College Night at GPS
With almost 60 colleges and university admission representatives in the GPS gym and Athletic Commons, the season of college searching began Monday. The 57 U.S. schools came from 23 states, and two, American University of Rome (Italy) and Franklin University in Lugano, Switzerland, provided international options.
Several hundred juniors and seniors from GPS and McCallie School visited with the admission reps at tables spread with pennants, admission materials, applications, information forms and publications.
“If we have a theme for this annual event,” said GPS Director of College Counseling Susan McCarter, “it’s that our students should challenge themselves and look at schools outside their comfort zone or consider schools without immediate name recognition.” Admission personnel represented schools from Maine to California, Minnesota to Texas, and many locations in between.
Among those in attendance were large research universities like U. of Missouri Columbia, University of Virginia, and Clemson University; small liberal arts schools including Rhodes College, Bates College, Dickinson College, and St. Olaf College; and medium size schools like Colgate University, University of Richmond, Lehigh University, and Texas Christian University. Students interested in STEM fields found plenty to choose from at tables showcasing Drexel University in Pennsylvania, Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida.
The large showing of schools is the first of four college nights, with two at the McCallie School and one more on the GPS campus. “We are finding that more and more colleges are recruiting throughout the Southeast,” said Ms. McCarter in explaining the growth of the college night. “Our students have more options than ever before.”