News and Announcements

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

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!

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!

We tip our cap to these winners of Cappex March-deadline scholarships.

Congratulations to all four winners!

Here is some good economic news for Cappex students: Our 2008 year-end college scholarship winners.

Congratulations to all of the winners!

The video crew from the Associated Press recently visited the Cappex and MeritAid.com offices speak with President Chris Long.

MeritAid.com created quite the buzz the last few weeks. A survey of MeritAid.com high school seniors revealed what they have to say about how the economic climate is affecting their college search. Many students are concerned about paying for college, but there is hope. MeritAid.com lists more than 77,000 scholarships from more than 1,700 colleges across the country. Merit scholarships can have a huge impact on the cost of attending college.

MeritAid.com was recently featured in:

• The Washington Post
• The Associated Press
• The New York Times
• The Wall Street Journal
• San Francisco Chronicle
• Raleigh News & Observer