Applying to college takes a lot of time searching, comparing, and filling out customized forms. The consequence of all this overhead is that most students apply to fewer schools, focusing on well known names. Usphere is an Evanston, Illinois based startup looking to change that.
Usphere lets students fill out a single application and be considered by their network of colleges. When you’ve completed the application, it’s tossed into their applicant search engine and only accessible by the 33 schools in their network. If a school likes you, they email you an acceptance letter complete with a bottom line price tag to attend. The application service costs $65, although they have several free college search tools.
Applications are not the same as the multi-school “standard application” style forms ivy leaguers and state school applicants are familiar with. Usphere asks for the usual grades and numbers you can upload any transcripts, letters of recommendation, or files that will help your application stand out from the rest. However, Usphere replaces the application essay with a personality profile. Kind of like Match.com for colleges.
Usphere advertises the service as an opportunity to apply and be accepted to schools “off the beaten path” that students may not have thought about before. They doesn’t openly publish the schools in its directory, but one can guess it consists of niche schools who need the extra applicants and that applicants might not know a lot about.
College bound TechCrunch readers should also check out TuitionCoach’s salary wizard and LocalSchools’ college search engine.
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Very nice application i think this is very usefull for all the students
In Estonia, you can apply to pretty much every college from a centralized online system. The same system is used by colleges for registering the ones that show up in person. And if you choose one eventually, all the other colleges get notified that you’re not coming in September.
I don’t really know if it’s a private thing or government initiative.
Last year it went down a lot because of the overwhelming traffic… Hope they get it optimized for this year
Are you serious? They’d ask someone to pay $65 to apply to 35 schools without knowing what schools they’re applying to? What a joke.
This will never go anywhere. Why?
1. The big names schools will never sign on b/c they are already overburdened with applications.
2. A college forces students to use their application b/c it weeds out the lazy students, and the students who don’t really care about that college anyways. Colleges want students who want to go there - not students who are too lazy to write an application essay for them.
3. We already have a common app that’s used for plenty of great schools across the country. If you’re really too busy to write a few different application essays, the common app will at least get you pretty far.
Without any name brand colleges on board, this will never be anything more than a silly gamble for a thrill-seeking high school student who probably will end up going to a state school anyways.
There are people will to pay thousands, maybe tens of thousands (?) to get written up about here and you go and write about the f-ing stupid startup? Come on now.
Get this Bush league post out of here. You’re lagging.
Dumbest.
Thing.
Ever.
“They doesn’t openly publish..”
???
Looks like at least one person should think about using the application and attending some college with an English department.
ouch … 2 words … bad article!
Other than the college search tools, how is this better than the common application? The common application is the same thing, except that they allow people to use one common application to apply to hundreds, if not thousands of good colleges.
Also, why would colleges be willing to give up their own application fees unless they aren’t recieving enough applications through their current process? Are these real colleges???
It’s funny how people on here slam a real business but are happy to see the 2,000th social network or 12,000th widget get written about. Obviously, many of the aforementioned commenters don’t understand the current post secondary market.
Nick (Author) - you’re incorrect that students apply to fewer schools due to increased overhead. In fact, they apply to more schools than they ever have before and with the echo boom (kids of the baby boomers) reaching collge going age over the next 5 years, you can see that these two factors combine to make college admissions extremely competitive.
Dan (Comment #3) - true, I doubt the big name schools would sign on. That doesn’t mean there aren’t thousands of schools that need students and millions of students that have no hope of getting into even state schools like UC Irvine (the scores required to get into most state schools have gone up significantly in the past few years).
I think that the basic idea here is that not every kid can go to Stanford or Berkely or MIT and therefore, there needs to be an avenue for them to learn about (marketing is probably a key component - value prop to the college) and get into (value prop to the kids) college. If they have 35 schools, at least they’ve solved part of the chicken and egg problem.
@student: yeah, but if these schools need students more than the students need these -cough- “niche” schools than why should students pay for a possible connection?
anyone who pays to put their application in front of a bunch of probably third-tier mystery schools is probably too stupid to get in anywhere in the first place.
“Because when colleges compete, _you_ win.”
A service like this / free - would be a possiblility of working …
- other than that / not even TC worthy cause the business model sucks!
-Rbowles
…
As a college student, I know that this will never fly. I would never use it and neither would any college worth attending (public or private).
There is already http://www.commonapp.org/ and not even all schools use that. Most schools do for Part 1 of the application, but schools typically have a Part 2 which requests information specific to that college, etc.
Also, financial aid packages are almost universally disbursed according to the CSS Profile and FAFSA (fafsa.gov).
Also, on their front page:
“Today’s “U” of the Day
Montana Western
It’s in beautiful Dillon, MT!”
Is that supposed to be a joke? (No offense to Montana, but I don’t think that Montana Western would ever be anyone’s ‘dream school’). Ivy leagues and top public and private schools would NEVER sign up with this.
If Montana Western is their featured school, then why would I even want to find out what the other 32 mystery schools are (especially when you have to pay $65 to find out).
My bottom line, however, is that TechCrunch should atleast have the editorial integrity to write a critical response…
great idea but hasn’t this been tried before?
College is a waste of time and money for most folks. Have you read the “truth”?
http://seminar7.vox.com/librar.....s/college/
Maybe the US should have a system like us Brits have. Here to apply to go to university (college here is basically just the last two years in US high school) you put all your details into an online government funded system (UCAS) and choose which universities you want to apply to. Your details are then sent to them and they make their decision and you here back by letter, email or by checking online - which is handled by this system.
Sorry, Nick, but your opening assumption is off. As someone intimately familiar with the process, I can tell you that students are apply to MORE schools, not fewer, because of how competitive admissions have become. Also, more and more students are applying to the so-called second tier (read: same education, smaller bill) schools because they recognize the slim chances of gaining admission to so-called “name schools.”
Also, as other comments have pointed out, the increasing use of the common application has reduced what you call “overhead.” It’s also unclear from what you wrote how this app is advantageous to applicants, given that it’s basically a blind common app.
Anyway, thanks for the piece, good food for thought!
Hey Nick…have you checked out Cappex.com? It is another Midwest startup that is doing something similar for students and schools. More details here: http://www.somewhatfrank.com/2.....ps_co.html
Nothing new.
xap.com has been doing this for years and they have over 800 colleges in their network
They just fixed it, but clicking on the “Montana Western” U of the day a minute ago took me to the University of Mary Washington (umw.edu). Pathetic.
@ 19 MK - XAP also got sued and lost in court. I’d stay away from them:
http://www.eschoolnews.com/new.....cleID=5179
http://tushnet.blogspot.com/20.....ds-to.html
Sketchy!
Jake, what’s wrong with a little exposure for UMW — University of Mary Washington? Just the type of school that needs to connect to the userbase of a Usphere.com.
oh and googling Montana Western makes it seem (again) like the kind of school that may never go after the Ivy kids and be perfectly fine finding more students from places beyond just Montana.
FFT,
Gill
Sounds like a website based on affiliate programs. You do know that school like University of Phoenix et al pay a commission for applications right? This is just a glorified version in web 2.0 clothing.
How did this get into TC?
Not sure why anyone would want to apply without even knowing which college they are applying to.
According to the College Board 2006 Profile Report analysis of SAT scores, students from wealthier families typically receive higher marks. We at ProProfs (www.proprofs.com) hope to even out the playing field for the two million individuals who take the exam each year by now providing a free online SAT test school.
http://www.proprofs.com/sat/
Students & parents can now potentially save thousands of dollars this year in preparation for the SAT’s. For more details, please see:
http://www.prweb.com/releases/.....519853.htm
This works great. I just got accepted to the Yale School of Locksmithing and MIT (Malmo Institute for Techno in Sweden). I bet University of Phoenix will regret turning down this prized scholar when I show them the acceptance letters!
Haha. No one is even using Usphere. If you ask most high school students what their using, they’d say Zinch.com. It has a better look and feel, a lot more features, and it isn’t “corporate.”
Zinch.com is the real winner in this space.
James sounds like a shill for Zinch. James also isn’t very intelligent and can’t use proper grammar. It’s “they’re using” not “their using” smarty pants.
Alexa rank of 186,308 for a free service. That’s a real winner. Riiight.
The point is all of these services are not for the top colleges. There is a market there.
See: http://www.ucas.com/
This kind of service has been going on in the UK for years!
Great feedback on this site, and happy to engage in a little more dialogue.
Let me address a couple specifics above.
Students are applying to MORE schools — average student in our database applies to 7 colleges.
“Standard application” Nick is referring to is the Common Application — http://www.commonapp.org. Their web page lists 298 colleges and universities as part of their network. There’s also a Texas Common Application (for the public schools in Texas) and there’s the UCAS system that a few folks refer to above. All great tools and we recommend that students use them if their target schools use these forms. (You do have to pay to apply at most places, even if you use one of those common-style forms. Some schools waive the fees if you apply online.)
Here’s where we come in: students can use (and are using) our tools to do everything in the college planning process. Find a school that meets their needs? Check. Have one place where they can track their application data — no matter where they are going? Check. Fill out a personality profile and get “matched” a la eHarmony to a few more universities that might meet their needs? Check.
Rather than address stuff about price points and number of schools and all that, I’d prefer to focus on yesterday’s U of the Day on the front of the site: The University of Montana Western. (www.umwestern.edu.)
Happens to be the only public university in the USA with “block scheduling” — something they call “Experience One.” Colorado College uses block scheduling, as will Quest University Canada (near Vancouver) when they admit their first Freshman class (or “1st Year” class to borrow the Canadian vernacular) this fall. Is Montana Western a household name? No. Would the average Ivy-bound student even consider it? Probably not.
That, dear readers, is the point of U Sphere: making an introduction between a school like UMW (or the other UMW referred to above, University of Mary Washington, or…you get the idea) and a student like the 3 million or so that are going to graduate high school in 2008.
No matter what you think of the business idea, it is great to see dialogue. Seriously: I’ve chatted with too many college administrators who are tired of the whole process the way it is — and would love to have everyone on all sides (parents, students, guidance counselors, colleges/universities) focus on whether the right school is the right fit for the right kid.
That’s why we’re here — to get “U” (whether you’re a student or a parent or a college or university) to expand your “sphere” of options.
Best,
Dave
Dave Van de Walle
President & CEO
U Sphere, Inc.
info@usphere.com
http://www.usphere.com
Aniq:
Montana Western appeals to numerous students nationwide as a first choice for their post secondary education. It isn’t everyone’s “dream school,” (and what school is?) but there in resides some of its attraction. This university is able to provide small class sizes, a community environment, and one on one time with professors. Students are always taught directly by professors; not graduate assistants.
Academically, Montana Western has been recognized as one of the top 3 best public comprehensive colleges more than 3 times since 2002. A recent Noel-Levitz survey shows Montana Western students have a significantly higher level of satisfaction with their university than national averages. It is the only public higher education institution in the country offering Experience One where students take one class at a time, and a natural horsemanship program.
Dillon, Montana, home of the University of Montana Western, is surrounded by stunning mountain ranges and sweeping basins in the Great Yellowstone Ecosystem. There is excellent fly fishing, hiking, boating, skiing, and hot springs opportunities less than 20 miles away.
Our incredible faculty has chosen to be here, rather than anywhere else in the country, as have students, such as myself. I am a senior at the University of Montana Western and have taken a proactive approach to my education here in the heart of southwestern Montana. I am here not as a lack of options available to me, but by choice; I was also accepted by 2 ‘top’ public and 1 ‘top’ private institution. Between the educational programs, the location, and the advantage of a smaller university there is nowhere else I’d rather obtain my education.
This site is going nowhere. This post was written at the beginning of June (six months ago). Where are they now?
Traffic is so low it does not even show up in Alexa or Quantcast. Compete shows less than 1000 visitors in November.
Alexa/Quantcast/Compete never tell the whole story, but come on… for a consumer facing website you got to be doing better than that more than 6 months after launch.