ARLINGTON — Thousands of Snohomish County high school students are attending fairs this month but won’t be winning any blue ribbons for prized livestock or tasty pies.
Their rewards might be scholarships, admission to a dream college or a connection to a trade.
College and career fairs are getting bigger and more organized and are better attended, said Roy Fentress, who has watched them grow over the past decade in his role as coordinator for advising and outreach at Everett Community College.
“I think the high schools have seen that it is very important,” Fentress said. “I think these large fairs really bring a wide cross section of public, private (colleges) and large apprenticeship programs together.”
Local educators point to a National Association for College Admission Counseling report that estimates the class of 2009 will include 3.3 million graduates and is likely to be the largest in the nation’s history. They hope the life-after-high-school fairs will give students an edge.
Gina Burrill knows what it’s like to be a mom wanting to get her kids into a good college. As a career counselor at Arlington High School, she also knows lots of students aren’t college-bound.
“We have a diverse student body,” Burrill said. “We want all students to have a plan and we can’t let them fall through the cracks.”
In meeting graduation requirements to shadow adults at their jobs, Arlington students have explored dentistry and animal surgery, welding and fashion design, tattoo artistry and horse whispering.
The fall fair circuit is keeping Arlington students busy.
On Sept. 29, a bus load of them drove south to join hundreds of other students from across Snohomish County to visit the National College Fair in Seattle. That fair drew around 20,000 people and roughly 400 universities.
Earlier this month, 69 students from Arlington High School and 56 from Weston High School went to the “What About Tomorrow Fair?” at Comcast Arena in Everett. More than 2,000 students from Everett, Edmonds, Lakewood, Arlington, Mukilteo and the Sno-Isle Tech Skills Center browsed the booths from 74 schools and another 74 industries, including 18 aerospace and manufacturing businesses.
Last week, Arlington students got to stay on their home turf with colleges, universities, trade schools, military recruiters and apprenticeship programs offering up information in the school’s commons.
Some students had a better idea than others what they want to do after they graduate.
Kevin Clevenger, 15, a sophomore whose father has been in the Navy for 26 years, is considering the military and wants to fly jets or helicopters.
He spent part of his afternoon asking colleges about their ROTC scholarships and quizzing the military branches about what they can offer, including health care and travel. He also did 18 pull-ups on a bar beside a Marine Corps informational booth.
“I would like to go to four years of college through the ROTC program and then the Marines as an officer,” he said.
Some college recruiters say they are seeing younger students ask questions.
“You see a lot more sophomores and juniors starting the college search process earlier,” said John McClimans, an admissions counselor at Pacific Lutheran University. “I don’t know if that is due to the generation or if it has to do with the good college and career counseling reaching out to students earlier.”
Blake Petersen, 16, an Arlington High sophomore, was one of the early birds at his school’s college fair, asking questions about PLU’s pre-medicine options.
“It seems like a far way off, but freshmen year went by so fast and they say it only gets faster,” he said.
Many fairs have breakout sessions on issues such as financial aid, savings plans for college and admissions applications.
Jennifer Shoen, who is part of the team of UW application screeners, offered advice to students about how to write their personal essay.
With each letter, she offered advice and anecdotes.
For instance, she said the personal letters in good applications typically are written over three weeks with plenty of time to write, rewrite and think about how to make it better.
Other bits of advice: don’t catch “thesaurus-itis” and don’t write what you think the screening team wants to hear.
One big reminder: be careful with spell check. One applicant interested in international studies was replacing a typo but hit the wrong word and her letter said she wanted to study “international bunnies” in several references, Shoen said.
Senior Matt Lind said the advice from the fair was helpful.
“It was really nice to hear what I have been learning in class (about applications) was what she was saying,” he said. “It was a good positive reinforcement.”
Reporter Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446 or stevick@heraldnet.com.
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