Kaitlyn Turner Contributing Writer

The National College Fair, which travels around the country educating prospective freshman and transfer students, recently made its way to Seattle. It was offered on Friday, Nov. 8 and Saturday, Nov. 9 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. Over 300 colleges were in attendance.

Pierce College’s Pre-Health Professions Student Alliance organized a group of members that attended the National College Fair on Friday, Nov. 8.  Kris Sheldrake, President of the Pre-Health Professions Student Alliance, said “It was a good opportunity for us to go and find out about different programs and their requirements.”

While the National College Fair was geared more towards incoming freshmen than transfer students, most colleges were able to offer relevant information to the students looking to transfer from Pierce to a four-year college. “It was nice to talk to the admissions counselors and find out about transfer acceptance rates,” said Sheldrake, a Pre-Nursing Student. Most of the students from the Pre-Health Professions Student Alliance who attended the National College Fair were looking to transfer into a nursing program, and they received information about what is accepted when looking to apply. “It was very overwhelming and gave me a lot to think about,” said Alicia Brown, also a Pre-Nursing student.

Attending the National College Fair helped many students expand their options with colleges. “A lot of us students have our hearts set on one college, but it’s really competitive and we all might not get our first choices, so it’s helpful to find more options,” said Sheldrake.

Some students that attended found that there were other majors that they hadn’t considered, but may be a good fit for them. Vadim Turlak, another Pre-Nursing student that attended the event that is also considering majoring in Biochemistry, said “considering that getting into nursing and other allied health schools is very competitive, it was a good opportunity to learn about other skills and find more choices.”

Another helpful aspect of the National College Fair was finding information for Pierce’s Running Start Students. It is well known that most, if not all, four year colleges in Washington will accept the credits earned by running start students.  However, most out-of-state colleges don’t offer much information on their websites or in brochures about their policies on credit acceptance. Of about 200 colleges interviewed from every state in the country, all stated that they would accept credits earned by Running Start students during their time at Pierce.

The National College Fair is offered once a year in Seattle. Although it’s too late to attend this year, students can always contact counselors and recruiters from their prospective colleges if they are looking for more information.