Colleges Pack Huntington High School Gym
Representatives from more than a hundred colleges packed Huntington High School’s Louis D. Giani gymnasium as a crowd of about 1,000 students and parents turned out over a two-hour period for the spring college fair, soaking in information and gaining insights on a wide diversity of schools.
The annual event is co-sponsored by Huntington and Walt Whitman high schools and rotates between the two campuses. Huntington college counselor Bernadette Walsh, who planned this year’s gathering along with college center secretary Lynda Abner, said colleges were still calling asking to be included in the fair right up the last minute.
Invitations were mailed out in January and slots started filling up quickly. This year’s participation smashed previous records. Parents and students packed the gym, gathering written brochures and books, bulletins and applications and holding informal discussions with college reps from across the country who eagerly answered questions about every aspect of academic and campus life.
“It is a terrific opportunity for younger students who are just beginning to think about college and for those students who are actively seeking post-high school opportunities,” Mrs. Walsh said. “We had approximately 130 college admission counselors and representatives from all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces on deck. Overall, it was a very successful event.”
Although the students were predominately underclassmen, more than a handful of seniors turned out for the event in search of last minute opportunities. “The admission counselors were very pleased with the large crowds of students and parents and felt that the students were well prepared with questions ranging from admission requirements to majors available to financial aid and beyond,” Mrs. Walsh said.
The college reps were earlier treated to a casual dinner with members of the two high school’s guidance departments before heading to the gym to meet with students and their families from 7-9 p.m.
“Many of the students were pleased with the selection of colleges and some were surprised to see a particular college or two was there, including colleges from the west coast, such as the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in California and Arizona State University and those highly competitive schools that are closer to home ranging from Carnegie Mellon University to Bucknell University and even Harvard and Yale,” Mrs. Walsh said.
The college application season typically runs from October through February of a student’s senior year. Mrs. Walsh feels it’s never too early for families to start thinking about the college application and selection process. “Hopefully the college fair provided everyone, but especially the juniors, with guidance and perhaps some clarity,” she said.
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