<p>Here's the idea: Web site has a database of high school seniors who choose to participate. They enter their grades, their scores, their ECs, their essays just like Common App. They pay one fee up front say $100 (perhaps less or free depending on income stream from participating colleges). Multiple colleges get to review the students and the colleges make proposals including financial aid, total cost, special perks whatever. The student benefit is that the student gets to see more colleges who want him or her and exactly at what price. Non HYPSM Colleges would benefit by being able to make a pitch for a student who might not have considered them otherwise. What do think??</p>
<p>Priceline for college admissions</p>
<p>We get a blizzard of mail from colleges that I’ve never heard of and likely will never apply to. Perhaps some of them have the resources to make an attractive financial offer, or a BS plus MS. Perhaps they really was a 2300 kid. Make us an offer! :-)</p>
<p>The difficulty I see for the schools is the enrollment management side. How many kids do they admit under this system without any indication that the kid is interested? It might work for a few dozen candidates, but they couldn’t admit much of the class this way. The yields would be extremely low.</p>
<p>I have a friend who applied to two top tier schools - confident in his near perfect SATs and all that. April comes he’s rejected at both. Within a week he receives offers from two lesser prestige but respectable schools plus free tuition and partial living expenses covered. He is a very successful engineer after a good college experience. This was probably 15 years ago or so. Not sure if same scenario could happen today. But the event showed me that schools really want students in certain circumstances. It was inefficient for these two schools to find this potential student. Maybe they bought lists of SAT test takers and sent to everyone above a certain line?? It’s another factor that got me thinking that perhaps colleges could use more explicit data about potential candidates in some situations. </p>