19 May
Posted by Sam Jackson as College, Financial Aid
Today I am very excited to announce that the college admissions scholarship I originally outlined and later updated is finally off the ground: myUsearch has stepped up to the plate and is offering $1000 to the best student essay answering the following questions: What has been the most frustrating part of your college admissions process? Why is it important for colleges and universities to change this? What suggestions do you have for colleges and universities to try to relieve your frustration and the frustration of your fellow students?
The program I originally envisioned would be specifically linked to an effort to promote the development of new resources for students in the college admissions / higher ed marketing spaces. I remember how frustrating and painful college admissions was–that’s why I started this blog, and why I continue to work to try to make things better. With my younger sister (now 15) just gearing up to apply to college, and the demographics and admissions figures ever-worsening, there is no better time for a scholarship like this one which will hopefully bring us all some really great new ideas. I am going to work to make sure that the best of these suggestions received get heard by schools.
The scholarship is open to fall ‘08 freshman and those students applying for 2009 (important update as of 5/22!). pursuing an associate or bachelor degree at an accredited U.S. postsecondary institution with a combined household income of $100,000 or less. If that describes you, apply today! If it doesn’t, tell a friend for whom it might be applicable. More rules and instructions after the break in this post.
I will be involved in the judging, and personally I would encourage participants to write about ways that new technology (especially the internet and new media) could help improve the college admissions / higher education process — basically, I’m hoping to see some really great stories and ideas which will then be put into action convincing colleges to make these reforms happen!
I originally wanted to organize a scholarship from the ground up myself, but it turns out that this is quite tricky! Having myUsearch administer the scholarship proved to be a good alternative. I do want to thank all of my friends and colleagues who were ready to put money on the table for my proposed scholarship, and I would say that I hope to be able to do more in this direction, long term. This is going to be a great start.
More details in the days ahead! Complete Press Release and instructions below.
_______________________________________________________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Elizabeth Kudner, myUsearch, LLC
303-975-6857
myUsearch Announces Scholarship for Students Frustrated With College Admissions
College matching service, myUsearch.com, will award a $1000 scholarship to the student with the best ideas to improve college admissions
(Boulder, CO.) May 7, 2007 – As high school seniors approach graduation, students and parents can finally breathe a sigh of relief. The college admissions process is finally over. Those countless hours spent agonizing over SAT scores, college essays and admissions standards have finally come to an end. Unfortunately, getting accepted to college is only the first battle…figuring out how to pay for it can be even worse. To numb the pain, myUsearch has launched a college scholarship that asks students to tell the story of their excruciating college admissions process and suggest ways for colleges to make it better.
Last year’s college admissions were reported to be more competitive than ever. The acceptance rates at Yale, Harvard, and Columbia fell below 10 percent for fall 2007 admissions and state schools are becoming much more difficult to get into. This has left many students with shattered dreams and dimmed expectations for the 2008 school year.
“The college admissions process has this smoke and mirrors aspect to it”, says Derek Kraus, founder of myUsearch. “Students have to jump through hoops and they are often left with no idea why they did or did not get in to the college of their choice. By offering this scholarship, we will give students a forum to voice their frustrations with the application process, and hopefully this will start the dialogue needed to convince schools to make the appropriate changes.” This 1000 dollar college scholarship will be open to students starting college in 2008. The scholarship is financial need based, requiring a household income of less than 100,000 dollars. To apply for this and any other open scholarships, students must complete the myUsearch questionnaire and meet the requirements of the available scholarships.
About myUsearch, LLC
myUsearch, LLC is an unbiased online resource dedicated to objectively matching students to schools and providing fair and accurate college enrollment information. The myUsearch Smart Questionnaire determines the needs of students in order to accurately match them with any of the 3,400+ colleges in the company database. The myUsearch blog offers an honest view of colleges and the college enrollment process. myUsearch offers students a completely honest and objective match by providing the names of matching colleges regardless of their willingness to pay for a listing, and allowing only the schools that match the students’ criteria to contact them. For further information, please visit www.myUsearch.com.
# # #
Scholarship Application Instructions
There are a few things you need to know before you start the scholarship application:
1) You must first complete the myUsearch questionnaire (www.myusearch.com).
2) After you complete the questionnaire, you can start the application at anytime. You will be emailed login information to allow you to login to “my prior search” and begin the application.
3) ONCE YOU START THE APPLICATION, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO SAVE IT TO COME BACK TO IT.
4) For financial need based scholarships, applicants will be asked to certify whether they meet the income requirement. If selected as a finalist, the applicant will be required to provide a copy of their 1040 tax form. Any applicant that cannot provide this information will be disqualified.
4) Since you will be required to write an essay for the scholarship, we recommend you prepare the essay BEFORE YOU START the application.
Scholarship Essay Questions:
College Admissions Reform Scholarship:
You will be asked to compose an essay of 1000 words or less that answers the following questions:
What has been the most frustrating part of your college admissions process? Why is it important for colleges and universities to change this? What suggestions do you have for colleges and universities to try to relieve your frustration and the frustration of your fellow students?
If you have any further questions about the scholarship, please email info@myusearch.com.
# # #
10 Responses
Kyle James
May 19th, 2008 at 7:50 pm
1Sam,
That’s so awesome and I’m glad to see you follow through and give back!
Sam Jackson
May 21st, 2008 at 1:18 am
2Kyle– thanks! Let any students you know about the scholarship. I’m really hoping to make something great from the collective entries to do some good.
The $1000 College Admissions Frustration Scholarship | Educated Nation | Higher Education Blog
May 21st, 2008 at 3:18 pm
3[...] and (hopefully) have some changes made for the better. He, along with myUsearch, is offering a $1000 College Admissions Frustration Scholarship to the student who writes the essay best answering these questions: What has been the most [...]
alexa harrington
May 21st, 2008 at 3:25 pm
4Sam,
This is such an amazing idea! The fact that you’ve safely traversed the admissions process and can now, by all rights, be done with the whole thing, makes it all the more impressive that you’re spending the time and energy to do something like this.
Sam Jackson
May 21st, 2008 at 3:31 pm
5Alexa–I’m done, but I have lots of friends who are still running the gauntlet, not to mention a sister 3 years my younger. I’m glad that there will be more, better tools for the college search in place by the time she is really applying in earnest, but I know there are still many systematic problems that could be ironed out. It’s been pretty tough working out all the details for this scholarship and finally MyUsearch came along to help out, which is really great.
The best part is that most of the suggestions I make here on my blog and in other forums lead to an outcome which is not just better for students, but better for schools too… I think it’s a pretty easy sell. Hopefully we’ll get some really good data in all these entries to help bolster my arguments.
Thanks for writing about it–stumbled you to let more people know!–and will definitely be posting about the progress / results of the scholarship! Keep it up over @ EducatedNation - sorry I haven’t pinged you all recently, but I’m still reading…!
Larry Gellar
May 21st, 2008 at 5:19 pm
6You know what the most frustrating part of college admissions is? That only students from families with <$100,000 income are eligible for scholarships like this.
Sam Jackson
May 21st, 2008 at 8:51 pm
7Larry - I had wanted the scholarship to be open to all, and it more likely would have been, but this move was motivated largely to limit the number of applications to a more manageable level because it was unclear how many entries there would be. Setting the income level to 100,000 or less allows about 85% of US households to be eligible, so I think that’s not such a bad compromise. (US census data, 2006 http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032007/hhinc/new06_000.htm)
alexa harrington
May 23rd, 2008 at 2:07 pm
8Thanks, Sam!
Linda Dong
June 19th, 2008 at 3:21 pm
9The most frustrating thing about the admissions process is that I’m still in it after 2 years.
Sam, I don’t know what to do with my life…and I think my dad thinks that Industrial Design is related to construction workers…
If you’re ever in Boston gimme a call, I’m here all summer and lacking in things to do.
Little Jimmy's
August 14th, 2008 at 12:37 am
10Little Jimmy’s Biz Helps Teen Land $40,000 College Scholarship
Last update: 5:09 a.m. EDT Aug. 12, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio, Aug 12, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — When Michael Showalter’s parents asked him to earn money toward college, they had in mind an after-school job. But Michael started a small business, Giuseppe’s Italian Ice, which quickly turned a profit. He then used his business’ success story to win the McKelvey Foundation’s ( http://www.mckelveyfoundation.org) $40,000 college scholarship, awarded to student entrepreneurs.
Giuseppe’s Italian Ice operates out of pop-up tents, dishing up traditional Italian Ice to tired, thirsty fairgoers at festivals and outdoor events. Showalter buys the product from Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice ( http://italianice.net/?gclid=CJSkzIP6yZQCFRQEIwodPn4dlg) in New Jersey, where it’s manufactured according to a century-old family recipe.
“It’s healthier than most desserts, especially stuff that you find at a festival — it doesn’t have high-fructose corn syrup,” said Showalter. “Popular flavors are lemon, blue raspberry, watermelon and cherry.”
His enterprise, named after his father, began a year ago with an initial investment of $14,000. He recouped those startup costs handily, and now Giuseppe’s has eight employees, friends of Showalter’s. Operating expenses included buying two tents — Showalter has invested another $20,000 to expand his market, and next year, Giuseppe’s Italian Ice will be sold in both Ohio and Michigan.
According to Dennis Moore ( http://waterice.biz/2008/03/in-the-beginning), vice president of Little Jimmy’s, Showalter demonstrated true entrepreneurial grit, planning and executing a business that could have taken a lifetime to build, in just a matter of months.
“We have a lot of success stories,” said Moore. “But Michael’s demonstrated that hard work and business smarts can really multiply success — he’s getting two educations out of his business!”
As tuitions rise and the economy slows, enterprising students can benefit from the trend toward giving among successful entrepreneurs who are feeling philanthropic as retirement approaches. Entrepreneurial scholarships can be researched on the scholarship directory site, FastWeb.com. Colleges offering entrepreneurship majors fund scholarships as well.
Showalter graduated from high school this year, and hasn’t chosen a major yet at the University of Michigan. However, he is sure he’ll continue selling Giuseppe’s Italian Ice at festivals and fairs, right through college.
About the McKelvey Foundation
The Entrepreneurial Scholarship is offered by the McKelvey Foundation to high school students who start their own businesses or nonprofit agencies. The foundation’s founder is Andy McKelvey, who started his own first business selling eggs at age 14, and went on to found several successful businesses, the largest of which evolved into the online employment ad giant, Monster.com. The McKelvey Foundation currently supports over 600 students achieving a better future. Information can be found at mckelveyfoundation.org.
SOURCE Dennis Moore of Little Jimmy’s Italian Ice
http://italianice.net/?gclid=CJSkzIP6yZQCFRQEIwodPn4dlg
Copyright (C) 2008 PR Newswire. All rights reserved
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