Marshall High School officials are giving students an opportunity to get an early start to their college plans.

The school will host its annual College Day Nov. 18, allowing students to visit with representatives from various colleges. The event will be in the school's lower common area.

MHS senior counselor Suzan Harrison said seniors will be given an 8:45 to 9:30 a.m. slot to visit with officials from prospective schools and juniors will be allowed to visit with colleges from 9:35 to 10:20 a.m.

Students from the Waskom and Karnack high schools have also been invited.

Ms. Harrison said about 600 students and 60 to 80 colleges are expected to be on hand.

Some military groups and a few businesses also will be present.

The program was established by the Texas Association of College Recruiters, who set guidelines for the high school in terms of how to run the event.

"It's kind of a browsing situation where the kids can go by and talk to the ones that they're interested. Because, at this point, we want our seniors to have it narrowed down to at least a couple of schools," said Ms. Harrison.

"Our juniors need to start getting to the point where they have picked three or four schools that they're interested in checking out. They really should be getting to the point where they are making some decisions."

Ms. Harrison said the event has many advantages, including allowing students to obtain information on their prospective colleges without having to drive to those schools. She also said there are certain things students simply can't gather just by checking a school's Web site.

"They can go and do some Internet searches, but when they actually talk to those representatives and pick up information, they can have their questions actually answered at that moment and they can find out more information about the schools," said Ms. Harrison. "Many of these kids will never get to go visit the colleges, so for some of them this is how they make that decision. I think it's very cost-effective."

Parents, MISD administrators and community members are invited to attend.

For more information on College Day, contact the school at 903-927-8800.