Site aims to ‘close the information gap’ in college counseling

Students who are soon to graduate from high school now can get free college advice on CampusSplash.com.

High school students won’t need the best college counseling money can buy when all their questions are answered for free online. At least, that’s the hope of officials at CampusSplash.com.

CampusSplash, a website best known for ranking the top-20 most Googled colleges and universities, unveiled Aug. 10 a counseling service that lets prospective college students search for their desired schools, submit questions to counselors, alums, current students, and campus admissions officers, and peruse through the thousands of questions already asked—and the subsequent answers.

Allen Gannet, cofounder of Washington, D.C.-based Splash Networks, which operates CampusSplash, said that “basically every college in the country” would be included in the new counseling database.…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

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