Tracy Unified School District (TUSD) will be hosting its fifth College Fair at West High School’s main and sub-gyms on Sept. 30, from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. Students and parents will have access to information from 43 colleges and universities.

In addition to information from the various colleges and universities, there will be breakout sessions for students and parents on University of California (UC) admissions (5:45-6:30), California State University (CSU) admissions in Spanish (6:30-7:15), Personal Statement (6:40-7:20), CSU admissions in English, and athletic recruiting (7:30-8:15). The UC admissions, personal statement, and athletic recruiting sessions will be held in the library and the CSU sessions will be held in the theatre.

The breakout sessions will give students a chance to learn more about the admissions process and scholarship opportunities.

“I want to get more information on the admissions process,” senior Dalton Gualco said. “I want to make sure my application is perfect.”

The college fair will feature a few UC schools, CSU schools, private schools, trade schools and out of state schools. Schools scheduled to be at the event include: UC Berkeley, CSU Fresno, St. Mary’s College, Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing, and University of Kansas.

When the TUSD College fair first started there were more junior colleges and fewer four-year colleges and universities.

“Since the first year we have grown in the number of four-year schools attending,” West head counselor Lauri Tomlin said. “We started with about 30 and now have almost 50.”

Students are excited to talk to the representatives from the schools they are interested in.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to talk to the representatives from UC Santa Barbara,” senior Cole Link said. “That is my dream school.”

Students will have the opportunity to not only talk to schools they already have an interest in, but may find an interest in a school they have never heard about.

“I don’t know a lot of the colleges on the list but I may find a school that fits my interests that I have never heard of,” Link said.

Although 43 schools will be attending, some students are disappointed that some schools will not be attending.

“After seeing the list I was disappointed that UCLA will not be attending,” senior Devra Asah said. “That is one of my top schools and I wanted a chance to talk to the representatives face-to-face without having to go to the campus.”

Tomlin said some schools cannot come due to scheduling conflict or financial issues; however, there will be a few schools that have not come before.

“University of Kansas surprised me with a phone call about how they wanted to come,” Tomlin said.

In the previous four years the fair was held at Kimball High School.

“Originally it was supposed to rotate between Kimball, Tracy, and West,” Tomlin said. “But we were unable to the last few years due to construction at both Tracy and West.”

All students and parents are welcome and admission is free.

For more information call (209) 830-3370, extension 3007, or email Tomlin at [email protected].