U Sphere Blog

From the AP -- Facebook and Athletic Recruitment Crackdown

2009-04-10T17:13:00.003-05:00

A sticky situation, to say the least. Here's the full text, with thanks to the Associated Press:

Student warned over Facebook site wooing prospect
By JUSTIN POPE, AP Education Writer

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP)—College sports fans, be careful of the company you keep on Facebook.

You might get yourself—and the program you support—in trouble.

That was the lesson this week for Taylor Moseley, a North Carolina State freshman who expressed a common-enough opinion on campus when he started the Facebook group called “John Wall PLEASE come to NC STATE!!!!”

More than 700 people signed up for the group encouraging Wall—a local standout and the nation’s No. 1 basketball recruit—to pick the Wolfpack by national signing day next week.

But the NCAA says such sites, and dozens more like them wooing Wall and other top recruits, violate its rules. More than just cheerleading boards, the NCAA says the sites are an attempt to influence the college choice of a recruit.

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Moseley got a cease and desist letter from N.C. State’s compliance director, Michelle Lee, warning of “further action” if he failed to comply. In an interview Friday, Lee said that people who act as boosters but fail to follow recruiting guidelines could face penalties such as being denied tickets or even being formally “disassociated” from the athletic program.

Adam Kissel, director of the Individual Rights Defense Program at the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, said the NCAA can impose rules on its member colleges. But universities—especially public ones—can’t enforce them if it means punishing students in any way for expressing an opinion.

“A student doesn’t lose First Amendment rights because of a contract the university signs with (the NCAA),” he said.

Moseley, the student, didn’t respond to a request for comment, but the group has been renamed “Bring a National Title back to NC STATE!” and features a photo of Wall.

Though Lee sent Moseley the tough warning, even she finds the rule exasperating. The NCAA, she says, simply isn’t keeping up with the technology reality.

“I think nationally the NCAA needs to address further Facebook and how these groups play a part in recruiting,” she said. “Is it realistic for us to be able to monitor them? What harm is a group like this causing? But as the legislation stands right now, this is the position we have to take.”

NCAA spokesman Erik Christianson said the group considers its rules “technology neutral.” A Facebook page is simply a high-tech way to try to influence recruits.

The NCAA’s concern is “intrusions into a high school student’s life when they’re trying to decide where to go to college,” he said. He said the NCAA is keeping up with technology, noting new rules on text-messaging from coaches.

Christianson said the NCAA expects institutions to act as N.C. State did, reaching out to the creators of such groups to “educate” them about the rules. He added he was not aware the NCAA had ever initiated any action related to a Facebook group or notified an institution about one.

But dozens of Facebook groups are still up in plain site for current recruits, including Wall, and other top undecided basketball players such as Xavier Henry and Lance Stephenson.

Wall, a 6-4 playmaker, averaged 21 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for Raleigh Word of God this past season. He’s the No. 1-ranked recruit in the country by both Rivals.com and Scout.com, and among the last top players yet to commit. A Facebook search reveals groups including “Bring John Wall to Baylor,” “John Wall Belongs at UNC” and “John Wall, come to DUKE!!”

There are at least four groups encouraging Wall to pick Kentucky. Through an athletic department spokesman, UK head of compliance Sandy Bell declined to comment on whether the department has taken any action in response to such groups.

Facebook did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment.

Kissel, of the education rights group, and Aden Fine of the American Civil Liberties Union, said that while the NCAA—a private entity—could pursue sanctions against a student like Moseley (such as denying him access to an entirely NCAA-run event), it was troubling that the letter and threatened sanction came from the university.

“The school is potentially finding themselves in a tricky situation, because of the NCAA rules, but that doesn’t mean public universities can censor lawful speech,” Fine said.

Christianson dismissed the free speech argument, saying courts have upheld the NCAA’s right to set recruiting rules for members.

“We don’t see it as a free speech issue. What we do see it as is a recruiting issue,” he said. “We want to be sure that we limit that level of intrusion that comes into their lives.”

On the Net:

http://www.ncaa.org

The Most-Requested U Sphere Blog Post Ever -- and One Worth Sharing Again in These Crazy Times

2009-04-06T17:27:00.002-05:00

Editor's Note: Ann Landers used to do this all the time -- get a request and re-run a column that might have been older than dirt. In this case, well, a blog post from 2006 is actually older than dirt in Internet speak. But we're sharing anyway...this message makes sense (even if we're beyond "rankings" and are now talking about "economy" or something similar).

Enjoy!

Choosing a College? Relax.
It’s open season on the rankings again. Parents of high school seniors know the ones: the books, put out by large magazines or SAT test-prep companies. The ones that tell you that this college or university is better than that school because of some such reason – like better alumni or a better reputation.

Or more selective enrollment; or higher yield: those are two stats that any high-performing high-schooler knows well.

We’ve got an estimated 1.5 million high school seniors who will apply to a college or university in America this year. And, for a lot of them, the rankings serve their purpose. It’s nice to know that the school you thought you wanted to go to really is highly ranked in business, or engineering, or animal husbandry. It’s great to get into a top program at a top school.

I’m not going to suggest doing away with these rankings, as I am delighted to see people talking about choosing a college or university to spend the next four years. And if these rankings make your kid feel better, or more organized, or whatever, great. (I know, though, that the rankings are all about the Joneses being able to surpass each other with better window stickers.)

From my own experience (running a company that’s shaking up this college admissions process), I would say it’s tough for students to really fumble this selection thing as long as they trust their gut and remember these three words: Just go somewhere.

Sorry, Mom and Dad, if you think I’m trivializing what is probably a high-stress time. But I’m actually doing this for your benefit.

I can give you a couple real-world examples, from my own pre-entrepreneurial life as a Fortune 500 PR guy. My last boss had a degree from the University of Southern California. He took over for a guy who went to Virginia Commonwealth. Before that, I reported into a Holy Cross grad (the one in Worcester), and before him a Purdue-Calumet grad (the school’s satellite campus in Northwest Indiana).

They all worked at a company that is now headed up by a guy who did his undergrad in Manhattan. The other Manhattan: Kansas State University.

I’ve got a brother who’s doing fine work in IT, after getting a degree in business from Tri-State University (Angola, Indiana). I married into a family with three graduates of Illinois State University – fine women who got a great education and didn’t break the bank in the process.

I’ve worked for grads of Western Illinois and Mizzou. I’ve been at companies headed by people who went to Arkansas State, where my Mom was once offered a tiny scholarship.

Are you seeing a pattern here? No? Neither am I.

I’m not at all dismissing Ivies. Or selective liberal arts schools. And heck, I went to a school for three reasons – it is the cradle of sportscasters, it had a good basketball team, and I wanted to be Bob Costas. (For the uninitiated, the school is Syracuse, and I highly recommend it for the right kind of kid.)

I’m also not dismissing the rankings: I love the guidebooks, I love the books that dismiss the guidebooks. I love seeing where Montana-Western is (literally, it’s in Dillon, MT; figuratively, it’s a small liberal arts campus that’s a hidden gem and it’s really good in animal husbandry). I love this whole early decision vs. early action vs. open admission vs. wait list vs. double deposit discussion.

I just don’t like where it’s taking our highly stressed-out kids.

Instead, I’d offer a collective chill pill, in the form of this three-step plan:

1. Test-drive, early and often, all types of campuses and a bunch of different experiences. This means that you should (borrowing from my own experience again) attend Shakespeare plays at Notre Dame and spend three weeks out of your summer at Indiana State, even if you’re doing it to prove that you wouldn’t fit in there.

2. Ignore all that advice about having x number of reach schools and making sure that your safeties are still safe. One of the ranking books talks about some girl who filled out 31 applications. She’s my hero, but that’s probably overkill. You should pick whatever number of schools and apply to them for all the reasons that make sense for you. (I applied early, went one-for-one, and called it a day.) Is five or six too many? Too few? Who cares? Do what makes sense.

3. Negotiate. With your parents. For a car, or a trip, or something. Dad offered me a car if I got a full ride somewhere. I didn’t, and it wasn’t until after I got out of school that I realized that HE would have gotten the better end of the deal.

This is a time for Seniors to assert themselves. That could mean getting into a school that only admits 10% of its applicants and has a yield of above 80%, if that’s what’s important. Or it could mean loading up the brand-new Toyota and heading for State U, knowing that, 4 years later, the car will still be running, and there’s more money in the bank.

You’ll of course need that money to buy my book on the Top Graduate Schools for You. (To be published in the fall of 2010.)

Additional U Sphere Sites Launched -- Community College Site "CC Sphere" joins the U Sphere Network

2009-03-27T11:52:00.003-05:00

We're pleased to announce that we've launched a site geared toward community colleges -- it's called CC Sphere and you can take a look here.

A lot of attention being paid toward community college as a viable alternative to the traditional four-year route. We think that these schools have a ton to offer beyond price. Great programs, great professors, individualized attention.

Sometimes the chance to live at home adds to the desire to attend a community college, but in other cases students from throughout the world are finding American Community Colleges to be definitely worth a look.

CC Sphere joins a couple other sites new to the U Sphere Network: MBA Sphere and Med School Sphere.

Be sure to visit these sites -- you can even login using your Facebook ID -- and we'd love for you to share your ideas and resources with us.

(And we love guest bloggers, too!)

Carnival of College Admission Now Live, and U Sphere Weighs In

2009-03-25T06:56:00.002-05:00

We always love taking a look at something called the Carnival of College Admission. We think you will too. This edition is hosted by our sister site, MBA Sphere.

These are crazy crazy financial times -- and it's trickling down to the high schoolers in the audience. If Mom and Dad can't pay for college, well, what's next?

The Carnival has a few ideas on those fronts, as well as advice on how to choose the right school, right grad school, and more.

Take a look!

A few more things from the U Sphere network

2009-03-13T14:24:00.003-05:00

We're magically adding more stuff to our network. For instance:

If you're looking for an MBA program, we've got a site called (get this) MBA Sphere. Be sure to visit it and chime in!

We're also enjoying working with a few niche medical programs, and we have started another site called Med School Sphere.

There's more coming -- we're going to be moving this blog over to a blog that looks quite a bit like the other two. Stay tuned!

Post 200 is, fittingly, about Rankings

2009-03-04T15:59:00.002-06:00

Rather than attempt to re-invent the wheel, let's just take this undergraduate business school rankings from BusinessWeek and give proper attribution. And thanks. (Thanks, BusinessWeek.)

Here's the press release -- is your school's biz school on the list?

March 04, 2009

Report: The Best Undergrad Business Schools by BusinessWeek

University of Virginia’s McIntire School Tops BusinessWeek’s
Fourth Annual Ranking of “The Best Undergrad Business Schools”
Last year’s No.1, University of Pennsylvania, falls to No.3;

Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business rises 17 spots to No.42

New York, New York (February 26, 2009)—University of Virginia’s McIntire School jumped to the top spot on BusinessWeek’s fourth annual ranking of “The Best Undergrad Business Schools.” Rounding out the top five are Notre Dame (Mendoza), University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), University of Michigan (Ross), and Brigham Young (Marriott).

The results of BusinessWeek’s fourth annual ranking of undergraduate business programs reflect the job market’s uncertainty. With 54% of responding seniors lacking an offer as of January (compared with 44% in 2008), the schools that excelled in BusinessWeek’s survey have put an intense focus on guiding students through the career search. Leading the way is No.1-ranked McIntire School of Commerce at the University of Virginia, where nearly three of four seniors have job offers, thanks largely to the school’s innovative efforts to build student-recruiter relationships. The same applies to second-ranked Notre Dame, where administrators tap the school’s well-connected alumni network to scout jobs and offer advice to students. Both overtook the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, which fell to third place after three years at the top.

In general, student satisfaction was down, with more than half of the 101 ranked schools taking a hit. Institutions that succeeded in helping students navigate the difficult job market improved their standings the most. Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business rose 17 spots, to No.42, in large part because of a recruiting focus centered on regional banks and such large local companies as Procter & Gamble and Limited Brands. Others, including No.29 University of San Diego School of Business Administration, saw their fortunes rise due to a strong focus on accounting, where jobs are still plentiful. New York University’s Stern School of Business didn’t fare as well, falling to No.15 from No.8 after some students returned from summer internships on Wall Street without the job offers they had expected. Some who did receive offers are seeing start dates delayed and are now wondering if the jobs will be there when they graduate—and if the $38,686 a year they spent was worth it.

To rank these programs, BusinessWeek used nine measures, including surveys of 85,000 senior business majors and nearly 600 corporate recruiters, median starting salaries for graduates, and the number of graduates each program sends to top MBA programs. BusinessWeek also calculated an academic quality rating for each program by combining SAT scores, student-faculty ratios, class size, the percentage of students with internships, and the number of hours students devote to class work.

BusinessWeek’s ranking of “The Best Undergraduate B-Schools” is available in the March 9, 2009 issue of BusinessWeek, on newsstands March 2nd. Expanded content, including the full ranking and methodology, interactive tables, and a discussion forum are available on BusinessWeek.com at http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/undergraduate.

(more)

The Top 50 Best Undergrad B-Schools

2009 2008 School
1 2 Virginia (McIntire)
2 3 Notre Dame (Mendoza)
3 1 Pennsylvania (Wharton)
4 6 Michigan (Ross)
5 7 Brigham Young (Marriott)
6 11 UC-Berkeley (Haas)
7 9 MIT (Sloan)
8 4 Cornell
9 5 Emory (Goizueta)
10 10 Texas-Austin (McCombs)
11 13 Villanova
12 20 Richmond (Robins)
13 12 North Carolina (Kenan-Flagler)
14 21 Wake Forest (Calloway)
15 8 NYU (Stern)
16 15 Washington U. (Olin)
17 14 Boston College (Carroll)
18 24 Miami U. (Farmer)
19 22 Carnegie Mellon (Tepper)
20 16 Indiana (Kelley)
21 17 USC (Marshall)
22 18 Illinois
23 28 Babson
24 19 Georgetown (McDonough)
25 33 U. of Washington (Foster)
26 25 Lehigh
27 34 Northeastern
28 n/a American (Kogod)
29 47 San Diego
30 29 William & Mary (Mason)
31 23 SMU (Cox)
32 35 Santa Clara (Leavey)
33 30 Bentley
34 32 Texas Christian (Neeley)
35 43 Maryland (Smith)
36 26 Rensselaer Polytech (Lally)
37 31 Texas A&M (Mays)
38 38 Penn State (Smeal)
39 41 Case Western (Weatherhead)
40 37 Wisconsin
41 27 Fordham
42 59 Ohio State (Fisher)
43 42 Boston U.
44 54 James Madison
45 36 Baylor (Hankamer)
46 n/a Chapman (Argyros)
47 n/a Ohio
48 40 Binghamton
49 52 Syracuse (Whitman)
50 49 U. of Miami
# # # #

Sunday night #uspherechat on Twitter

2009-02-20T14:43:00.003-06:00

Hello Twitterati!

If you don't know what I'm talking about, well, you should learn -- Twitter, according to compete.com, is the 3rd largest social network in the world!

Twitter allows you to share quick updates answering the question "what are you doing?"

We've done our part to help share information about the "going-to-college" process on Twitter through something called a #uspherechat.

Really, it's a U Sphere chat, on Twitter, where you take over and experts answer your questions. The "#" allows for easier search when you visit http://search.twitter.com. In fact, try that now and type in #uspherechat and see what pops up. Go ahead, we'll wait.

Fun, huh? Past guest schools have included:

@unewhaven
@SDSU_NewsTeam
@RMIT

And guest experts included:
@aljamiat
@mariana_66
@collegeadvice
@joeycoleman

This week's chat takes place at 9PM Eastern Time in the USA on Sunday, 2/22. Join in!

FAFSA and College Financial Aid Help and Links

2009-02-20T10:41:00.004-06:00

U Sphere has received a few requests for college financial aid help and links, so we'll provide a few of those here. This is not meant to be an all-encompassing list -- but, if you, your company, your school or someone else thinks you should be added here, shoot us a note at info at usphere dot com and we'll do our best to add.

Here goes:

Dream Strategy -- we've bumped into this group on line and they say some cool things about the going-to-college and paying-for-college process. Link to Dream Strategy here.

Financial Aid Podcast. These folks have all sorts of info about paying for college - and they'll stress what everyone else stresses, too: fill out the FAFSA! Here's a link to the fine work of Christopher Penn and team.

Is there an official FAFSA site? Yes. It's here, from the US Department of Education.

Underground financial aid tips from Video College Coach. If you want to find the right "getting in" AND "paying for it" strategies, check out our good friend Paul Lloyd Hemphill and his site at videocollegecoach.com.

There are more, sure...please let us know and we can add them!

A couple ways of tackling "college affordability"

2009-02-19T11:44:00.003-06:00

Dave from U Sphere here. On a mission to tackle a problem that has no easy answers.

We stumbled upon a request to sign a petition to "Erase Student Loan Debt." If only it were that easy. Just hit "cancel" and all the debt goes away. No. Not that simple.

Instead, we offer a few solutions that could possibly help. Here goes:

1. Cast your college nets widely. People go out and buy "affordable" cars all the time. Go find yourself an "affordable" college. Should be simple enough to do -- start by looking beyond brand names. Find lists of best buys in college education or some such and look at them. And, even if you graduate this year -- apply to a couple of them. Sure, even apply sight unseen.

2. Consider community college. Yup, nothing wrong with it AT ALL. We won't give you the lists of all the famous community college grads. Great bridge to a four-year school. Search for one near you here.

3. Savings programs -- some you may not have heard of. Family using upromise? What about Sage Scholars? The independent 529 Plan? Look at em.

4. Oh yeah: Fill out the FAFSA.

The Carnival of College Admissions NEVER CEASES to AMAZE

2009-02-11T13:34:00.003-06:00

Sure, that headline might sound a little PT Barnum, but...well, it is a carnival, so...

Where else can you find out about the following:

Mark Montgomery is an independent college consultant (or "college coach") in Colorado, but his global experience will take him to Hong Kong next month (where he once lived) to speak on admissions. We like Mark a lot and he hosts this edition of the carnival, so here's a link to his blog. We've already asked him to send photos and even video from his HK trip.

In a post from an expert on finding a college from a Middle Eastern perspective, Wassan Hamadi argues that it’s time for students to make better informed financial decisions about their education. Options abound - 4-year schools that aren't common names, or community colleges that deliver phenomenal dollar values and serve as bridges to 4-year schools. Here's the link to the Al Jamiat blog.

U Sphere is fast becoming friends with the folks at the University of New Haven and their admissions guru is Gil Rogers. He's got a great post entitled PLEASE READ THIS and there's some really good stuff about FAFSA codes and filling out forms. The minutiae that, well, is part of getting in.

Test Prep? There's some info about that, too. From the SAT and ACT guru, Elizabeth, whose elizabethonline won't let you down. Spell check be darned! (She explains.)

It's chock full -- students, parents, kids who don't know where they're going yet, guidance counselors and more. You'll like.

Help us help College of Santa Fe

2009-02-09T15:10:00.002-06:00

Hi from U Sphere. One of the sites in our network is the University CMO blog and, earlier today, that blog received a comment. In video format. Here is the link to the vimeo page:

http://vimeo.com/2994412

It's a great video and tells you a lot about the community that they're trying to save at CSF.

Send along - let's see what we can do to get the word out!

William and Mary shines for another reason

2009-02-02T07:42:00.002-06:00

Watch the game last night? Who didn't. Great finish. And did you notice the Steelers' coach, Mike Tomlin? Youngest Super Bowl-winning Coach ever. Only 36.

AND, he's a graduate of a school LONG championed by this space as a great value in higher education.

College of William and Mary.

You can't blame the team behind William & Mary's web site for already having a blurb on the site talking about their alumnus. Link here to see Coach Tomlin speaking at Commencement last Spring.

Go Tribe!

Highlights from Sunday Night Stickam Web Chat (1/25)

2009-01-26T07:18:00.002-06:00

Hey gang,

If you missed it last night, here are some highlights -- first, what the University of New Haven has to say about the modern college admissions and college search process:

usphere: okay, here's a question about using the internet and recruiting students -- how have new tools (like Twitter, for instance) changed your job? and changed perceptions that kids have about colleges?
unewhaven: I will answer that in two chunks ... first about new tools

Tools like Twitter, amongst other social networking sites and programs have made my job a constant (in a good way). I am constantly connected to students and available to communiate with them throughout their entire admission process.

That makes the process more personal, which is great

This has broken down the perception of "the scary admissions office" and made it easier for prospective students to meet us, connect with us, and interact with us.

usphere: let's shift gears - give us a feel for the kind of student you're looking for?

unewhaven: We have a holistic approach to when we review an application ... we are NOT just looking for the 4.0 GPA with a perfect SAT score ... but we are also very interested in students who are well rounded, involved, and want to make a difference.

So when we review an application, we don't just look at the transcript ... but we look at the content of that transcript

we look at the trends of the scores in courses

we read the letters of recommendation for cues from instructors about a students effort and ability

usphere: by trends, you mean if a student started out as a freshman getting b's then started getting a's later on, that's good?

and of course, we offer students the opportunity to interview and speak with an admissions officer

What does this mean for students? Well, for starters, there's probably a University of New Haven near you -- a school you may not have thought of but one that's out there looking for great kids. And they're doing it electronically, too. Get your stuff together and start searching. The right college for you may be out there. Or in here (take a look at our College Finder).

Another Edition of Sunday Night Stickam - January 25 at 9pm Eastern

2009-01-22T13:59:00.002-06:00

uSphere is pleased to announce another edition of Sunday Night Stickam - this week, Sunday, January 25, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time (in the US).

This week, we've confirmed the University of New Haven joining us for a web chat; last week we had a guest from Millikin University in Decatur, IL.

We're working on more folks, too -- college admissions consultants and recruiters are welcome to contact us to get on board.

(For Sunday, February 1, we will switch the time -- so that it's Sunday Night in another part of the world. Since that is the day of Super Bowl XLIII, which is sortof a big deal.)

The great thing about the event -- no more than one hour total, and you can come and go as you please...

Hope to chat with you then!

Moving On to the Launch of the uSphere Video Portal

2009-01-22T07:18:00.004-06:00

Hello everyone...

We're in video connection mode this week, and you can certainly help us out. And the you is JUST ABOUT EVERYONE in the going-to-college process...

We've decided to Beta something that we've gotten great feedback on. You can see it here: the uSphere Video Portal.

We're of course geeked about the chance to connect people GLOBALLY through the magic of video, the Interwebs, etc. What really strikes us as cool?

The sheer number and variety of International study opportunities.

This goes beyond just the study abroad thing that's so common these days (and will, we hope, continue despite economic woes). The video we've launched this service with, for instance, is for the University of Debrecen in Hungary. (Followers of this space know that we're friends with the US company that helps them find students, Medical Education Pathways.) Attending med school right after high school is not for everyone. Studying in another country for six whole years isn't for everyone either. Video can help students find out if this is for them. Or not.

We're aiming for international connections here. That means if you're a business school in Singapore and you're looking for people from other countries, get in touch. We think there's plenty of US-focused college and university information "stuff" out there.

Yes, other schools are coming. Yes, students who are currently in school will be able to upload their own videos about real life at school. Yes, current high school students will be able to post their own videos and share their stories with admissions officers. All this stuff is in Beta and you can get on board by dropping us a line at info at usphere (dot) com.

We hope you'll like it...

Update from uSphere - We're Working on Deleting Ads

2009-01-21T13:05:00.002-06:00

Clarification for our readers...

As you can possibly tell from looking at this here blog, uSphere has quite a bit of code to go through to get all the ads taken off of our site. We're working on it...

But here's what we do want to tell you, the students, parents, counselors and colleges who visit our site and have relied on us to help your college/university search for the past 4 years:

We are committed to providing you with a great user experience. That means connecting you with information about schools that might be looking for you. In some cases, schools pay for sponsorship on the site -- that's how we attempt to make a living.

Those sponsorships will continue, but the advertisements from partners such as Google and Commission Junction -- those are what we are taking off of our site, starting immediately.

Let me reiterate -- both are great services and we highly recommend them both. But the whole advertising stuff is more of a nuisance than anything, so we're taking this dramatic step.

I invite you to contact me directly if you want more information. And you can follow usphere on Twitter, where we try to make connections AND entertain.

Thanks for sticking with us.

Dave from uSphere

An Urgent Message -- And Apology -- From uSphere

2009-01-20T19:10:00.003-06:00

To the uSphere network of students, parents and schools:

We have just received troubling news from a student who tried to use our service, and we wanted to communicate with you about it.

Cutting to the chase: some visitors to the uSphere.com site were shown pornographic ads. This is an egregious error by one of our advertising partners -- but we'll shoulder the blame, as it's our site and our partners should have been chosen more carefully. Especially on a site that serves students.

WE VALUE THE TRUST YOU PLACE IN US. We will do everything in our power to make sure this does not happen again.

uSphere uses some ad networks to show ads that, in our judgment, help you better plan for the going-to-college process. We have limited our ads to those that we think make sense. In fact, we have a long-standing relationship with two ad networks -- Google and Commission Junction -- whose service is exemplary.

It's another ad network that has caused this problem, and they assure us they're addressing this matter.

It's a shame that this had to happen on a day like today -- when hope should win out over fear, and we shouldn't be too cynical to think that a website that helps students find the right colleges can actually do so without offending people.

We're truly sorry.

Dave Van de Walle
and the
uSphere team

In Case You Missed It -- Excerpt from Sunday Night Stickam (Web Chat on College Admissions)

2009-01-20T16:16:00.004-06:00

uSphere was joined by Zach Uttich, an admissions counselor at Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. Zach had a ton to say -- here's an excerpt on what Millikin looks for in their incoming Freshman class:

zuttich: and my responsiblities in the admission office include visiting high schools and college fairs, managing a territory, evaluating applications, fielding questions and concerns about financial aid and am the supervisor for student tours

zuttich: millikin really looks for a student that is well rounded, to be honest

zuttich: of course we like you to meet requirements, but there are great students who don't, so we look for a total package

zuttich: that includes involvement, aspirations, grades, test scores, extra curricular activities and potential

zuttich: millikin looks for involved students

zuttich: both with their high school and the community

zuttich: we require our freshmen to partake in a certain amount of philanthropy hours and want to make sure our recruits are willing and ready to participate

usphere: thanks - is there any way for a student to be "too involved?"

zuttich: absolutely...a resumee can only be so deep...we don't want students to just have a bunch of things listed on their application because they showed up to a meeting

zuttich: so we expect students to have the background to support their claims

zuttich: ultimately, having a rap sheet for your clubs and organizations means you had free time, we just want to know you used it constructively

So there you go from one admissions counselor...

For discussion -- students, is this what you're hearing? Do you think you're doing enough -- or doing too much?

FYI - we're planning to make Sunday Night Stickam a regular thing -- but this Sunday might look a little different...we're ironing out the tech tools at our disposal...we'd love your feedback...

Sunday Night Stickam with uSphere and Special Guests

2009-01-14T08:17:00.002-06:00

Coming this Sunday Night, January 18, uSphere presents Sunday Night Stickam -- A Video-Enabled Web Chat with college admissions experts. And none of them trying to sell you something; they'll all be sharing their expertise on this whole "going to college" process.

Dave from uSphere will moderate the discussion and we've booked (so far) Paul Lloyd Hemphill from VideoCollegeCoach and an admissions counselor from one of our fave schools, Millikin University in Decatur, Illinois. (MOre college admissions reps to come.)

The university types on the chat will be sharing tips on how they find you, how you can stand out, and what scholarship dollars and financial aid money is really out there.

My buddy Paul will make sure you know what he helps his clients with -- some tried-and-true strategies for getting in.

And about this Stickam thing? It's a mind-blowingly cool web chat tool with all sorts of ways to connect.

Students: we guarantee you'll learn something.

Parents: we guarantee your kids will learn something.

Colleges and universities: if you want to get on board, follow @usphere on Twitter and send me a note there.

FAFSA - the five most important letters for the college-bound student

2009-01-08T09:13:00.002-06:00

We can't stress this enough if you are a SENIOR in HIGH SCHOOL in the USA:

FAFSA. Fill it out -- regardless of your income -- fill it out.

Now, we're not experts on FAFSA here at uSphere HQ. SO...here are a few resources that we'll point you to. These folks know what they're talking about:

The Financial Aid Podcast. Christopher Penn stays on top of all this stuff because it's his job. Check out his blog posting on the aid crunch and why you should fill out the FAFSA now.

Dream Strategy. They're consultants and financial planners around the going-to-college experience. See their FAFSA tips here.

VideoCollegeCoach. Paul Hemphill has a series of videos that you can get -- some of them about going to college, but some of them about PAYING for college, like this ebook excerpt on the FAFSA.

Great resources all. Check them out. And Fill out the FAFSA

We Hate New Year's Resolutions

2009-01-03T16:48:00.003-06:00

Seriously.

We think they are overrated, never followed through on, and kindof sortof a waste of time.

However, if you made a few, good for you. We're going to go back to work sharing a few things that you need to know about how to get into the right college or university for you. That's what we do for a living here. For instance...

Resolved: to go to Medical School.

Visit our friends at Medical Education Pathways. They've got a nifty alternative to the "Carribbean Medical School" option that a lot of kids are Googling about. For instance, instead of doing pre-med in the States at a traditional school, then going to Med School in somewhere exotic like St. Kitts, work with MedEdPathways and go straight out of high school into med school. Get out six years later and come practice medicine in the USA as a full-fledged Doc.

Catch? No catch -- you study in Eastern Europe, so you broaden your horizons and take classes in English. Travel the world. Start working with patients like really early in your med career.

The link to a really cool Med School video is here.

We love working with these folks, they're global and cool and you should check out their site.

Is it really "FacebookGate"? Another take on the CollegeProwler "scandal"

2008-12-22T10:32:00.002-06:00

Story broke last week on the use of Facebook by a company called CollegeProwler to try to market their wares to students. It's been covered ad infinitum and the story was first brought to light by Brad Ward, an admissions counselor and social marketer extraordinaire at Butler University. See his blog here.

Let me, Dave from uSphere, weigh in.

What they did was egregious because it was not disclosed why they were doing it, nor who they were.

They claimed to be random students setting up Facebook pages for class of 2013 students -- but, in fact, these people weren't students at all, but employees of College Prowler.

NOW, for another take...

First of all, bad business practice to not say who you are and why you are doing something. uSphere has set up some Facebook groups before, with very limited success, but we've always said "it's uSphere." College Prowler could have saved itself some headache by doing the same.

That being said, is it worthy of being called "FacebookGate"? Let's put it all in perspective:

Watergate -- lies, break-ins that brought down a Presidency. (Before many readers' time.) This was a small company not being 100% totally upfront and honest about how they were finding students for their marketing efforts.

For comment: students, what do you think of it all?

Okay, so this is for their MBA program, but...

2008-12-18T15:30:00.004-06:00

Northwestern has a little explaining to do...specifically its Kellogg School of Management.

School mistakenly tells some students they're in
Associated Press
4:44 AM CST, December 18, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. - Some students who thought they'd received the best present of all this holiday season from Northwestern University instead got the computer equivalent of coal in their stockings.

Fifty applicants to the university's prestigious Kellogg School of Management received e-mails telling them they'd been accepted into the MBA program only to learn there had been a "technical error" and they weren't in after all.

Kellogg spokeswoman Megan Washburn says the school learned of the mistake when students who'd received the acceptance e-mails checked out Kellogg's Web site only to learn the truth.

She says school officials have reached most of the students who received the incorrect e-mails.

--

uSphere here again...yikes! These types of things do happen from time to time...and the school did begin the process of calling all affected students personally. But still...

If you're a student in India and want to study in the USA...

2008-12-09T10:15:00.005-06:00

...uSphere has the help you need!

We've just launched a video seminar -- Students in India, Universities in the USA -- and it's just for Indian students.

In fact, the video is a really valuable tool since we detail some of the colleges and universities in the USA that are looking for students from India.

But don't just read a blog about it, here's a video preview:

We're very excited about this tool, and, when bundled together with access to all the tools on the uSphere site, it's a tremendous value: students can save literally hundreds of thousands of rupees by finding the right college for them.

We borrow from a "sister" blog for some insight on personal communications....

2008-12-08T16:55:00.002-06:00

...as they pertain to the college admissions process.

One of the other blogs we work with is called UniversityCMO, which is becoming a hub for those who try to get their schools recognized by you, the prospective student. We chatted with Shaun McElroy, who lives and works in Shanghai and has a pretty cool gig -- helping kids find the right educational opportunities anywhere in the world.

We asked Shaun about how communications are becoming much more one-to-one and here's an excerpt.

"Your role as international counselor puts you right in the middle of the marketing dialogue between universities and the students they are courting. What are the big changes you’ve seen over the past few years in how universities market themselves to students?

Much more direct marketing. To the point of absurdity: One of my kids feels he is being stalked by Columbia. He knows he is never, ever getting into Columbia. Does he need a restraining order?

Parents as partners in the process. Very few colleges do not have a section of their website specifically dedicated to their concerns and ideas. In the old days, we used to view college counseling as something that happened between student and college with the counselor acting as a conduit and advisor, but the reality is many young people DO WANT their parents involved — and even if they do not, the parents are involved.

Embracing rankings. [It used to be] most colleges simply smiled at whatever place they were on the list and left it at that. Now many sites have “fast facts” which celebrate their rankings. In presentation after presentation I hear admission reps talk about their top-ranked business, engineering, economics, creative writing program, etc. When I ask for the source (because I love lists) they look at me blankly. It drives me personally nuts. It just feeds the monster.

Embracing personal technologies. Most colleges allow you to create “my webpage” which allows you to customize what you want to know. This is a good thing. Moreover: Colleges have such as MIT and Illinois have created space for authentic voices to show up on in their marketing in the forms of student blogs. I love this. It is the real deal."

So there's a lot here for you (if you're an 11th or 12th grader, especially) to digest...what do you take from all this?

Well, Shaun's role is a lot like your guidance counselor's role. Except he does so from Shanghai -- where you would imagine that many a school tries to connect with his students virtually. Note that authenticity is king, and Mom and Dad aren't going away in all this.

Take a deep breath, study, read up on schools, ask people about them. And trust your gut.

(BTW - for the complete interview with Shaun, visit the UniversityCMO site.)