College Possible Minnesota is back with its annual partner fair series, Beyond the Brochure: College Possible College Partner Fair. Each year, College Possible gives new AmeriCorps coaches opportunity for to learn in-depth information about the colleges that College Possible Minnesota students are commonly interested in attending. As many AmeriCorps coaches are not originally from Minnesota or are not familiar with the plethora of colleges in the state, the partner fair helps them gain an understanding of what each college has to offer, as well as what the application process looks like so they can better guide their students to make an informed and best-fit college decision.
Over the last seven years, College Possible’s College Partner Fair has taken many forms – from a large, in-person fair to virtual sessions. In this post-COVID-19 pandemic world, the College Partner Fair has successfully returned to an in-person event at College Possible’s headquarters. Today, the Partner Fair takes place over a series of Fridays throughout the fall – with two or three colleges visiting each Friday morning. Over the course of an hour, college representatives give a 15-minute presentation about their institution, after which, coaches have time to ask questions about each college or university.
This year fourteen colleges across Minnesota participated in the partner fair. Gustavus Adolphus College, Dougherty Family College, University of Minnesota – Duluth, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, Hamline University, Metro State University, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Macalester College, University of Minnesota – Morris, University of St. Thomas, St. Olaf College, St. Catherine University, Hennepin Technical College, and Minneapolis College visited College Possible to participate in the College Partner Fair. The Partner Fair is not only beneficial to College Possible coaches, but a chance for College Possible’s partner colleges to share information about their institution and programs with coaches, who assist over 1000 high school juniors and seniors in crafting their college lists and applications. Each coach walks away from the fair with a college contact who they can reach out to with questions or to advocate for their students during the application process.
In feedback surveys thus far, AmeriCorps coaches rated the experience “Very Valuable.” “I found it valuable hearing admissions pitches like our students would hear them” said one coach. “It was a great opportunity to learn more about these colleges, especially through data.” Another coach shared, “I enjoyed hearing about the college’s strengths and uniqueness. It is hard to get that from a website.” “I appreciated the opportunity to hear questions from other coaches and the answers that representatives gave, as well as having them in-person to hear directly from” said a third coach.
