Illinois Association for College Admission Counseling

Conference Schedule

Schedule at a Glance

Wednesday, April 22

7:00 am – 8:00 am Exhibitor Set-up

8:00 am – 3:00 pm Registration (limited staffing after lunch)

8:00 am – 4:45 pm Exhibitors

8:00 am- 10:00 am Dedicated Exhibitor Time

8:00 am – 10:00 am Coffee and Tea Available

9:00 am - 10:00 am Workshop Session A

10:00 am – 11:00 am Opening Session - Student Experience Panel (mainstage)

11:15 am – 12:15 pm Workshop Session B

12:15 pm – 1:15 pm Lunch

1:15 pm – 2:00 pm Dedicated Exhibitor Time

2:15 pm – 3:15 pm Workshop Session C

3:30 pm – 4:30 pm Workshop Session D

4:45 pm – 5:30 pm Mentorship Reception

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Past President’s Dinner

8:30 pm - 10:30 pm Entertainment


Thursday, April 23

7:00 am – 8:00 am Raffle Set-up

8:00 am – 4:00 pm Registration (limited staffing after lunch)

8:00 am – 4:00 pm Exhibitors

8:00 am – 10:00 am Breakfast

8:00 am – 8:30 am Dedicated Exhibitor Time

8:30 am – 9:30 am Keynote - Overview of Legislative Impact (mainstage)

9:45 am – 10:45 am Session E - HS/College Focus Conversation of Keynote

11:00 am – 12:00 pm Session F

12:00 pm – 1:00 pm Lunch

1:00 pm – 2:00 pm IACAC CONNECT: Engagement and Impact

2:00 pm - 2:30 pm Dedicated Exhibitor Time

2:45 pm – 3:45 pm Session G

4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Session H

5:00 pm – 6:30 pm IACAC CONNECT: Community and Conversations (Updated Conference Reception)

6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Dinner and Awards Ceremony

8:30 pm – 12:00 am Entertainment


Friday, April 24

8:30 – 10:30 am Coffee

9:00 – 10:00 am End Note (mainstage)

10:15 – 11:15 am Session I

11:15 – 12:00 pm Brunch

Session Sneak Peak

A1: Financing College vs. Financial Aid

A2: Admissions Ambassadors For The Win

A3: School counselor turned college counselor - Now what?

A4: Small Colleges: Rethinking Bigger is Better

A5: Intro to Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps



B1: Bridging the GAP: Career Pathways and College Access for First-Generation Students

B2: Welcome Aboard: A Pro”fresh”ionals College Admission Journey

B3: Introduction to Transferology

B4: As Brothers, As Hermanos Journey

B5: Come Fly With Me!


C1: Supporting Faith-Based College Choices

C2: Students as Near-Peer Leaders and Advocates

C3: Reimagining the Group College Visit

C5: Using Your Professional Skills to Pivot

C6: College Conversations That Connect

C7: High Schools Visits, The Great Disconnect


D2: Advising Students on Developing Additional Materials Development

D3: From Silos to Success: Coordinated Transfer Tours That Empower Students

D4: The Power of Partnership: Collaborative PaCE Implementation

D5: Crafting Through the Chaos

D6: Still Got It: Turning Admissions Experience into Real Career Power

D7: Q&A With Our Big 10 Partners


F1: Supporting Students in the face of Legislative Challenges

F2: From HS to College with Accommodations -- a primer and a process

F3: Breaking Down the School Profile

F4: Year-by-Year Counsellor Roadmap: Guiding Students Toward Successful Applications Abroad

F5: "Teachers" and "Tutors" Working Together

F6: Empowering Students with AI


G1: Building A Career That Meets Your Purpose

G2: First Gen Programming in High Schools - From Implementation to Evaluation

G3: Real Talk: Rankings, ROI, & ROE

G4: Short and Sweet? The Era of the Two-Hour SAT & ACT

G5: Maximize the Impact of Early College

G6: More than combines and cornfields

G7: Illinois College Fair Committee: Progress and Putting Students at the Center


H1: Beyond the Content Warning

H2: Building Bridges to Ethical Admissions

H3: A Transfer Student Toolkit for High School Counselors: Understanding the Nuances and Resources to Support your Students’ Choices to Begin at a Community College

H4: Counseling for the Brilliantly Overbooked

H5: Transform Your School with Takeover Programs

H6: Keep Calm, Calculus or Not


I1: Guiding Less Competitive Students Toward a Better Fit: Majors Outside of Business and Engineering

I2: "First & Foremost" - Story Beyond Numbers

I3: After the Acceptance: “Now What?” Guiding Students and Families Confidently Through Next Steps

I4: Lessons from the Lunchcast

I5: Setting School-Wide Post-High School Goals

I6: Exploring High School Outreach with Gies Business

Be the change with us.