StudentProspector Case Studies
Meet Lois
Listen to a recent interview with Lois Kelly, a parent who has recently gone through the process of finding a school with her daughter. With Drew Olanoff.
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Lois Kelly is a mother of two college students. She is also the advisor liaison at StudentProspector, meaning she contacts high school guidance counselors, college advisors and corporate HR personnel to introduce the idea of StudentProspector to them, and to help them with anything they may need.
Being a mother and an employee gives her unique insight into the qualities of StudentProspector, and she shared that insight during an interview with Internet show producer Andrew Olanoff.
How Has the College Search Process Changed?
When Lois was a high school student looking for a college to attend, she had very limited resources; computers weren't available back then. She tried to research schools with programs in which she was interested, and she applied to colleges close to her home. If she couldn't visit the campus and meet with staff, she couldn't learn anything about the school.
Today, there are a lot more resources for students. For instance, Lois has two daughters in college right now and, "we were much more proactive in searching for them when they were looking for schools. We did a lot of direct contact with the colleges. We talked to advisors, coaches, professors. A lot of contact via phone and e-mail."
Internet research also played a large part in the process. Whereas Lois could only get information on a school by visiting its campus, her daughters could get all the information they needed via websites, blogs, etc. Drew, a pioneer in online video, believes that much of his generation still sees computers as just something to use, but current high school and college students now see computers as an extension of themselves, and really use it to its fullest, unlike any generation before.
Based on her experiences with helping her daughters get into school, and with speaking with parents and advisors in her position, Lois completely agrees. "You don't see a kid without their hands on the keyboard for a very long period of time. My children use the computer all the time and they feel very confident with it and they tend to trust things that are written on the computer."
How Can StudentProspector Help Students Find Schools?
Drew refers to StudentProspector as the Monster.com for education, and Lois explains it as a recruiting tool that puts the students in the driver's seat; gives them a more active role in finding their place in a college or university. The tool allows students to fill out a short profile that recruiters can review in search of their ideal students.
Lois and her family were not aware of StudentProspector when they were searching for schools, but if they were to do it all over again, Lois would absolutely have them sign up for profiles. "StudentProspector is definitely a tool that I would recommend students use today. It certainly does not replace what they are doing with their guidance counselors or with e-mails and phone calls, but it can increase the probability of them getting accepted to specific programs."
Drew reminds people that StudentProspector isn't just for undergraduate education, and that a student can fill out a profile and then use it in the future (perhaps for study abroad or graduate programs).
It only takes 15 minutes to fill out a profile, and can increase your chances of being recruited. Plus, as long as you maintain it somewhat, it will stay active, meaning schools can keep reviewing it.
StudentProspector Really Works
Before interviewing Lois, Drew chatted with a recruiter from Roswell Park Cancer Institute who acknowledged that, not only did he recruit students through StudentProspector, but he offered scholarships to some of them. For this reason and more, Lois would encourage any parents to have their kids sign up, because it is something they can feel confident in: "it is easy, it is free and it is safe."
