The 37th annual College and Career Night brought students and professionals together on Wednesday in McDowell High School’s South Gym for an evening of questions and answers. 

More than 30 booths set up by colleges and universities  including Slippery Rock University, Allegheny College, Malone University, and even Harvard University, were on hand to explain anything from admissions to campus housing to financial aid  for prospective students and their parents. 

Melissa Grimm was at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College booth, and she explains that this night is good for colleges to recruit the “wonderful students at McDowell.”  Grimm has worked at Penn State Behrend for 25 years and said that Penn State Behrend has a good partnership with McDowell. She recommends that students interested in attending college should look into Behrend’s Summer Program for students entering their senior year of high school. 

Julie Lapiska, a representative from Gannon University,  adds that “McDowell produces great students,” and that it is good for colleges to have a night with students to “be available and answer questions.” 

Lapiska says that events like the fairs are good for students who may be very busy and might not be able to visit college options often. One of her main focuses for the night was to tell students about Gannon’s new Cyber Security/Cyber Engineering major that will be available to students in fall 2020. 

Nina Campbell from Mercyhurst University advises students to not only rely on fairs to make their decisions, however. She said to “look to decide where to go, visit any campuses you’re interested in to see” if you feel comfortable there. She was on hand to answer any questions from students had about the two-year associate degree programs offered by the North East campus of Mercyhurst University. 

Campbell and a representative from Edinboro University, Vicor Hudson, encourages students to look into dual enrollment programs through McDowell to earn college credits in high school. 

Students who missed the fair, can listen to the Morning Announcements at McDowell or stop into the high school guidance office to learn about colleges that come to McDowell for visits. These can also be good times to ask specific questions.