College fairs may not have clowns, peanuts and crackerjacks. But they actually could be a rollercoaster ride if you aren’t prepared.

College fairs can be chaotic, with crowds, long lines, and lots of different booths. If you don’t know what you are doing, you won’t get much out of them - just a collection of pamphlets that you could have easily received by mail.

But college fairs are a great opportunity to get info on specific colleges and meet college admissions officers. So here’s CampusCompare’s guide to fare well.

• Use your sources: Talk to your high school counselor to find out which fairs are being held in your area. 
• Come prepared:  Know which colleges are going to be represented at each fair. Use the CampusCompare college search to research the colleges. This will help inform you and help you think up some questions you would like to ask.
• Write questions:  Write down college-specific questions in advance to make sure you don’t forget anything. When you are standing in front of an admissions officer, you might not remember that you wanted to ask about the college’s acceptance rates and their specific financial aid options.
• Stay focused: With big crowds, you won’t be able to meet everyone at once. Choose the schools you really want to know more about and target those.
• Be professional: Dress sharp. It will help you stand out from the crowd and college reps will be more likely to take you more seriously. If there are hundreds of kids in a herd, you want to stand out. Looking professional will get you noticed.
• Cover more ground: If you go with your parents, split up from them. You don’t have much time, so splitting up lets you cover more ground. They can act as agents for you. Looking for colleges is often a family undertaking and your parents will probably be happy to help out and feel like they are part of your life.
• Sometimes labels are good: Make a label with your contact info to save time so you can visit more booths. Otherwise you will have to write and rewrite your contact info each time. Plus, labels help you look organized.

With these tips, the college fair just might be one of those more exhilarating rollercoaster rides that you don’t want to get off of… or help make it a lot smoother.