On Thursday evening, Coppell High School hosted its annual college fair with more than140 college booths. CHS students and parents filed into the large gym, small gym and commons in hope of conversing with representatives from a variety of colleges.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, last year’s in-person college fair was put on halt. Instead, a virtual option was offered. This year, however, college recruiters were able to set up physical booths at CHS to share information. This physical interaction is preferred by many alike. 

“Part of the recruiting process is building trust,” Duke Kunshan University’s global recruitment officer Lindsay Parker said. “Eye contact is key in that trust building, and on Zoom and virtual platforms, because of the nature of the camera, you can’t have that eye contact and that connection just isn’t there in the same way.”

University of Minnesota’s admissions counselor for diversity and outreach Karen Hernandez feels similarly.

“[In person] you definitely get to build a better connection with the students and [students] are less timid to ask you questions, [but] in a virtual setting, it can be a little bit intimidating,” Hernandez said. “You get more information in person rather than you would virtually” 

Even with the lifting of many COVID-19 restrictions, such as the removal of the mask mandate, some schools were not able to attend CHS’s college fair. 

“Most of [the schools] are from Texas or the south,” CHS head counselor Ann Cinelli said. “We are finding that a lot of schools in California and [the] north east are not travelling yet.”

The lack of eastern and northern colleges was felt, but at the same time opened up opportunities for lesser known colleges. 

“There are a lot [of] more attainable opportunities [that colleges offer],” CHS junior Lakshana Parasuraman said “When we first came in [we thought] there were only a limited number of colleges where we wanted to go to, but coming [to the college fair] was an eye opener to see all the different opportunities and different colleges. [We found] that the Ivy Leagues are [present], but there are so many other colleges and universities that provide the same thing and are still great.”

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