LatinaLista — If it’s fall, it must be college fair time! The time when students and their parents are thinking about what mijo or mija is going to do after high school. The questions: Community college or 4-year university? In town or out of state? And the most important: How to pay for it?
All these questions are important but before any decision can be made it’s important to know the options. That’s why college fairs are so important for students and their families. The college information web site New Futuro is sponsoring, along with Allstate, a series of free college prep fairs across the country, especially for Latino families.
The New Futuro College Prep Fairs presented by Allstate is an all-family event with activities for all ages, in addition to featuring representatives from colleges and universities, exhibitors and the best part — a chance to win scholarship money.
Bilingual experts will be on hand to answer questions ranging from colleges to financial aid. The college prep fairs will be taking place in five cities beginning at the end of the month.
- Sept. 29 — Los Angeles
- Oct. 6 — Houston
- Oct. 20 — New York
- Oct. 27 — Miami
- Nov. 10 — Chicago
The college prep fair is free but students and their families need to register on the Nuevo Futuro‘s web site. As a way to kick off each college prep fair, Nuevo Futuro is hosting live chats on their Facebook page.
Live Chat #1 (before LA fair) is Tuesday, Sept. 25 at 8 pm CST
Live Chat #2 (before Houston fair) is Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 7 pm CST
Live Chat #3 (before NY fair) is Wednesday, Oct. 17 at 6 pm CST
Live Chat #4 (before Miami fair) is Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 8 pm CST
Live Chat #5 (before Chicago fair) is Wednesday, Nov. 7 at 7pm CST
Yet, for those students who don’t live near one of the cities on the national tour, there’s no need to get too bummed out. Nuevo Futuro’s web site has the largest database of available scholarships that students can access. In fact, the organization launched a special scholarship tracker to help students find the scholarships, grants, tuition waivers, stipends, fellowships, contests and loans perfect for helping to pay those high tuition and book fees. Students just have to register via their Facebook pages to participate.
Also, while it’s not the same as speaking face-to-face with someone at the college prep fair, the Nuevo Futuro website does have information in both Spanish and English that covers everything students and parents want to know about college, financial aid and careers.
While the whole college process may have a lot of unknowns, one thing is certain — to have a good future, you need a good education.
