In today’s world of technology, it’s much easier to connect with colleges and other students. It doesn’t require a plane ride or a car trip to talk with college representatives. Imagine being able to interview before the college visit. Imagine having a college available to ask a question, verify receipt of documents and connect about financial aid.
In a nutshell, PrepTalk has created a virtual, 2-way webcasting platform designed to connect college representatives with prospective students and parents.
For students/parents: One of the most influential factors when determining where to attend college is a live conversation with a college representative. Unfortunately, due to time and budget constraints, a college is only able to visit an average of 500 of the 27,000 high schools in the United States. These high school visits often take place during school hours, making it difficult for parents to be involved. The PrepTalk platform allows colleges to expand their reach by offering virtual, informational webcasts targeted at students and their parents. It also allows colleges to interact with prospective students on a one-one basis, for mentoring and support through the application process.
For colleges: Through the platform, colleges will have the ability to broadcast information about their college, and students will be able to ask questions and interact directly with the college in a live setting. Colleges now have a new tool to interact with prospective students and their parents prior to applications being submitted, and can monitor a student’s level of interaction and interest in a college. The platform allows colleges to educate students that they might not discover otherwise due to budget or accessibility constraints.
Signing up is easy. You can use your Facebook profile or sign up for PrepTalk using an email address. Once you’ve signed up following are the pages you can explore. Take it out for a test drive!
The Dashboard
Add Friends
Event Room
I can’t say that I am enthusiastic about this approach. I would rather have my students maintain a certain distance from the admissions person so that an element of mystery remains while at the same time being fully engaged by, say, email. But NEVER by phone, Google Hangouts, or Skype. A “full disclosure” approach can catch a student off-guard and raise a question in the admission person’s mind that the student may not be able to think of their feet. Not a good impression will be made. I don’t like it.
Gee Paul. Why don’t you tell me how you really feel?
I think this is a great way for kids to interact with away campuses that their parents cannot afford to help them visit in person!
I agree Mandy.