Fifty universities, technical trade schools and branches of the military were represented during the return of the College Fair on Tuesday, Oct. 19, at Poplar Bluff High School.
“Our juniors have not had a normal year since eighth grade,” pointed out Sara Woodard, PBHS counselor. While the public health crisis “created some virtual opportunities students didn’t have before,” she continued, the opportunity for students to have questions answered in person is unparalleled.
The hope, Woodard noted, is to offer students “as much exposure” to postsecondary options as possible. The annual event, organized through the Missouri Association for College Admission Counseling, is open to PBHS juniors and seniors, as well as Top 30 sophomores.
There were a few institutions represented for the first time in recent memory, according to the counseling department, including the University of Mississippi and the Nossi College of Art in Nashville.
Michelle Donovan, Nossi admissions representative, explained how the art school was looking to branch out into the Missouri market, and the St. Louis National College Fair was canceled. Specializing in just five select programs, Nossi offers a fixed-tuition policy with no out-of-state fees, and recently added dormitories.
Another resource available for high schoolers is a full-time college and career adviser, Jade McCain, who began at her alma mater last month. A collaboration between the Missouri College Advising Corps under the University of Missouri Extension and AmeriCorps, the position is offered at host schools with a high percentage of low-income, underrepresented and prospective first-generation college students.
Advisers, like McCain of the PBHS Class of 2017, are often from backgrounds and schools similar to the students that they serve. The “near-peer approach” is different than other programs in that the advisers are available to all students on campus for postsecondary planning, apprenticeship opportunities and coordinating group activities, according to MCAC literature.
Click here to visit the PBHS senior website with various information for students, including a directory of scholarship applications.
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Cutline: PBHS senior Joseph Clark III performs pull-ups for a fitness test required by the U.S. Marine Corps.