked for the entire hour. She gave me some materials to read about the school and described what life on campus would be like. I asked all of my questions, taking notes on the representative’s answers. Although I was talking directly with a representative of the college, the meeting was very casual and it felt as if we were just having a conversation.

After the meeting, I signed up for three more. They all proved very beneficial, letting me have a more personalized glimpse at each individual school . What I was surprised by, though, was the lack of other students attending these meetings. Most of my meetings were one-on-one, with only one in which I was accompanied by another student. Considering how helpful I found these meetings, the fact that none of my friends had even heard about these opportunities baffled me. 

Anyone interested in attending college should attend at least one college representative meeting. You get excused from one of your classes, get to learn more about where you could potentially be living for four years and oftentimes receive free swag. Even if there are no schools that you are interested in attending that have meetings, going to a meeting with any school can help you figure out what you’re looking for in a school. Additionally, when you attend an in-school representative visit, you are put in the school’s system, so you can be sent more information. Once you are on the school’s radar, you are more likely to be accepted and receive more aid money. 

The college representative visits offered through Naviance are incredibly worthwhile, as they provide information and a connection that could turn out to be instrumental in your college application and selection process.

Signing up for a college representative visit is super easy. All you have to do is log in to your Naviance Student account, click on “Colleges,” then “College Visits” and sign up for the college you’d like to meet with. Make sure to make note of the date and time of the meeting and what class you’ll be missing. When the time comes for your meeting, you can go straight to Student Services and tell them you’re there for the college visit. After you sign in, they’ll excuse your absence.