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: University of Washington

The University of Washington is a public college located in Seattle, Washington. This school offers a wide variety of programs from the medical field to the arts. UW places a major emphasis on research, which they are known for in many of their departments. It is a very large campus and it even has its own zip code. In one classroom there can be as many as 700 students. The University of Washington is known for its medical and dental schools.





A private college: Seattle University

Seattle University is a private college located in Seattle, Washington. It is a Jesuit school and encourages diversity. They encourage personalized academic relationships between the students and faculty members. They offer a variety of programs for law to philosophy. Seattle University is a very small, private university at only 46 acres. Being a Jesuit school, Seattle University places an importance on community service and helping others.





A rural college: Western Washington University

Western Washington University is a rural college located in Bellingham, Washington. WWU offers a wide variety of courses from the performing arts to linguistics. They are very environmentally conscious and encourage students to think green. The class sizes can be only 30 students to over 100. Western Washington University encourages students to really be involved in their learning by doing internships and other fieldwork. It is an average size campus being 300 acres. Many of their students are involved in environmental projects both during and after they graduate from Western Washington University




A traditional large university: Washington State University

Washington State University is a traditional large university located in Pullman, Washington. WSU offers a wide variety of courses from crop science to environmental horticulture. The WSU campus is fairly large at over 1,747 acres. The class sizes can be anywhere from 21 students to over 100. A major emphasis is placed on research and many graduates and undergraduates have opportunities to help professors and doctors do research.





A small alternative college: Evergreen State College

Evergreen State College is a small alternative college located in Olympia, Washington. It is a liberal arts and science college. They offer a wide variety of programs such as a program where you learn about something that is interesting to you to expressive arts. Evergreen has a fairly average size campus at 1,000 acres. Evergreen State College thinks that it is important for students to think and learn for themselves.




2) Select a college major that you might be interested in pursuing. (biochemistry) 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)



The University of Washington offers qualities programs in biochemistry. This college interested me because of the emphasis they put on science and medicine. Both which I am considering pursuing. The University of Portland also offers a quality program in biochemistry. This college impressed me because of how important they consider research to be and because it is known around the Pacific Northwest as a research school. The University of Arizona offers a quality program in biochemistry as well. This college impressed me because of the different programs they have that are related to the biochemistry field.

My educational experience would be different if I chose one college over the others. If I went to the University of Washington, I might be learning about biochemistry and how it relates more to the medical fields and other fields that I could use that degree in. If I went to the University of Portland, I may be doing more research than I would if I went to UW or UA. If I went to the University of Arizona, I might be able to participate in more programs related to this major than I would if I went to UW or UP. Any college I will choose make my experience completely different than if I went somewhere else.







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.


Preparing an Effective Admissions Packet

The purpose of the workshop, Preparing an Effective Admissions Packet, was to give us information we would need when applying to different colleges and universities. We got information such as what kind of aid you could get depending on your ranking, what to say and what not to say within a college essay, and what to do before, during, and after the SAT’s. The information we received was very helpful and informative.




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:
§ 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?


The National College Fair was a very good experience. The information that was the most useful was the workshop that I went to, Preparing an Effective Admissions Packet, and talking to the different people from all the universities. I have no questions that are unanswered. The next phase of my educational and career planning process is to take the SAT’s and start applying to colleges that I want to go to.