More Than a Test Score

If you’re a junior, you may be starting to pay attention to the college admissions process. Some schools begin meeting with juniors and their parents this year to help them plan ahead. This can be exciting for some families but can also bring about all sorts of anxiety. Don’t be anxious… not yet at least. There’s plenty of time to worry, if you must, next year. Ideally, however, you’ll set yourself up well with your Zinch profile and will alleviate much of the stress and confusion that can accompany the college admissions process.

Assuming the word on the street is the same as it was when I was in high school (way back in the 90s!), junior year is supposedly the most challenging and most important to colleges. Many of my classmates spent junior year in a mild state of panic – worried about every test, every homework assignment, every game, audition, performance and activity. Now that I am many years past this experience, with my own admissions process and four years of college behind me, with the additional benefit of having talked to hundreds of high school juniors, I can very safely say that none of this panic does any good.

Juniors, relax.

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Last week we attended the big NACAC conference in Austin, Texas. NACAC stands for National Association of College Admissions Counseling. They have a huge national conference each year. This year it was in Austin, Texas. Thousands of people attended, as usual. Everyone and anyone is there. College admissions officers, high school guidance counselors, non-profit organizations, companies, etc. It’s the “it” event of the year. Anyone who has a presence (or is trying to) in the college admissions world must be there.

It was a huge success for us. We brought on dozens of new colleges (just under 50) and have a couple hundred more who are excited about Zinch and just need some follow up. We spoke with hundreds of guidance counselors and gave them what they needed to deliver the zinch message to their schools. We spoke with dozens of organizations and companies about potential partnerships, so as to deliver greater value (more content and better tools) to the students at Zinch. We also put on a private luncheon where we invited some of the best admissions officers and guidance counselors in America. We gave them updates on where Zinch currently is, and gave them a sneak peak at some of the exciting new tools we’re building. Bottom line: the NACAC conference was an amazing event that has helped us build the momentum we need to have a HUGE YEAR this year.

Inside Higher Ed even did an article about us: Read it here.

In other news, we’ve just announced 18 new scholarships that we will be awarding this year!!! It totals over $35,000 (not to mention the $20k Sweet Diggity Dog which is still running). Wahooh!! We have scholarships for geographic regions, intended majors, funky videos (proving that you’re more than a test score) and more. Be sure to check it out at our Scholarship Page.

We also have some major improvements on the student side of the site. The entire profile has been revamped. We will be releasing this next week. The “Edit” pages are a lot easier to navigate and fill out. They are a lot quicker too. These changes will be here next week. Stay tuned. You are all gonna love it.

The forums are rockin’ and rollin’ as expected. There is a TON of participation going on right now which is awesome.

And last, but certainly not least, we ran into a rapper down on 6th Street in Austin, Texas who started spittin’ some sweet rhymes about Zinch. Below is the video. I hope you enjoy.