Fall is here and university representatives from many US and Canadian universities will be traveling to Vancouver and cities around the world to promote their universities and answer any questions you might have about their institutions. Some will be offering group information sessions* at a local hotel or at a school near you. These are usually open to students from any school. In addition to these, representatives from individual colleges and universities might be coming to your school for a short presentation after school or during the lunch break. Pay attention to your school newsletter or daily announcements not to miss a visit that is important to you. Be sure to take advantage of these opportunities in order to:
• Learn more about the universities which you are targeting
• Gain exposure to universities you are not familiar with
• Find out what these universities are looking for in the students they admit
• Find out if you are a good candidate for X university by asking questions such as “I am not taking higher level math; with my current profile am I admissible to the business program at your university?”
• Establish a relationship with the reps of the schools which interest you.
In addition to visits by individual reps or small groups of representatives, there will be a number of university fairs which you should consider attending. Some will be fairs for Canadian universities only and there will be many of these at various high school campuses in the Vancouver area. The VAIS fair is international will have universities from the US, Canada and other countries. Check their website in early October to see which universities will be present.
VAIS College Fair: Be sure to attend this year’s Vancouver Area Independent School Fair to meet representatives from 80+ US colleges & universities & to explore their programs & acceptance criteria. Details: Oct. 17, 2019, West Point Grey Academy’s Gymnasium, Vancouver, from 1:30 – 3:30 pm. This event is free for all parents & students http://www.wpga.ca/vaisfair
Fine Arts Enthusiasts: Be sure to attend this year’s Vancouver National Portfolio Day at The Wilson School of Design at KPU (Kwantlen Polytechnic Univ.) in Richmond. This event will be on Saturday November 16, 2019, from 11am to 3pm. There will also be a presentation by the representatives of the many art institutes attending this event at St. John’s School in Vancouver on Thursday November 14 from 6-8:30 pm. There will be an opportunity to show your portfolio pieces to a couple of the universities and get some feedback on how to improve your portfolio so this is a very worthwhile event to attend. As well, if there is sufficient demand from my students, I can arrange to have one of the representatives spend an afternoon at my home/office for some one-on-one time with my students who are artists so please let me know now if you are interested. In the past, my students have appreciated this opportunity.
*Dartmouth, Harvard, Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania will be making a group presentation at St. George’s school at 7 pm on September 16. They will be repeating this at Collingwood School in West Vancouver on September 17 at 7pm. Check with the schools or with your school counselor to see if online registration will be required. These representatives might be in town for a couple of days so if you are a serious contender for one of these schools, then you might want to take the initiative to email that rep and arrange to meet them for coffee at Starbucks if they have availability.