The College Fair
By Patricia Monticello Kievlan,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Browse slick feed to find college info with some flaws.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this app.
Where to Download
Videos and Photos
The College Fair
Community Reviews
There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.
What’s It About?
THE COLLEGE FAIR lets users browse information about colleges, majors, and scholarships. The app looks like a social media news feed: The "posts" feature different schools, majors (such as biology), careers (such as finance), and cities with large concentrations of colleges and universities (such as Boston and Los Angeles). There's also some limited information available on national scholarships that students might apply for. To get started, you can link your Facebook account to create a profile, or you can enter some limited information about yourself, including your GPA and scores from tests such as the SAT and ACT. You can search for colleges and click a heart icon to add them to your favorites list. Some limited search features let you curate the news feed.
Each college's profile includes basic information about its location and size, and there's a major focus on the probability that you'll be admitted, which is shown as a percentage based on the GPA and test scores you enter when you create an account. Some schools' profiles include an interactive "viewbook" that offers a more in-depth look at a school's culture, academic offerings, and notable facts. Every profile includes a large focus on money -- specifically, how much it will cost to attend the school and what its students can expect to earn upon graduation.
Is It Any Good?
There's a lot to like here: It's appealing and inspirational to scroll through a social media-style feed to browse colleges, majors, and cities, but there are some drawbacks. Overall, The College Fair is an approachable way to help introduce kids to different schools and majors they might pursue after high school. The focus on the cost of college is helpful to a point, since it's important to have frank conversations with your kids early on about the cost of college and how your family will pursue financial aid to cover that cost. However, the most problematic element is the ways it uses averages. If you put in a very high GPA and test scores, the app will say that you have a 62 percent chance of getting into Harvard or Stanford -- which simply isn't true for schools that routinely admit fewer than 10 percent of their highly qualified applicants. Similarly, saying that graduates of those schools make an average salary north of $100,000 a year is misleading and gives the impression that a teen should make a decision based primarily on possible salary. This app clearly isn't built to deliver those kinds of nuanced messages, and its broad strokes might be misleading to kids and families who are navigating college admissions for the first time. So, while it's a great way to start the conversation about a college search, more detailed support from a college counselor, teacher, or parent will help shape a well-rounded college search.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how your family will pay for college and how The College Fair might help. Make sure to have this conversation early in your search process: Talking about your family's finances can be uncomfortable, but you'll be better equipped to do so before you've received acceptance letters and financial aid packages that change the conversation.
Test scores aren't everything: Talk about all the things colleges consider in the admissions process. Talk about the activities and achievements your kid is proud of. What's the best way to tell that story when it comes to applying for college? What other opportunities might be good to pursue to help build those interests?
Discuss the potential impact of social media on the college-application process. Can questionable content posted on social media affect the chances of getting accepted?
Discuss ways that you and your kid can stay organized during the college-application process. How can you capture all the tasks that need to be completed? Come up with a system, either digitally or on paper, and stick to it.
App Details
- Devices: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad
- Skills: Self-Direction: achieving goals, goal-setting, motivation, self-assessment, Tech Skills: using and applying technology
- Pricing structure: Free
- Release date: December 9, 2016
- Category: Education
- Topics: High School
- Publisher: Vested Finance Inc.
- Version: 4.0.1
- Minimum software requirements: iOS 9.0 or later
- Last updated: August 19, 2021
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.
Suggest an Update
Where to Download
Our Editors Recommend
Best Apps and Sites for College Prep
Reference and Research Apps and Websites
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate