Fewer students than last year attended the local school districts’ annual college fair at UNC on Tuesday, but the University’s table was still crowded.
The fair, held at the Dean E. Smith Center, attracted high school juniors and seniors interested in colleges in and out of state.
Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools and Orange County Schools have hosted the fair together for the past five years, but individual school fairs have been held for many more.
Jared Rosenberg, UNC senior assistant director of admissions, said there is always a large applicant pool from area schools because the University has name recognition.
Other schools’ booths were donned with flags, free gifts and candy. UNC’s was a simple table with pamphlets.
He said the school doesn’t have to put a lot of work into their display at the fair because students come to the booth regardless.
He said UNC admissions’ main problem is getting local top students to consider the school over private universities. Rosenberg said the kids are sometimes too familiar with the campus.
“The toughest thing that we have to recruit against is the fact that we are in their backyards,” he said.
Tom Hanlon, whose daughter Grace is a junior at Carrboro High School, said area students are simply expected to apply to UNC.
