New Butterfly Effect Scholarship provides micro scholarships to inspire students to make big moves in their college and scholarship searches.

Highland Park, Ill. October 25, 2011—This fall, as high school seniors start diligently applying to colleges and scholarships, Cappex.com is offering a scholarship opportunity with a unique twist to students who want an extra piece of encouragement.

The Cappex Butterfly Effect Scholarship is designed after its namesake phenomenon where one small event, such as a butterfly flapping its wings, can lead to a huge event in the future, such as a hurricane. In this case, to mark the start of their college and scholarship searches and inspire them to continue connecting with colleges, Cappex is giving away one dollar scholarships to all high school students who apply.

“We see the dollar as a fun and symbolic gesture that is merely the first of many flutters along the way to students’ college dreams,” Cappex’s president, Chris Long, said.

Students who apply for their one dollar scholarship are given the option to receive their dollar or donate it to charity, and are also automatically eligible for the $2,500 scholarship to be awarded in January.

“At Cappex, we are very passionate about students’ college aspirations,” Long said. “We wanted to do something positive that would encourage students to work towards their higher education goals.”

High school students can apply for their dollar and much more here: www.cappex.com/butterfly

About Cappex.com

Cappex.com is a comprehensive college search and scholarship portal that helps students and parents make college decisions. In addition to more than 3,000 college profiles with student reviews and college admission prediction tools like the What Are My Chances® Calculator, Cappex.com also allows parents and students to find their match from thousands of scholarships offered by companies and organizations around the U.S. Cappex also provides $11 billion in scholarships offered by the colleges themselves. With more than 3 million student users, Cappex.com is the trusted source to help students find their ideal college fit, and where hundreds of colleges from across the U.S. and beyond go to connect with prospective students.

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	Rock Star Scholarship Winner: Maria Zilberman, from North Miami Beach, Fla., plans on attending college this fall to study pre-medicine.
	College Pro Scholarship Winner: Walter Chang, from Houston, Texas, will attend college in the fall to study engineering and musical performance.

Zilberman and Chang qualified for the scholarships by playing the “Cappex Cap Challenge,” where students collect virtual “cap” badges for completing key activities in their college searches. After earning at least 10 badges in the Cap Challenge, students become eligible to apply for special Cappex-sponsored scholarships. Examples of virtual badges include:

• Leader (Abe Lincoln hat) : For sharing leadership examples
• Artsy (beret): For providing accomplishments in the arts
• Volunteer (halo): For detailing how you’ve helped your community
• Yeeehaw!!! (cowboy hat): For representing a western state
• Road Warrior (roadster): For using the “Cappex Campus Visit Planner” to plan a college road trip
• College Reviewer (fedora with press pass): For providing a college review

Zilberman, of North Miami Beach, Fla., qualified for the $5,000 Rock Star Scholarship by collecting 25 badges, but it was her outstanding leadership in founding her high school’s international humanitarian club that won her the scholarship.

“The Cap Challenge guided me to explore colleges, which allowed me to learn more about them through student reviews, seeing my chances and organizing my application,” Zilberman said.

Chang qualified for the College Pro Scholarship by earning 10 virtual cap badges.

“Cappex.com improved my college search process tremendously, with all the key facts of each college compiled into one page and several student reviews to provide further perspective,” Chang said. He was awarded the $2,500 scholarship for his dedication as the school orchestra president who helped fundraise over $30,000 to help the school purchase a new grand piano.

“We started the Cappex Cap Challenge to give students a fun and new way to discover colleges and find matching scholarships,” said Chris Long, Cappex president.  “Maria and Walter took on the challenge and also clearly demonstrated their accomplishments improving their respective communities. We were thrilled to award our Cap Challenge scholarships to these deserving students.”

Interested in the Cappex Cap Challenge? Make your own Cappex profile now.

Looking for scholarships? Find more here!

]]> http://cappex.com/blog/blog/college-search-calendar/cappex-com-announces-rock-star-and-college-pro-scholarship-winners/feed/ 1 http://cappex.com/blog/blog/scholarships/recent-cappex-scholarship-winners/ http://cappex.com/blog/blog/scholarships/recent-cappex-scholarship-winners/#comments Wed, 22 Jun 2011 21:11:38 +0000 dkatz http://cappex.com/blog/?p=2784 Cappex.com is very excited to announce our most recent scholarship winners from Spring 2011.  These students have proven that with their leadership and volunteer activities, they can make a difference in the world. Congratulations!

You can be a scholarship winner too by making a Cappex profile! Your profile will then be used as your “application” for the Cappex scholarships, like, say, these two coming up:

A GPA Isn’t Everything and I Don’t Want to Pay for College.

That’s exactly what these two superstars did to win their scholarships:

“A GPA Isn’t Everything” Scholarship – Winter II Scholarship Winner: Rebecca D. from Mt. Prospect, Ill., will be attending college next fall.  During her high school career, she served as a member of SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) and eventually its President for two school years.  The program was recognized as one of the best programs in the state and won grants from the Operation Teen Safe Driver for its success. Rebecca was also a peer tutor and a member of her school’s service organization which works to better the community and help with special needs schools as well as the elderly.

“I Don’t Want to Pay for College” – Spring Scholarship Winner: Matthew J., from Murfreesboro, Tenn., is currently a college student with a broad background in volunteer and service with his church and Boy Scouts including canned food drives, making care packages for the 101st Airborne and community clean up.  Matthew’s a talented student who channeled his passion for music and science into an awesome project where he designed, produced and then performed with two homemade instruments.

Want to see past scholarship winners? Check them out on our Facebook page!

A new study by Cappex.com shows that students are researching information on college websites from their mobile devices, though traditional channels such as email are still relied upon most to keep students on track during their college searches.

The Cappex study of more than 2,000 class of 2011 and 2012 high school students, as well as 82 college admission officers, also shows that videos are more popular for college searching than blogs on college sites.

Specific findings from the study include:

• 86 percent of 2011 high school grads prefer e-mail for initial contact from colleges
• Just 19 percent of 2011 high school grads want initial direct contact from colleges by cell phone, though 32 percent prefer to continue a dialogue with college admissions reps by cell phone
• 77 percent of 2011 high school grads prefer using a mobile-friendly version of a college’s website, while 23 percent would prefer to download an app from a college
• Class of 2012 high school students are somewhat more receptive to apps: 35 percent would prefer to download an app
• 34 percent of colleges surveyed said that they have created a mobile-friendly version of their website. Of those that have not yet created one, two thirds plan to create one this year
• More than 85 percent of 2011 high school seniors prefer to learn about colleges through video tours and student videos, while just 6 percent are interested in reading college blogs during their college searches

“When it comes to communicating with colleges, students are more open than ever to using their mobile devices and cell phones, though colleges need to understand their preferences,” said Chris Long, president of Cappex. “For instance, students may not want to download an app from every college they are looking at, but they will visit a college’s website using their mobile devices.”

“Colleges need to be sure to set up mobile versions of their sites to cater to growing mobile use among students,” Long added. “Additionally, colleges should continue using tried and true methods such as e-mail to make it easy for students to keep track of their interactions with colleges.”

The white paper summarizing the study can be found at http://bit.ly/irOAhX.

And now, planning your college road trip is tremendously easy (and free) with the Cappex Campus Visit Planner™.

Instead of getting lost on the Web visiting multiple college websites and then spending time stringing all the pieces together, the Visit Planner lets you take care of all your college visits plans in one place.

Simplify the process with our college trip planning tool:

• Choose the campuses to visit and find the best route.
• See recommendations of other campuses nearby.
• Let colleges know you’re interested in visiting their campus.
• Get turn-by-turn driving directions.

You can see what the Campus Visit Planner is all about, or even start planning your college road trip, by visiting www.Cappex.com/campusvisits.

And check out the Visit Planner video!

Chicago, IL – February 1, 2011– Cappex.com, a comprehensive college search and scholarship portal, is proud to announce the ‘’High School Innovator of the Year’’ and ‘’Lead With Your Heart’’ Scholarships, each worth $5,000.

The scholarships recognize students who have put significant work into their passions and have made strides in advancing the greater good.

The  ‘High School Innovator of the Year’’ Scholarship is for high school students who have invented something noteworthy or improved a process that affects their fellow students, city, or town during their high school careers.

“We know that innovation is not just driven by businesses. It’s driven by people,” said Chris Long, president of Cappex. “This scholarship recognizes the next generation of innovators.”

The ‘’Lead With Your Heart’’ Scholarship is for students who have dedicated their time to working for the greater good.

“This award is about selfless service that has made a big impact on your community or beyond,” said Long. “If you are dedicated to volunteering, this is your opportunity to be recognized for it.”

Students can apply to the scholarships during 2011 at www.cappex.com/scholarships.

This study is a follow-up to research conducted last October by Cappex.com, a comprehensive college search and scholarship portal.

Even with reports of positive economic trends, 67% of this study’s surveyed seniors say their anxiety over taking out too many loans to pay for college stems directly from the U.S. financial crisis.

To compound the issue, while recent studies show that the job outlook for the college graduating Class of 2011 is considerably higher than the previous year, 55% of high school seniors surveyed in this study are either very or seriously concerned about finding a job following college.  This is compared to the 48% of students asked the same question a year earlier.  The economy may be slowly improving, but this class of high school seniors does not seem to be feeling its improvement.

“This year on Cappex, scholarship applications are considerably up, and the majority of posts to our Facebook page are concerning the issue of how to pay for college” said Chris Long, president of Cappex.com. “Loans can be an important part of a student’s funding mix to pay for college, but they should be weary of relying on them too heavily.”

It is also interesting that 60% of surveyed high school seniors are considering less prestigious colleges because of affordability.  Only 55% of high school seniors expressed this concern in 2009.

“You might have a sticker price of a private institution of about $30,000 a year,” stated Long. “If you consider the merit aid that they might grant a student to go there, tuition can actually be cut by 30, 40, even 50 percent. So, the net cost to the student to go to a private institution might approach that of a public institution.”

The segment explores everything related to paying for college, including costs, savings plans, loans and more. Planning 101: Paying for College interviews a variety of college professionals as well as students and parents to get a well-rounded look at how to finance college educations.

To find out, Cappex surveyed more than 850 high school seniors in December 2009, a time when most had decided which colleges to apply to and were in the process of sending in their applications.

Do students still go to college fairs?

Students reported that they had attended traditional college fairs primarily in their first semester of senior year (54%), and secondarily during junior year.

Two-thirds of seniors surveyed said that second-semester junior year was the ideal time to attend college fairs. It appears that in hindsight, seniors wished they had attended a college fair earlier in high school.

Of those who had been to a college fair, just 19% said they had been to an online college fair. So, surprisingly, online college fairs are still a nascent category, but some students are attending.

Do college fairs change minds?

Students reported that they typically talked with one to five colleges at fairs, and about 25% of those colleges were already in their top choices. That means they go to a fair with one or two ideal colleges in mind.

About 43% of surveyed students said college fairs did change their minds about colleges that were not already in their top choices. So college fairs still present an opportunity for colleges to expose their schools to students and for students to explore and engage.

What are the top four things to make college fairs more useful to students?

1. Having more information about specific majors, according to 68% of responders. This is likely because specific degrees appeal to students’ passions and, in most cases, are the reason for going to college.
2. What comes second is no surprise given current economic conditions. 57% of surveyed students want more information about financial aid at the booth, such as more information about merit scholarships and how to apply.
3. It is interesting that 53% of surveyed students want applications available at the booth. This makes sense. If, as a student, you’ve had a good conversation with a rep, you’ll be more jazzed to explore the application requirements – including essays or special items that the college requires – and mentally prepare for the online app.
4. Lastly, students are seeking more well-rounded college booths including better-informed representatives, more recent grads and more pictures of campuses.

How do college fairs stack up to other recruiting channels?

The strongest influencer by a mile is a campus visit (according to 74% of surveyed students) followed by a college’s website (59%). This is predictable, and Cappex has observed this with other studies we’ve done.

Students reported that college fairs don’t come close to those top two sources of information in terms of influence. College fairs rank significantly lower, neck-and-neck with virtual tours and videos and high school counselors, with only about a third of students saying they were very influential or their main influence.

Online college search sites (46%) rank in the middle of the range, substantially higher than college fairs and very close to admission officers (48%). College search sites can be a good complement to both college websites and college fairs and provide colleges a way to influence a greater number of students.

Where do you find college-bound students online?
On Cappex.com. With 1.6 million+ student users, Cappex is a highly cost-effective way to reach students as they are researching colleges online and generate quality inquiries. To learn more, click here, or contact Alex Stepien at astepien@cappex.com.

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.”