NYC-Feature Story

Not Your Usual College Fair
"Tales From the Campus" offers the real deal on college life

“So, umm, how is it going to school without any guys?” I asked the Barnard College representative, a little embarrassed.

The girl giggled. “Well, it’s a strange but good dynamic. Trust me, there isn’t an undersupply of guys or anything. There’s a whole bunch of guys right across the street at Columbia!”

Even though my question might have been a little silly, it was nice not having to carefully choose my words in an attempt to impress college officials.

Getting the Real Deal

Instead of an intimidating group of old suit-and-tie-wearing admissions officers, the “Tales From the Campus” college fair—presented by Together Our Resources Can Help (TORCH), a professional mentoring program for New York City high school students—was full of college students proudly wearing their school colors from head-to-toe. I liked getting the real deal on college life from the students themselves.

Set in a grand 10th-floor ballroom at NYU, overlooking Washington Square, this year’s fair was held July 24. My fellow NYC writer and I were greeted with a warm welcome and a schedule of the fair. You could help yourself at a huge table full of refreshments during the first half hour. Then we got down to business.

College tables arranged around the edge of the room represented Harvard, NYU, Syracuse and the University of Texas, just to name a few. Every college table was piled high with information packets, and students currently attending each college staffed the tables, eagerly answering any question.

Friends at a Lunch Table

The best thing about this college fair was when the college students sat at round tables with small groups of high school students. In this intimate, informal setting it was easy to ask questions; it felt like we were just a bunch of friends talking at a lunch table. After a while the high school students rotated, so we got to meet with all types of college students and to ask all our prying, personal questions. They even provided us with a list of questions to use if we couldn’t think of any. All the college students were friendly and completely honest, making sure no question was left unanswered at this unique college fair.

—Amanda Fernandez

For information on the next “Tales From the Campus” fair, on TORCH, or to receive a pdf of TORCH’s College Resource Guide, contact executive director Debi Deutsch at debid@thetorchprogram.org, (212) 929-9573.

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