From Firefighter to Sherpa
The day-to-day life of a high school counselor isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, is it? We get the frustration of having college counseling pushed to the backburner every time someone pops in with an issue that needs to be handled yesterday. Urgent and even not-so-urgent matters have to take priority over college counseling.
At the same time, those college fairs and college visits have to be successful. Students need to be registered, show up, and get matched with the right colleges. By the way, are you prepared for all those college counseling appointments?
Our tools help you do more in less time so college counseling gets the attention it deserves, along with the other important work you do each day.
Give Your Students Peace of Mind
Students can walk into college fairs fully prepared with the SmartFair Student app. “My Fair Plan” guides students through a quick interview to create a completely customized plan for fair day, including which colleges fit them best (with percentages to perfect match), what order to visit them in (event map layout order or best-match order), questions to ask the reps at the booth, private notes, and more, to ensure that the student’s fair is meaningful, easily navigated, and stress-free. The app’s features create engagement opportunities before, during, and after the fair to extend the time students and colleges can connect.
Before the fair:
- “Fair Information” provides hours, venue, parking, session or workshop program, and even the expected weather conditions for the event.
- “AI Assistant” answers questions to compare colleges and narrow the search.
- “My Matches” shows colleges that fit the student-selected desired campus attributes
- “Favorites” narrows the list based on student interest
- “My Fair Plan” creates a step-by-step approach for each individual
During the fair:
- No cell phones? No problem. “My Fair Plan” will email students (and parents, counselors, whomever) a PDF of the customized plan.
- All app features work together to provide the student a guided, supported experience. Students get scanned, take notes, mark favorites, find specific schools, view the bus schedule and available workshops, get fair announcements, and chat with AI as they move through the fair.
After the fair:
- Not enough time to see all the colleges? “Share my Info” lets students send their lead information to any participating colleges to show interest, even if they didn’t have time to connect personally at the fair.
- “Post Fair Summary” provides a PDF of all interactions, including a summary of “My Fair Plan” with visited or skipped stops, other colleges visited, student notes, favorites, AI conversation transcripts, and more. This can be shared with counselors, families, etc.
Let Technology Do the Heavy Lifting
Our technology was developed with one question in mind. How can we make life easier for real people and create more value for everyone involved in the college search process? This question precedes everything we build and do, and it shows.
College Fairs and Visits, Simplified
Gearing up for an in-person or virtual college fair? Students can fill out a profile from their phone or laptop, or you can register all students with express registration. Just choose a fair and upload a spreadsheet. Students then receive automated text and email confirmations and event reminders, along with their own personal barcode.
Teeing up a high school visit? Same drill. Registered students get a barcode that results in a better experience for them AND the colleges.
Using the GTCF MobileScan App, the barcode is scanned by colleges at in-person fairs and college visits so they don’t have to waste time filling out paper cards. Some students feel overwhelmed by these events, so we even help take the pressure off by providing sample questions for college reps. Students receive these questions in the same email as their barcode.
School. Student. Match.
College Matchmaking® connects students with colleges based on five key fit and retention factors. If at least four out of five factors match, the odds of the student enrolling, having a positive experience, and tossing their cap in the air at graduation go through the roof.
Fun-but-also-Serious Fact:
Students see twice as many colleges at fairs with College Matchmaking®!
Analytics that Matter
Which students registered and attended? Which colleges did each student visit? Which schools scanned each student’s barcode at an in-person fair? Which college booths did each student click at a virtual fair? All the answers are found in your Counselor Dashboard.
Of course, reporting goes a few layers deeper than individual events. Your College Interest Report provides a three-year look back at colleges that connected with your students. This shows you which colleges have shown the most interest in your students so you know which ones to invite for college visits.
And when it’s time for those college counseling appointments, all the reports and information you need will be at your fingertips. Just open your Counselor Dashboard. Done.
