By Adriana Duarte ’27
On Oct. 9, 2024, Derby High School held its annual College Fair for grades 9-12. It was a modified schedule for students, who were able to visit all booths set up in the gym that had representatives from different colleges and post-secondary programs. This event was to give students exposure to possibilities for life after high school.
There were many different school represented, such as Lincoln Tech, Southern Connecticut State University, Quinnipiac University, UCONN, University of Bridgeport, Fairfield University, Albertus Magnus College, Post University, and more. The college representatives were different in their approach to student conversations. The Raider Press spoke with UCONN, University of Bridgeport, Southern Connecticut State University, and Fairfield University. These colleges are spread all across Connecticut in cities such as Bridgeport, Fairfield, New Haven and Storrs. The schools have varying amounts of majors and minors, from 50 to as much as 200. They also mention that they have anywhere from a 5 percent acceptance rate to an 80 percent acceptance rate.
Three out of the four colleges interviewed said they have a very good sense of community. The representative from the University of Bridgeport supported this claim by saying, “We have a really strong connection with the Bridgeport community…we’re all really close, we all go to faculty events… Everyone’s super nice on campus, we are all one big family at the University of Bridgeport.” Similarly, the representative from SCSU said, “What makes Southern very special and a point of distinction is our community, the people there are just kind and compassionate, warm and welcoming, the whole campus community, students, staff and faculty.” All representatives seemed to believe their campus was very positive and is fit for any student interested.
The annual college fair at Derby High School would not be such a success every year without the help of DHS guidance counselors Jennifer Ostrosky and Brian Nutcher, as well as guidance secretary Jennylee Hoffman. Each year, the guidance department works together to gather colleges for the college fair. Ostrosky even sends out surveys to students on what colleges they would like to see to have as many included as possible. Ostrosky also relayed that every August, she sends out an email to the designated colleges to give them more than enough time to get back to our school. They will gather all ideas for marketing as well as any commercial advertising they may want to include, such as pens, lanyards, stickers, keychains etc.
Every year the college fair turns out to be a major success thanks to the colleges involved as well as the students who show interest. Until next year!
The Raider Press 