Podcast Series: Innovations in Education

Explore the full series of eCampus News podcasts hosted by Kevin Hogan—created to keep you on the cutting edge of innovations in education.

Admissions officials: Students shouldn’t bank on application gimmicks

The University of Michigan admitted 42 out of 4,498 waitlisted students last year.

College applicants shouldn’t rely on a viral YouTube video to spring them from the confines of a university’s lengthy wait list, admissions officials say—despite the success of one high-profile applicant whose video plea went viral.

Campus admissions officials frown on gimmicks like tins of homemade cookies or phone calls from vaguely famous relatives. But for one college hopeful, a Motown love song did the trick: After posting a YouTube video of himself singing about his love for the University of Michigan (UM), Lawrence Yong was plucked from the waitlist and admitted to the school’s 2012 freshman class.

Students who receive waitlist letters in April typically must wait until late June to see if any spots remain after admitted students submit their enrollment deposits.…Read More

College admissions officials turn to iPad to streamline applications

The ratio of applicants to enrollments has dropped every year since 2003.

What once took a week to collect, organize, and collate has been reduced to a few clicks on an Apple iPad in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s admissions office.

Matchbox, a startup company launched by former and current college admissions officials, announced Dec. 19 that MIT’s Sloan School of Management and the MBA program at the UCLA Anderson School of Management are among the first schools to use an Apple iPad application that stores reams of student information usually kept on paper in filing cabinets.

Using the cloud-based Matchbox iPad app could save admissions offices up to 75 percent of the time it takes to collect, review, and process student application forms, which are often more than 30 pages.…Read More

New website a crystal ball for college applicants?

Parchment.com has information from 100,000 college applications.

Are you a high school senior with a 3.0 grade point average, an above-average SAT score, and a handful of extracurricular activities under your belt? Want to know which colleges have accepted students just like you? Parchment.com might have your answer.

Parchment, a company that has helped high school students transmit their academic records online, introduced a new website Sept. 12 that uses crowd sourcing and predictive analysis to help college applicants get a better grasp of where they should apply.

Read more about application websites in higher education……Read More

Are video games the answer to college counseling shortage?

Recent high school graduate Edwin Brito plays the pilot version of USC's Pathfinder game.
Recent high school graduate Edwin Brito plays the pilot version of USC's Pathfinder game.

A simple online search will turn up hundreds of web sites packed with advice for high school students applying to college. But few internet resources offer step-by-step guidance, and with college counseling dwindling in public schools, University of Southern California researchers have created a video game that lets student simulate the application process in all its complexity.

The online game, called Pathfinder, has been piloted among more than 100 Los Angeles-area high school students this year and could be available to school districts free of charge if USC’s Game Innovation Lab secures $1 million in grants and funding, said Zoe Corwin, a research associate in the university’s Center for Higher Education Policy Analysis.

The Pathfinder pilot uses playing cards, but the finished product will be a web-based game, officials said.…Read More