Forty-five colleges and universities from around the country ventured to Gannon University’s Yehl Ballroom Tuesday to participate in the annual Graduate and Professional School Fair.
Presented by the Career Development and Employment Services, the fair expected between 250 and 300 students to attend.
Duquesne University, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine (LECOM), University of Buffalo and Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania were just some of the colleges represented at the fair. Some schools only had certain graduate programs at the fair. For example, Mercyhurst University had Secondary Education, Anthropology and Applied Intelligence as three of its seven programs that attended. Other schools were able to discuss all of their graduate programs.
Gannon did both by providing graduate school-wide information as well as having individual representation for certain programs.
Patty Puzar, the senior data specialist at the Career and Development and Employment Service Office, said the fair provides an opportunity for students to meet one on one with representatives from different schools.
“Graduate students can zero in on a school,” Puzar said.
Students can gain important information from those schools, like how their admissions work, what type of financial aid (if any) is offered and what tests are required before a student can be accepted.
The fair is not only beneficial for prospective graduate students, Puzar said, but also for undergraduates as well.
“Undergraduates get to see what is out there,” she said.
Not only were the schools there to help the attendees, there were also tables lined with helpful pamphlets and books. Guides that provided direction to craft the perfect résumé and find the right job were available for students to take and help assist them in the future. Also present were sample books on how to pass the LSATs, the GREs and the GMATs.
Sam Cucinotta, a representative from Niagara University, said that the fair is great for students to talk to other schools, especially ones that may not be local as well as exploring numerous options.
“It’s like going on a mini tour or open house,” Cucinotta said.
Clarion University’s representative Susan Staub expressed the similar thoughts about the benefits of graduate fairs offered to students.
“It’s an opportunity for students to see lots of different schools in one place,” Staub said.
The schools at the fair have had the most Gannon applicants. Some representatives worked directly with Gannon students. Teona Griggs from Case Western Reserve University described Gannon graduates as “driven, focused and competitive.”
Na’Keya Hall, a Gannon business management major, said the graduate fair provides students with new opportunities.
“It helps you look at schools you may not have heard of before,” Hall said.
