National College Fair Assignment

The purpose of this worksheet/assignment is to assist in making your day at the National College Fair as productive as possible. Your journey of exploring post-secondary educational programs and career options will be a life-long one, but it is critically important at this time. Please complete each section below. Your responses are to be submitted to Terry by Oct. 9th.

We suggest that you use the following questions as an interview guide, but certainly ask whatever questions you like:
 What is the average class size for freshman classes, as well as upper division?
 How would they describe the relationship between students and instructors at their college?
 Does their university place a greater emphasis on research or on teaching?
 What are their policies and procedures relative to financial aide, Scholarships, work-study, etc.?
 What internship, cooperative-education, and foreign study opportunities are available to undergraduate students?
 What major is their college best known for?
 What are the transfer policies and admissions standards for their college, including college testing such as SAT and/or ACT?
 How would they describe student life on their campus and in the local community?

1) To gain a broad perspective relative to the different types of colleges, campuses, and programs, provide the name and a brief description of the following: (Do not hesitate to explore colleges outside the Northwest states, do not use the same college twice, and do not simply list information available on their website.)

A public college:
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University is a pretty large size university with programs in almost any and everything. I liked the Business program at this school. Also, it’s nice to know that 97% of SLU freshmen receive scholarships or financial assistance.


A private college:
St. Joseph’s College
St. Joseph’s College is a mid-sized college in New York. It is mostly made up of women and has four main areas of focus in business (Accounting, Business- General, Business Administration/Management, and Human Resources Management). This college isn’t at the top of my lists but it doesn’t seem that bad.



A rural college:
New Mexico Tech
New Mexico Tech is in the desert of New Mexico. This technical school is very well known. It is considered an Institute of Mining and Technology, but they do have a Business Administration/Management Degree program.



A traditional large university:
Valparaiso University
Also known as Valpo for short, Valparaiso University is in Valparaiso, Indiana and is a competitive school, with high expectations. This hands on school really cot my attention and interests with its Business and Nursing programs.



A small alternative college:
Evergreen State College
Evergreen State College is an alternative college in Olympia, our state capital (helps to be somewhere where we can grow and flourish in the business world). It has established a national reputation for leadership in developing innovative interdisciplinary, collaborative and team-taught academic programs. They values a student-centered learning environment, linking theory and practice. This college doesn’t necessarily offer a Business program.



2) Select a college major that you might be interested in pursuing. (Business Marketing) Find three colleges that are known to offer quality programs in that major. You may choose only one of the three colleges from within the state of Washington. Briefly describe what impressed you about each of these colleges. Then finally, describe how your overall educational experience might differ if you were to choose one college over the others. In making your comparisons, be sure to consider some the issues raised in the “suggested questions” above. (You probably should do some research on this before attending the Fair)


University of Washington [UW] –
Business Administration became an independent unit with the University system in 1917. It has been accredited by the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business (now known as the International Association for Management Education) since 1921. It also has had EQUIS accreditation by the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) since 2002, being one of only a few North American university business schools to have such designation. If I were to go here, I would be in an area I am familiar with making everything much easier, between tuition fees, finding a living situation, possibly a job, and being able to just get around much easier and do preparation work easier. Also, because it is a college in the same state, I would be able to keep majority if not all my credits and my AA degree would transfer. Not only this, but the University of Washington has a really good Business program, so it wouldn’t go to my disadvantage by any means.




New York University- Leonard N. Stern School of Business [NYU Stern]-
“The Stern Experience places you at the precise center of global business — physically, intellectually, and culturally. As an NYU Stern student, you will enjoy unrivaled access to global corporations, institutions, and markets. Both in and out of the classroom, you will interact directly with the leading minds and most influential movers and shakers of the Manhattan business community. And in the uniquely supportive environment of NYU Stern’s Greenwich Village campus, you’ll acquire the knowledge, skills, experience, and networks you need to achieve your fullest potential.” This is what the website says. According to this, it know that if I were to go here I would have the opportunity to get a great start in the business because it is near some very wealthy businesses. Also, the school itself seems to be very prestigious and challenging. I’m pretty such that this is a well known and well respected business school. One down fall many be that this is a rather large school and this makes it hard to stand out and really get on a good level with teachers and fellow classmates.



Columbia-
They have five main programs (one of them is new). There has been a Full-Time MBA Program, an Executive MBA Program, an Executive Education Program, and an Doctoral Program. Plus they are offering a new program: EMBA-Global Asia. “Columbia Business School, London Business School, and HKU Business School announce a pioneering program based in the three financial capitals that are driving global business: New York, London, and Hong Kong. EMBA-Global Asia, the first EMBA program with such a powerful geographic scope, builds on the proven success of EMBA-Global.” This seems like a really cool and fun program to be a part of. It definitely doesn’t sound easy by any means, but it definitely sounds like a great way to learn and make a living, but very competitive.





3) Attend at least one of the workshops during your time at the Fair. Briefly describe the content of the workshop and evaluate the information received.

[I did not get the chance to actually attend any of the workshops, so I am unable to answer this question, but I do feel that I got a lot out of the fair and that I got to see and experience a lot. You could surely say that it was eye-opening for me.]





4) Write a personal evaluation of your experience of attending the National College Fair. Share whatever thoughts you have, but be sure to include a discussion of the following:

I think that my preparation really helped me. For one, all the questions I asked I thought were pretty helpful, even if most of the colleges responded the same way. The most useful questions I asked were how they see early college students verses AP students, how is the teacher – student relationship, and how much does PSAT and PACT play into the application process. Generally they answered saying that some credits would transfer but not all and that they seem early college students and AP students in the same way because they were both doing college work. As far as the relationship works, they usually said that the students and teachers were pretty close, whether they had larger classes or not. For the PSAT and PACT, most said that they look at people as a whole and a few said that it is a large part of the decision making. The only real questions I have left are revolving tuition and when I ccould visit. What should be done now in my educational and career planning process is look into like internships or educational programs with the chance of some hands on work on the side as a part time job (somewhat similar to an internship). Over all, I feel that my first college fair went very smooth and helped me start up the engine for the search of my future.


 What information was the most useful?
 What questions are still unanswered?
 What should now be included in the next phase of your educational and career planning process?