On Wednesday night, Oct. 6, the College Fair returned to the Watertown High, with representatives from 60-plus schools to talk with students. Here’s some of their advice:

Elms College

“Some strong things that applicants should have when applying for our nursing program are a 3.0 GPA and two letters of recommendation. For everybody else, we’re just looking for your high hchool transcript,” said Alyssa Kelleher, an admissions counselor at Elms College in Chicopee. “We typically accept students with a 2.4 GPA, but we try not to stray any lower than that.”

She also said Elms is very easy to apply to. 

“It’s free to apply [to Elms] and we are a test-optional school, 97 percent of students receive financial aid, and all students receive merit scholarships. There’s even bigger scholarships available if you’re interested in business or nursing as a field of study, as these are big programs at Elms.

Syracuse University

The top three majors at Syracuse are Psychology, Communications, and Business.

Asides from the typical things that every college looks at, Syracuse is searching for strong diversity and they want to see students who are empathetic.

They also want people who are going to be involved and are willing to “step up and be a part of their community, and be involved.”

Bridgewater State 

“We look for a GPA [3.0 or higher]. We want to see that you care about your interests,” said Shannon Fernando-Cole, an admissions counselor of Bridgewater State. 

“We are an SAT and test score optional school, and every applicant is looked at on a case-by-case basis when applying. 

Just because you have a low GPA or poor test scores does not mean you will not be accepted. We just want to see you put effort into your studies.”

She said some things that set Bridgewater apart are the education program; a lot of students are from Massachusetts; a lot of people study abroad; and it is a big intern school.

“Bridgewater is just a very cool school to attend all around,” Shannon added. “We also just added Equestrian to our official sports list a couple years back, which is something a lot of schools don’t offer. It’s very cool!”

UMass Lowell

According to assistant director of admissions Doug Seed, the top five majors with the most applications are Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, Biology, and Nursing.

He said for UMass Lowell, you apply just to the school, but then you are asked for your top three choices in majors. He also some advice for anyone choosing a college.

“Once you’ve rounded it out to about 10 schools, I’d start visiting schools because I think that that will narrow your school down by a lot,” he said. “What will really determine your academic success will be a place where you feel comfortable and the most connected.”

–Nov. 22, 2021–