The recent NACAC Journal of College Admission cover article caught my eye, Here Comes Generation Z: Pragmatic, Connected, Global, Educated, Social, Visual…Gen Z has grown up and they’re…different. This got me thinking about my students and the common threads I see in their preferences when it comes to their college journey. As we continue to evaluate the cards and update our features, some interesting insights are emerging from our anonymous data analysis, and I want to share these with you. Getting a snapshot of the top Must Have and Would Be Nice preferences helps us focus on what’s important to our students as they explore their choices. The results are both fascinating and surprising. I find it telling that none of the top three criteria students commonly use to select colleges (majors, size, and location) are on either list. But most of all, I love the fact that our students are thinking deeply about their preferences and evaluating their college possibilities in a whole new way.
Top 20 Must Have Cards
Friendly Campus
Access to Professors
Internships
Academic Advising
Clubs and Campus Activities
Career Advising
Weekend Life
Work Hard, Play Hard
Strong Sense of Community
Study Abroad
Great Dorms
Residential Campus
Great Food
Hands-on Learning
Merit Aid Scholarships
Financial Aid
Love of Learning
Collaborative Environment
School Spirit
Diverse Campus
Top 20 Would Be Nice Cards
Campus Appearance
Collaborative Environment
Great Dorms
Great Food
Co-op Programs
Hands-on Learning
Green Campus
Strong Sense of Community
Internships
Creative Culture
Merit Aid Scholarships
Career Advising
Sunshine
College Town
National Reputation
Community Service
Clubs and Campus Activities
Small Classes
Academic Advising
Pushed by My Peers
These choices are encouraging; the students seem to intuitively know which college features will make them successful. It appears that the study released last fall extolling the virtues of fit over rankings is right on target, as our students now have a way to discover what matters most to them. I am curious what you all think about this list. Feel free to comment on our Facebook page where the blog is posted; I would really enjoy your feedback.
Six Quick Tips
I want to share six quick tips to help you make the most of Corsava.
Invite Your Students
Do you post or email your custom link to invite your students to Corsava and connect them to your account? You can find your link by logging into your account, going to My Students, and then clicking on + New Student. We created a sample invitation for you to use when inviting your students to Corsava.
Get a Heads Up When Your Student Completes a Card Sort
If you would like to automatically receive an email notification once your students have completed a sort, make sure to select this option.
Set Up a Test Student Account
Many counselors have asked if they can set up a mock student account to test the process before inviting their students. Here are a few suggestions on how to do this.
Locate a Student or Counselor Invitation or Verification Email
With some email providers, student invitations or verification emails to students or counselors can end up in either spam or promotions folders. You can suggest they review this link to help them locate an invitation or set up their account.
Share Student Card Sort Results
Once students have completed a card sort, a report is automatically created and can be shared easily by either emailing a link, saving the report as a PDF (great for uploading into student management systems), or printing. Many students share their reports with parents, their school counselor, and college admissions reps. These options are explained in more depth here.
Students Add and Share Their College Impressions
Once students have added colleges to their lists, they can then give their impressions of their Must Have and Would be Nice Cards at each of their colleges—a great assignment to get your students to do research or report back on visits. You can then view their impressions in real time on your account.
Check out our Facebook Live event to learn more about using Corsava with your students!