Remember back in the day when you wanted to apply to college and you had to take weeks to write several different 5oo word essays about what song best describes your personality and how much your mom inspired you when you were growing up? Well, thanks to Twitter, those essays may soon be a thing of the past.

Colleges across the country are picking up Twitter as a recruitment and communication tool. The MBA program at the University of Iowa even went as far as to offer a full ride to the applicant with the most creative tweet about why they should be accepted. So rather than the tedious process of writing/reading thousands of carefully constructed and overly edited essays, the school decided that it would be beneficial for the applicants to express their interest in the school in a concise 140 characters.

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Dear Stressed High School Seniors,

There is a song called “sitting here in limbo” that goes, “sitting here in limbo, but I know it won’t be long… Sitting here in limbo, waiting for the dice to roll…”

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? You feel as if that letter, that magical acceptance letter, will end your misery. Yet, I’m here to remind you that you are within the eye of a storm and as soon as that letter comes, your life will change (don’t panic, it’s not an immediate change).

Take this waiting time as a time to relax, bum around the house, and enjoy that last year of high school and that last year of your childhood. While I am of the opinion that high school is to be endured, not enjoyed, remember a lot of things are going to be different, so try your hardest to live in the moment.

I was once exactly where you are now. I remember how you feel.

You  spent hours upon hours completing forms, taking tours, and getting eye-strain from applying online. You’re stressed, your parents are stressed, and you’re pretty sure even your dog is stressed. You’re told that your college decision is the biggest decision you’ll ever make…and yet you’re not really in control of the situation. However, there is nothing to do but wait. Your application has been submitted and the jury is out. Read More »

We all remember it like it was yesterday, clear as crystal in our minds: the utter horror of our college admissions office.  The whole process of trying to pick something to wear that was nice, but not church-gaudy; the confusing drive to the school; the awkward wait outside of the  office staring at current students walking around with confidence you wish you could have even a fraction of; the fear of saying something stupid or, worse, not being able to say anything at all.

Just thinking about it brings on the chills.

Imagine if you didn’t have to deal with that.  Imagine if you could have just stayed in your nice comfortable house, flicked on your computer, and had a friendly chat with the admissions counselor from your chair. Well, it seems like that’s what a whole lot of college prospective students are going to be doing soon.

Wake Forest University did it and other schools are catching on.  The process is pretty simple, it seems.  Take your usual IM client with webcam add-ons, like Skype; turn on your webcam;  hook up your microphone; and there you have it. Continue with your regularly scheduled admissions interview.

Now, this is pretty cool.  Usually it’s the student body’s job to be tech savvy and the school is the one who has to catch up.  The fact that schools are willing to use this manner of communication is pretty awesome on their part. Not only does it eliminate the “Oh my God, can the interviewer smell my fear?!” but it is great for students who want to apply to lots of schools and don’t have the money to get to all of them. Read More »