Lilaclady Posted March 28, 2021 Share Posted March 28, 2021 I saw an article in Forbes that piqued my interest lately. There is a company concourse that is trying to flip the college admissions upside down by having colleges apply to students and then students can either reject them or accept them. It seems to leave homeschoolers out of the equation but it was a good food for thought model. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2021/03/25/this-company-could-change-the-broken-college-admissions-system/?sh=41274bc53a9f 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lulu Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 8 minutes ago, Lilaclady said: I saw an article in Forbes that piqued my interest lately. There is a company concourse that is trying to flip the college admissions upside down by having colleges apply to students and then students can either reject them or accept them. It seems to leave homeschoolers out of the equation but it was a good food for thought model. https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereknewton/2021/03/25/this-company-could-change-the-broken-college-admissions-system/?sh=41274bc53a9f This system seems like it would give students at high preforming public and private schools an advantage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 The CBCA sort of does this. Students do an online app, and then any of the 54 schools in the network can contact the student to see if they are interested, or even accept them and make a scholarship offer, etc. It really was a neat system, and is definitely not focused on privileged students and schools, but on the opposite. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian (a lady) Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 Common Application is piloting something similar in three states this year. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted March 29, 2021 Author Share Posted March 29, 2021 20 hours ago, Dmmetler said: The CBCA sort of does this. Students do an online app, and then any of the 54 schools in the network can contact the student to see if they are interested, or even accept them and make a scholarship offer, etc. It really was a neat system, and is definitely not focused on privileged students and schools, but on the opposite. That is interesting. Will see how things will play out in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted March 29, 2021 Author Share Posted March 29, 2021 8 hours ago, Sebastian (a lady) said: Common Application is piloting something similar in three states this year. That will be nice to see. I hope they make adequate allowances for homeschoolers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clemsondana Posted March 29, 2021 Share Posted March 29, 2021 (edited) I'd love to see something that was an honest appeal to students. I've read about some schools encouraging unqualified students to apply, which helps keep their acceptance rates low...which is evil. But, I'd love to see colleges make offers to eligible students and then maybe students who hadn't gotten an offer could also apply, so it was a two-way interaction. My kid has a few schools in mind, and if we got an offer from one of those, we could just be done. It would stop people from applying to safety schools and save a whole lot of hassle. Edited March 29, 2021 by Clemsondana 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 30, 2021 Share Posted March 30, 2021 The way the CBCA seems to work does seem to be an honest appeal, in that the stuff L has gotten from the schools has been "You should consider us because we have your major in X, our admission to vet school is Y, and we can offer financial aid Z"-and also, we're a neat school in X location that has Y frills. Some have referred to credit transfer, too, and pointed out that "you'll only have to pay for 2 years of tuition here". And, to be honest, if it was a case of needing to find the cheapest possible route for a reasonable college bio degree, the absolute best packages that have been offered for financial aid have come through the CBCA to schools that weren't even considered-some of those would honestly cost less than getting an associates at the local CC tuition free and then transferring to the lowest price in-state school with automatic state scholarships for the last two years. It's the difference between a sales pitch and "Here's what we can offer you". I'd love to see this become the norm for more schools. I could really see this working well for, say, all non-flagship state U's, or for all schools affiliated with a specific denomination. I can't see it working for highly competitive majors within flagship state U's, highly competitive colleges, or holistic admissions schools, like many of the CTCL and similar LACs. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelleysboys Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 I actually reached out to Concourse (company in that article) and they responded... I will put the messages below. But I was wondering if you all wanted to put comments on this thread as to how and why they should add homeschoolers! What did I miss that they need to know? And then I will give Concourse a link to this thread. Hope that is OK! --------------------------------------------------------- I asked: Concourse looks like a really interesting way to get into college. As a homeschooling parent I am wondering if we can use this program as well? Concourse responded (not quoted per se): Thank you for reaching out to us! Homeschooled students would be new for the platform...... I responded: Thanks for getting back to me! Well, I want to speak for all homeschoolers if I may because we would all love to be able to use your service. We personally have used classes that I as the Mom have taught as well as using various online providers for different classes. We are in MA and do not need to be using accredited providers for our outsourcing. My child in particular is taking a gap year or two so we are not ready for this service yet. However, I would love for it to be available when he is ready! Homeschoolers in general are using Mom taught/self taught classes, online providers, accredited online providers, dual enrollment or in some cases even taking a class or two at their local public highschool. Colleges understand who homeschoolers are already so I would think if we were listed on your platform as homeschoolers colleges could decide if they wanted us or not! Most colleges do want to see SAT or ACT scores from homeschoolers so that is a form of certification of their grades so to speak. Dual enrollment grades can also show mastery. But there are many kids with no dual enrollment getting into great colleges. Parents are their high school counselors so we would be putting up their homeschooling transcript. Honestly, there are incredible homeschool students out there that colleges love to have - so you should work towards adding us to your platform. I would love to answer any other questions in order to help this project along! ---------------------------------------------------------- Please add your comments! : ) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelleysboys Posted April 1, 2021 Share Posted April 1, 2021 I have scheduled a phone call with them for next Friday the 9th at 1pm! Let me know your thoughts. I might start a new thread so this does not get missed perse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilaclady Posted April 1, 2021 Author Share Posted April 1, 2021 Awesome. Yes it will be nice to know how to validate homeschoolers without AP or DE and what they willl be looking for in terms of recommendation letters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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