Hey all,
I graduated from UC Berkeley last year and this forum was a huge help during the admissions process. I was thinking on how I would have loved to talk with people at my target colleges (maybe even in my intended major)…
…so why isn’t there a platform that connects prospective college students with current ones in their target schools. Would you pay $20 for 30 mins for your son/daughter to speak with someone at their target school(s)?
Cheers cheers and go bears,
Jonathan
Set up the platform and and get rich.
I wouldn’t pay a dime to have my kids talk to students at their target schools. They can do this for free if they go visit the school. Frankly, I’d trust that communication more.
Both of my kids were able to talk…for free…to students in their majors at their prospective colleges. Free.
And pay? No way. Even CC doesn’t charge us!
Absolutely not. That’s what college visits do. And there are plenty of people who will talk to kids from free.
Besides, who is to say that your experience will match the kid’s?
@jonuni94 I would say there is a demand there to be met. Not everyone can go visit schools being considered, and as decision time gets closer, surely new questions come up. What I am doubtful about is the ability to scale. I would guess that the majority of the demand would lie with the top schools. Maybe T50? (My S20 has had students from lower ranked schools call him, so, those schools seem to be drumming up demand for their schools themselves). How would this work for students at that school? How would they do this kind of work? Chats would be sprinkled through their week? How many students in any elite school would be willing to do this? (And $20 is too low of a price, by the way. Technology investment would be needed and that would not give you enough margin).
While I think you have noticed the desire for direct access to current customers of a service which many feel is a very high stakes decision, you’d have to think through the business model here. I applaud your noticing this gap in services and seeking a way to fill it. Need to bake the idea more (but that is always true at the ‘idea stage’). During our visits it has been easy to find students willing to talk (and talk and talk and talk) about their schools, but in a year when hopefully my son has a decision to make, I could imagine being happy to have a way to throw $50 in as a way to get key questions answered from the experts (current students).
What “gap” in services. This student is a Cal grad. That forum is quite active on this forum…and current and past students…and parents…are very willing to answer questions…for free.