🧳My Take on the OH! Study Study-Abroad Fair

In October I went to a few study-abroad fairs and wanted to write down my impressions and share them

It was my first time going (I want to apply for a master's for 2026), and I hadn't seen many write-ups about these fairs before

These are the 3 I went to

1. OH!Study Study-Abroad Fair

2. Australian Education Fair

3. Study-Abroad Association Fair

1. OH!Study Study-Abroad Fair

This one was held over the Mid-Autumn Festival long weekend, and there happened to be a Cake career fair next door, so I went to that too. There were way more booths than I expected, with US schools making up about half, including big names like Johns Hopkins, NYU and the University of Illinois. It was crowded and a bit noisy, with lots of families there together, haha... all looking at secondary schools. The staff and consultants at every school were pretty friendly and not too pushy, so the overall vibe was good.

I hadn't really looked into countries other than the US, but after chatting I thought Canada looks good too, and much cheaper than I'd imagined. The consultant said tuition and living costs in Canada are relatively low and it's safe, and the 2+2 point really hit home for me, because what I actually want is a place where I can "live long-term," not just finish my degree and come back.

2. Australian Education Fair

I didn't look around this one very seriously, mainly because I'm leaning toward the US/Canada and saw this as more of a backup. But it was right across from the association fair, so I stopped by to get a sense of what studying in Australia is like.

What stuck with me was the huge line at the University of Melbourne booth (I heard it's Australia's No. 1). The lesser-known schools had only a few people. Still, I chatted with one, partly because I was curious whether my profile is any good. Sometimes when you say your GPA, you can tell from the school rep's face whether you're the kind of student they're looking for, haha.

3. Study-Abroad Association Fair

This fair was totally different from what I expected. Study-abroad fairs usually have lots of schools with admissions officers, but this association fair felt more like a study-abroad agency fair: tons of different agencies offering all kinds of study-abroad and study-tour programs, which was pretty cool too. The consultant from 酷比移民 (an immigration firm) was really good-looking, and we chatted a bit about the situation in North America, but they were mainly pushing investment immigration… and I… have no money… There was also one I forget the name of that does study tours, and it was packed too. I found that study tours these days are super polished and customized; you can even attend a language school and learn surfing or how to be a barista.

Anyway, I didn't actually leave my details anywhere at this one, because I mainly wanted to talk with school admissions officers myself~~~

If you're planning to go abroad in the next few years

consider checking out a study-abroad fair

Try to go to the ones with lots of schools exhibiting

I really got a lot out of it

Overall, these fairs made me more certain that I want to head to North America, and got me to face the practical steps of preparing to study abroad: English scores, budget, documents and so on. There's still a lot of work ahead, but at least I have a clear direction now, so I'll take it one step at a time.