The colorful booths and cheerful smiles of representatives from universities greeted students who happened to roam through the third floor of the College Complex on Monday, as student had the chance to learn about colleges from across the country.

As many as 54 schools participated in Los Medanos College’s Transfer Day, held bi-annually for the benefit of students with dreams of matriculating. The event, which took place Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., saw hundreds of students sift through pamphlets, juggle booths and seek out representatives for answers to queries about where they could continue their education.

Colleges in attendance included a number of California State Universities and private colleges as well as numerous out-of-state schools. Representatives from several Universities of California were also in attendance.

The main questions asked of the representatives were in regards to sought-after majors, location, cost and the requirements and prerequisites for a smooth transfer. A few booths had queues of students waiting to speak with a representative while others sat in anticipation of being asked what was on offer at their respective institution.
Regardless of the flow of traffic, attendance was high and everyone who participated was pleased with the outcome. Kelsy Bjork, an Outreach Representative from Academy of Art University, said the event was “great for students and the schools…Traffic was slow in the beginning then it sped up.”

Rudy Abalos, a Business Development Representative at the Art Institute, said that his goal was to “help any student with their life plan and provide any information needed.”

Some lesser-known colleges chose to participate as well. Cogswell Polytechnical College, located in Sunnyvale, offers several degrees in fields such as Digital Arts, Animation and Engineering.

Although not regularly in the public eye, school representative Ray Nawabi explained that the school has been active for more than a hundred years and would like to reach out to any students who would be interested in the fields they have to offer.

General consensus of the event from students and representatives was that of success. Students were happy with the multitude of colleges in attendance.

Sal Roman, an LMC student and visitor to the Stanford booth, said that the event was “really useful” and had “all the information that students needed.”

The representatives were delighted to see a large number of students eager to transfer and further their career goals at the school of their choice.

Although the event had begun winding down, students were encouraged to show school spirit by attending classes wearing college gear for the remainder of the week and to set time aside after Transfer Day to speak further with representatives from the booths they visited and possibly inquire about colleges not in attendance from which they would be interested in getting information.

Students seeking further information about transferring are encouraged to visit the Transfer Center, located in Room 434A on the third floor of the College Complex. The center is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Fridays from 9 am to 3 pm. You can also call 439-2181 ext. 3124.

— Carl Santos, Christina
Vargas and Javi Zaragosa
also contributed to this report