Thursday, July 3, 2008
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COLLEGE SEARCH INTENDED TO EASE YOUR PAIN
Searching for the right college or university can be one of the most daunting tasks in a young person's life. And supporting your son or daughter in that search can also be daunting for you the parent.
At College Parents of America, our mission is to empower you to best support your children on the path to and through college. We aim to accomplish this mission through a mix of much-needed advocacy, timely delivery of information and access to discounts on relevant products and services.
Many of you have found our organization because you are planning for or about to begin your family's college search. Some of you have children who are in already in college, but even they may have younger siblings, who are just beginning their own college search process.
College Parents of America hopes to make the process manageable for you and your children with a completely redesigned college search function from our friends at Hobsons, the creators of CollegeView.com.
The co-branded College Parents of American/CollegeView.com site, can be found at http://www.collegeparents.org/cpa/resource-everyone-search-hobsons.html. It features improved navigation, an advanced college search function and an enhanced user experience, all wrapped up in a lean, clean design with attractive Flash-animated menus. Our goal is that this new search function appeal to younger and mature users alike. The former would be the students in your household and the latter would be you.
CollegeView.com®, Hobsons' fully interactive Web site for college-bound students, their parents, and high-school counselors, provides a wealth of information about 5,044 two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States. We are very pleased to provide Hobsons' outstanding resources in a co-branded fashion on our own Web site. Keep an eye out for additional co-branded content, in both online and hard-copy formats, in the days and months ahead.
On the home page, along with direct links to schools, students can read "Amazing Stories" about college students, learn about historically black or Christian colleges and register for scholarship opportunities. (Although some schools pay to have additional information displayed on the site, all schools in the CollegeView.com database provide the same basic information for general searches.)
With just five main sections -- Search, Financial Aid, Application Process, Campus Life and Careers & Majors -- the site is intuitive and easy to navigate. Under each category students will find dozens of articles on topics ranging from how to obtain financial assistance to how to make a good impression during a job interview. Each article is brief, to the point and packed with solid, up-to-date information. There's even special assistance for adult and non-traditional learners.
A new MyCollegeView tab lets students record personal information -- including GPA and standardized test scores, educational goals and areas of academic interest. This information can be made available to colleges. Students who aren't sure what career path they want to follow can complete a 288-question survey that will suggest possible areas of study. This section also keeps track of schools of interest.
The three-level search function gives students the option to search as broadly as all the schools in an entire region (be patient, that could take a while!) or drill down to a specific major, state and school type. The search engine returns a summary list of schools meeting the specified criteria, and the student can add the school to a list for later review or request more information from the school. In that case, the personal information in the MyCollegeView profile will be provided to the school, and the school will respond directly to the student's e-mail address.
By clicking the college name, the user see s the complete CollegeView data available for that school, which includes photos and videos, courses of study, financial aid, student demographics, student life and other information. Schools are encouraged to update their information regularly.
Our hope is that the co-branded College Parents of America/CollegeView.com search will become virtual one-stop shop for you, and that you say “thanks” by becoming a member of College Parents of America, allowing us to serve you all along your son or daughter’s path to and through college.
And our most important message to you is that a college education is achievable by everyone, regardless of their financial situation, ethnic origin, religious affiliation, physical or learning disability, or any other factor. Helping you to help your children find a college that meets their needs is what College Parents of America, and our new college search function, are all about.
Join Now to Take Advantage of These Valuable Deals and Discounts!
