What’s New on Cappex

Online tools are helping students choose colleges earlier.

It is commonly thought that students arrive at a choice for their ideal college during their senior year, but is that always the case? A recent Cappex survey of more than 260 college freshmen says it is not. Surprisingly, 43 percent of survey responders said they chose their college before senior year, and a good percentage said they chose their ideal college even earlier than junior year.

The study found:

• 57% chose their ideal college senior year
• 23% chose their ideal college junior year
• 20% chose their ideal college sophomore or freshman year

“It is imperative that colleges make students aware of their institutions early in high school and continue to maintain awareness through senior year,” said Chris Long, President of Cappex.

What are the main influences inspiring first choice?

The study also looked at the main factors about a college that inspire an ideal college choice. School attributes like reputation, size of school, and campus appeal topped the list. Of course these days, financial assistance is also a very important driver.

To probe on the influencing factors, the Cappex study used answer choices that mirrored the larger 2008 CIRP study by The University of California at Los Angeles Higher Education Research Institute.

The students in the Cappex study said:

• The school had a good reputation: 50%
• My visit to campus: 48%
• The school offered me financial assistance: 35%
• Size of school: 33%
• Overall cost of attending: 30%
• The school had a good reputation for its social activities: 19%
• Graduates from the school get good jobs: 17%

“A visit to campus appears to be one of the major influencing factors, and it is one that colleges can affect from a recruiting standpoint,” said Long. “For those students who may not be willing to travel to visit, colleges should aim to give them a taste of that on-campus experience online through their websites, college search sites, and social media.”

What are some perks offered by colleges that tip the scales in deciding where to enroll?

In addition to the typical things like scholarships and extracurricular programs, it is interesting to see that attributes like having a green campus and free Wi-Fi can help students make an enrollment decision.

Students said these perks tipped the scales for them:

• Had great extracurricular programs: 61%
• Provided non-departmental or general merit scholarships: 51%
• Offered opportunities for paid work study: 54%
• Free Wi-Fi: 53%
• Provided a departmental merit scholarship: 35%
• Had new classroom facilities: 32%
• Had a green campus: 30%
• Had new residence halls: 28%
• Offered in-state tuition to out-of-state students: 22%
• Provided free laptops: 8%

So, how can colleges tip the scales in their favor? They can start by reaching out to college-bound high school students online early and often, give them a three-dimensional feel of what their college is about, and have a recruiting hook.

“By the way, at Cappex, we’ve observed that it is never too late for colleges to recruit seniors,” said Long. “Many seniors add colleges to their lists well into spring semester.”

We’re happy to announce our “Trick or Tweet” Scholarship winner Samantha P., a high school junior, peer mentor, and French tutor from Plymouth, Mass.

Her winning tweet really captured the essence of Cappex and had a great Halloween spin.

@cappexcom=my favorite site, it is filled with delight,never fright. Without it I would be up all night, worrying about college til’ light!

“I am so excited and thankful to have been chosen,” Samantha said.

Nice work, Samantha! For those who did not win this time, don’t despair. We’ll be anouncing some new scholarships soon!

We received more than 3,500 tweets, and judging was tough. We’d like to recognize these honorable mentions:

@cappexcom Thank cappex for making my college search a whole lot sweeter and a lot less scary! tay_armstrong

Working on scholarship and college stuff.. But luckily @cappexcom is making it all so SIMPLE!! Trick or Treat? I’ll take the treat: Cappex! glenbeebe

The most beautiful site for college searching goes to @cappexcom. They really put their thinking “caps” on. aimee_laplant

@cappexcom i aspire 2 go 2 college,2help cure the world,2know what destiny really means & so i thank cappex 4 helping me 2 achieve my dreams reyreyrichy

candy corn is sweet as can be,i <3 that @cappexcom can help me.there are no tricks its only treating,this website is the one to TRY beating! itssmeeeeee

@cappexcom OMG I’m gonna be able to get to college with Cappex. It’s so helpful and fast. Move over collegeboard, Cappex is coming. dudeman6879

@cappexcom college can be such a fright, cappex helps to make it right, we never know whats ahead, but cappex proves it’s not to dread! loveispowerxoxo

Fewer Students Putting their College Searches on Hold

A new study of more than 1,400 prospective college students nationwide indicates that college bound students are more optimistic about being able to afford college.

The study is a follow-up to research conducted last October by Cappex.com and MeritAid.com, free Internet services that provide data on over 3,000 colleges and over $11 billion in merit scholarships nationwide. The students surveyed revealed some emerging trends related to a potential economic recovery.

Among the findings of the study:

• Only 7% of surveyed students said they are putting their college searches on hold because they don’t think their families will be able to pay for college compared to 16% last October

• Just 55% said they are now considering a less prestigious college due to affordability compared to 57% last year

“Families are finding ways to adjust and appear to see a recovery in sight,” remarked Chris Long, COO and President of Cappex. “In addition, colleges have continued to work hard to provide merit scholarships and other financial aid.”

Though there is optimism about being able to afford college, the sustained drive to less prestigious and public schools has had an impact on perceptions of how hard it might be to get in. More than 60% of college bound students now believe an increase in students applying to state schools will make this application season more challenging.

There is also still some long term concern about the job market, and 47% of the students surveyed indicated that they are concerned about being able to get a job after college. That’s more than double the percentage of students who were concerned about it last year.

From fear of rejection to finding scholarships, a new Cappex.com survey of more than 600 college-bound high school seniors has the 10 top things that keep them up at night.

Just in time for Halloween – College-bound students weave a frightening tale about the search for the perfect college.

Check out this list – enough to spook any prospective college student:
1. Getting rejected (77%)
2. Writing the application essay (50%)
3. Keeping up with deadlines (31%)
4. Finding scholarships (31%)
5. Applying for financial aid (29%)
6. Meeting a college’s GPA and test score requirements (26%)
7. Filling out applications (22%)
8. Narrowing down my list of college picks (18%)
9. Reading all the mail from colleges (12%)
10. Starting my list of college picks to explore (9%)

“The road to college is more complex than ever these days, and, just as there are thousands of colleges out there, there are also almost as many diverse sources for finding information about them,” said Chris Long, President of Cappex. “Cappex.com aims to be the one place on the Web that simplifies the process and relieves the stress.”

Websites like Cappex.com help simplify college search, and students can use the site for free. On Cappex.com, students can: create their own college list, access college profiles with student reviews, understand their chances of admission to any college, get college matches, and find merit scholarships – all in one place!

Cappex.com announces five scholarship winners for August-deadline scholarships.

	$1,000 “Psychology Scholarship” – August 2009 winner: Ashley K., from Newark, Del., a college sophomore, government and psychology double major and previous National Honor Society president. Ashley is a Habitat for Humanity volunteer and a tutor for Washington D.C.-area high school students.
	$1,000 “Health Careers & Nursing Scholarship” – August 2009 winner: Laura B., from Cadiz, Ky., a college freshman and community volunteer who wants to become a nurse, social worker, and full-time missionary. Before attending college, Laura was president of First Priority, a Christian service club at her high school, and logged over 1,200 hours of community service.
	$1,000 “Business Careers Scholarship” – August 2009 winner: Katheryn C., from George West, Texas, a business major, 4.0 student, and prior FCCLA president.
	$1,000 “I Found My College Scholarship” – August 2009 winner: Carolyn T., from Portage, Ind., a college freshman at Princeton and prior high school class valedictorian, National Honor Society president and student council president.
	$1,000 “Review My College Scholarship” – August 2009 winner: Patricia H., from Brush Prairie, Wash., who wrote a review about her school, Western Washington University. Western Washington is great for “students committed to the environment and sustainability, outdoor enthusiasts, and anybody interested in social change,” she wrote. Read her complete review on the Cappex Western Washington Profile.

Caps off to all of the winners!

Financial help arrives just in time for college search season.

A new e-book with 20 money-saving tips and secrets is available starting today for free on Cappex.com.

The fast-reading e-book titled “20 Insider Strategies to Save Money on College NOW” is published by Cappex.com, a Web site that dramatically simplifies the college search process, and MeritAid.com, a site that makes $11 billion in merit scholarships easy to find. The e-book has crucial strategies that every prospective college student simply needs to know in this economy.

“This e-book is ideal for anyone seeking help paying for college. It sheds light on the top approaches,” said Chris Long, President of Cappex.com. “Among the approaches are a revealing look at merit scholarships, special strategies for saving on public and private colleges, and getting money that you don’t have to pay back.”

Students and their parents can download the free e-book in a pdf format at http://www.cappex.com/media/20InsiderStrategiesCappex.pdf

Cappex.com announces four new scholarship winners for July-deadline scholarships.

$1,000 “A GPA Isn’t Everything Scholarship” – Spring 2009 winner: Steven F., from Andrews, Texas, a college freshman, biology major and previous high school class and Spanish club president. As a junior volunteer, Steven has logged over 400 hours of volunteer work.

$1,000 “Cutting Edge Careers Scholarship” – Spring 2009 winner: Elizabeth D., from Omaha, Neb., a college freshman and community volunteer pursuing a business degree. Before attending college, Elizabeth was a high-achieving high school honor roll student.

$1,000 “Culinary Arts Scholarship” – Spring 2009 winner: Robin H., from Frankfort, Ky., a college freshman this fall and previous honor roll student in high school. She wants to someday start her own catering company to help others make memories at their special occasions.

$1,000 “Computer Careers Scholarship” – Spring 2009 winner: Connie W., from Lexington, Ky., a freshman currently at the University of Kentucky, who just wrapped up last school year as the president of her Science National Honor Society chapter and her local Red Cross Club.

Cappex sends a big congratulations to all of the winners!

These winners of the Cappex “Class of 2011 and 2010″ scholarships are first class and very well rounded.

Congratulations to our two very accomplished winners!

Cappex recently conducted a national survey of 260 counselors about what colleges should provide to make the process easier for them and their students, and how and when they should contact counselors.

How can colleges make the process easier?

Address the money aspect.

The most critical need identified by counselors is centered on financial information. In the current economic climate, money trumps all. Among the top answers to the survey: 65% of counselors surveyed wanted more clear financial information on colleges’ websites. 52% wanted easier access to merit aid information, and 47% wanted more clear tuition information.

This is not surprising because in a student survey conducted by Cappex last January, students indicated financial aid, scholarships and tuition were at the top of their lists, too.

The implication is that, on colleges’ websites, they should make financial information a priority, easy to find and easy to digest – that is once they have first communicated their college’s point of difference or “brand” identity.

Improve navigation and prioritize.

Slightly lower down the priority scale, counselors indicated a need for easier to navigate websites. With the depth of information and the different audiences that college websites need to accommodate, it all comes down to prioritizing the information. Are the majority of the visitors finding what they need with just a few clicks?

Some other key priorities mentioned were easier access to application deadlines and prospective student event calendars. These milestones can be very important for planning a college search curriculum and helping students focus their time.

Also mentioned was easier access to information about majors. Many students search for colleges by major, so colleges should consider having a search-by-major keyword capability on their home pages.

A challenge remains the ability to have both depth and breadth of information and easy navigation, and there will always have to be tradeoffs.

More details from the study can be found here.

Caps off to these winners of Cappex April-deadline scholarships.

• $1,000 Business Careers Scholarship: Craig R., a senior, football captain and future business major from Waukesha, Wis.
• $1,000 Health Careers and Nursing Scholarship: Courtney K., a senior from Round Rock, Texas, whose goal is to become an orthodontist and bring smiles to underserved people around the world. 
• $1,000 Best College Match: Farah A., a junior from Cooper City, Fla. looking at colleges in the Southeast to help achieve her goal of becoming an optometrist.
• $1,000 Cappex Promoter Scholarship: Joshua M., a sophomore, debate team president and Cappex advocate from Palmdale, Calif.
• $500 Cappex Promoter Scholarship: Kelcie M., a junior and honor roll student from Palmdale, Calif.

Our sincere congratulations to all of the winners!