(Not So) Happy 386th Birthday College Admissions

In 1637, the first college admissions officer sat down to read the first application ever submitted in what (139 years later!) would become America. It came from Benjamin Woodbridge, a Massachusetts kid who wanted to go to Harvard, like so many millions to come.

Back then, Harvard was the only college in the colonies, but of course, only 2,400 settlers had yet arrived in America. Thankfully, much has changed since then, especially over the past 30 years with the advent of the internet. But if you really think about it, much like Ben Woodbridge, students today still typically only apply to a few schools they know, mostly near home, send them grades, an essay, and recommendation letter, and then wait anxiously for a decision.

In this sense, shockingly little has changed in the fundamentals of American college admissions in 386 years.

But ask any admissions officer, or any student thinking of applying to college, and they’ll tell you the system is in desperate need of modernization.

Students, their parents, and counselors need to know which of the now over 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States are right for them. They want to know what to study and which academic and social cultures are a good fit for them. And they want to understand the real cost of a college education and the ROI on that investment.

Similarly, US college admissions officers now face a global ocean of nearly 5 million potential first-time applicants every year. But the cost and inefficiency of reaching them results in most schools only attempting to engage 1-2% of the available market. And the lack of good qualification tools means nobody really knows which prospects are their best ones - the ones who will not only apply and enroll, but stay, graduate, and remain engaged as alumni. 

Fortunately, fundamentally better qualification and connection technologies are now commonplace in other industries. Consider how Netflix, Spotify, and Amazon all present you with exactly the right next choice based on what has worked for you and other past users with similar preferences. This is outcome-based, predictive modeling, and its potential benefits to higher education enrollment, are startling. 

Since graduates are the largest part of every school, each school already possesses its cumulative model for success in and out of the classroom. This code simply has to be collected, defined, and consistently applied to the global ocean of prospects. When this new filter is applied consistently (24/7/365) with a networked approach to prospecting, schools can smash through old demographic, geographic, and diversity barriers. By not limiting themselves to only buying a tiny fraction of prospects right out of the gate, schools can stay connected to the entire global prospect ocean year-round, and confidently build communities that are simultaneously more vibrant and more diverse.

At Troove, we believe 386 years is enough under the old system. We put this modern matching and assessment technology to work for you, and have built the full-access, networked approach that allows your past graduates, especially your recent ones, to help create even more future graduates for you.

Are you ready?