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Our Virtual University Fair Round-up

Typically, trimester one in the High School at AIS includes welcoming guests from universities across the globe to our campus to meet with our students and talk about higher education opportunities. In addition to individual visits, AIS hosts an annual university fair, that includes a broad range of universities. This event kicks off the year by getting students excited about their future. With travel restrictions and increased health and safety measures, we were unable to host in-person visits this fall. 

With crisis comes opportunity, and the possibility of doing something different, exciting and positive for our community. In partnership with MaiaLearning, a College & Career Planning Platform used in over 65 countries to streamline and manage the career and university planning process, AIS spearheaded the first ever virtual university fair to be conducted via the MaiaLearning Virtual Admissions Office feature. The fair was inclusive of several other international schools in Hong Kong and was attended by the following universities:  

University Location
Bennington College United States
Bentley University United States
Boston University United States
Brandeis University United States
Bucknell University United States
Claremont McKenna United States
Dartmouth College United States
Davidson College United States
Denison University United States
Elon University United States
Fordham University United States
Franklin & Marshall College United States
Johns Hopkins University United States
Lewis and Clark College United States
Michigan State United States
Northeastern University United States
Otis College of Art and Design United States
Purdue University United States
Rollins College United States
Rutgers University United States
Santa Clara University United States
SCAD United States
Tulane University United States
University of California – Davis United States
University of California – Irvine United States
University of California – Santa Barbara United States
University of California – Santa Cruz United States
University of Chicago United States
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign United States
University of La Verne United States
University of Vermont United States
University of Washington – Seattle United States
University of Wisconsin – Madison United States
Temple University Japan Japan
Ryerson University Canada
Simon Frasier Canada
University of Calgary Canada
University of Toronto Canada
University of Waterloo Canada
Western University Canada
York University Canada
Monash University Australia

Working closely with MaiaLearning, we discussed ways to streamline the student interface and improve their experience. Additionally, our Head of Counseling & Student Support, Ms. Bumpus reviewed feedback from other virtual university fairs and took additional steps to design our fair and student preparation intentionally to maximize student exposure and opportunity to learn, ask relevant questions and connect with university representatives. These representatives are often the individuals reading student applications and making the admission decision, thus connecting with and making a good impression is advantageous within the university application process. 

Students prepared in advisory by reviewing the participating universities, creating a schedule of universities to visit. In addition, students reviewed professional etiquette skills, such as how to ask a meaningful question, how to demonstrate interest, and how to write a professional follow up thank you email.  On Wednesday, 14 October the MaiaLearning Hong Kong Virtual University Fair kicked off our College Prep day, which included the fair, PSAT for grades 9-11 students and Application Day for senior students.

70%

The feedback from students and university fair representatives was overwhelmingly positive.

Approximately 70% of AIS high school students agreed or strongly agreed that the fair was productive, participation in the virtual university fair helped them to feel confident in their ability to talk with a university representative, and helped them learn about higher education options.

Thank you so much for having us today! I really enjoyed everything and found that it was all well-organized. I really appreciated the fact that the students were engaged and asked great questions! That is not always the case, and so I feel that the way you prepped them must have been part of the reasoning!

University of Calgary

Representative

Thank you for the productive fair, your students rock! Best money we have spent this fall. Thanks for your leadership and partnership.

University of California, Davis

Representative

Thank you so much for coordinating! This was by far the best virtual fair I’ve attended! I loved that students turned on their cameras, and it felt like a real college fair. Looking forward to the future (and hopefully in person too!) fairs.

University of Chicago

Representative

It was a joy to connect and the timing and platform worked very well. I already received follow up notes from students (a first for a virtual fair!) so it sounds like information and connections were made to support the students exploration and journey. Again, thank you and Maia for an excellent program!

Santa Clara University

Representative

I want to say thank you for allowing UC Santa Cruz to join this year's event. This was one of the most organized, well attended, and easy international fairs I've ‘attended’ this year. I appreciate all your effort to make it such a success.

University of California, Santa Cruz

Representative

The fair exceeded our expectations and provided AIS students with opportunities to engage with visioning their future. A big thank you to all who helped make this event a success.