I think it’s a step in the right direction.
There are one heck of a lot of poor kids or middle income kids who find CC and get advice here that is superior to what’s “on offer” at their high schools. So,I am optimistic enough to believe that some of them will find College Access too. Plus, there are many teachers and GCs who would like to help outstanding students with big dream but don’t know enough to do so. I think they are even more likely to find the site.
To use one example, there are many talented artists out there who find out at the last minute that they can submit an arts supplement. Some of these kids may attend high schools which don’t offer more than one year of art. They may scramble to put a portfolio together. If they knew a few years in advance that they can do it they wouldn’t be running around at the last second trying to figure out how to photograph works and upload them. They’d find out about things like National Portfolio Day. They might get lucky and get a mentor through this program that can give them real guidance–maybe even get them to apply and get fin aid to some summer art programs.
Even if our young artist doesn’t find this site, maybe his/her guidance counselor will and let the student know early on in the process that (s)he can submit artwork.
At the very least, the site will tell kids which schools meet full need. It often takes a lot of hunting on the web to figure that out. Kids can now figure out what the admissions requirements of those schools are. i think there are kids who don’t realize that meeting the requirements for high school graduation isn’t enough to apply to some colleges. They may find out earlier in the process that they need, e.g., 3 years of foreign language, to apply to many colleges. That could lead them to take the extra courses they need to have a realistic chance.
So lets not condemn this. At least give it a “shot.”