By Jaimie McCormick
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Camden County College hosted its annual Fall Transfer Fair to help students to narrow down the schools to which they would like to transfer on Nov. 20 in the Atrium of the Connector Building on the Blackwood campus.
Students gather around Rosemont College’s table. By Jaimie McCormick, CCC Journalism Program
More than 50 colleges and universities were represented. Rowan University, Rutgers University and Penn State were among the institutions that sent representatives.
“We’re bringing in a lot of schools that students may be interested in,” said Kaitlynn Shawaryn, coordinator of transfer services.
Signups for the fair were sent out early in the summer, as other schools also have fairs at this time of the year.
Tables were set up in alphabetical order, a system that was established at the fair last year, so students could more easily find a college’s table. Students were able to walk down the aisles and go up to any table that they chose.
“The reps are super friendly and they love talking to the students and they’re more than happy to answer their questions,” said Shawaryn.
Students were able to ask questions about grade point average requirements, how credits will transfer and other matters.
Julieann Barton, 18, a first-year psychology student, said she went to the fair to try to narrow down colleges to which she hopes to transfer. Many options made it hard for her to narrow down her preferences but she said she plans to go to more transfer fairs. York College and Rosemont College were two of the tables she visited.
“I wanted to see what other colleges might be beneficial to my major and I kind of want to go far from home,” said Barton.
Charles Asare, a second-year pharmacy major, said he went to the fair to find out more about scholarships, grants and graduate studies. He visited Jefferson University’s table.
“I wanted to see if I could talk to someone about graduate programs because someone in medicine has to think of graduate programs. Only having undergraduate information doesn’t help them,” Asare said.
About 150 students attended the fair. That’s about the same number as attended last year’s Fall Transfer Fair.
“Our fall one tends to be low in turnout because not many students transfer for spring semesters compared to our spring transfer fair, but we still have a good turnout,” said Shawaryn.
Most of the time, students don’t commit to schools at the fair as it is different from an instant decision event, Shawaryn said. Instead, they go to the fair with a number of schools they hope to get into.
“It’s more of a shop around and ask questions to see if the school would meet their needs and be a good fit,” Shawaryn said.