Valentina Gutierrez

College/University Visited: Boston National College Fair

With whom did you attend this event?
The Junior Class

College Visit Reflection

1. What are three things that stood out to you on your visit?
Brandeis University especially stood out to me while at the college fair, probably more
than every other school that I saw represented. It stood out to me because it was described as a
small research and liberal arts school with about 3,500 students. More importantly, it was
described as having a strong focus on social justice and partnerships between students,
especially through clubs. However, I was distressed to hear that only 6-8% of students receive
merit scholarships (that require no extra application). It was especially upsetting to hear that
students, on average, leave with $20,000 in debt. Although this is below the national average, I
look to attend a school that can offer me more financial aid.
2. What is one new thing you learned about this particular college/university or life beyond high
school in general, that you did not know before?
In general, I learned that school representatives appreciate good questions that require
more than just a yes or no or statistical answer. The representatives enjoyed answering
questions about student culture and how nice students are. This was helpful for me because
its more important (to me) than knowing exactly what clubs are available at a specific school.

3. What did you not do that you wish you could have while on this campus?
I wish that the schools that were on my college list , such as: Columbia University,
Dartmouth College, Northeastern University, Swarthmore College, Vassar, Wellesley, Wesleyan,
etc., had been represented at the fair.

4. Reflecting on this visit, what is one question you didn't ask but will ask on a future visit to a
different college/university?
If it was not outright mentioned to me, then I always asked about the percentage of
minority students at the school. Next time, I will ask whether international students are not
included in this percentage or not.

OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
6. What did you like the most? The least?
I really liked that the majority of people at the fair were students and not parents.
Although parents are a vital part of the college application and final decision process, I also see
that students who have parents who have attended a college often have a strong advantage -even in something as simple as speaking to a representative. I disliked the fact that many of the
schools on my college list were not represented. This opened up the door for me to see other
options but it was truly not what I was hoping for.