The Screen-to-Screen College Interview
Posted on January 2, 2009
Filed Under News, The Daily Prereq | By Mike Dang
High school students are used to filling out college applications online, so it’s no surprise to find them using the ‘nets to interview with admissions officers. According to the AP, college webcam interviews may soon become just another part of of the admissions process, and will save families from spending a ton of cash to travel hundreds of miles for a 30-minute face interview. So far, Wake Forest University is the first to lead the pack for the undergraduate level, but as colleges adjust their admissions process for applicants who grew up using the Internet, webcam interviews are expected to increase. Although critics say changing the process will give cam-less students a disadvantage, others say a resistance to change could have worse effects. Carrie Marcinkevage, director of MBA admissions at Pennsylvania State’s Smeal College of Business, where webcam interviews for applicants have been the norm for three years, said using applications such as Skype and Google Instant Messaging help colleges communicate better with students.
“It’s literally a matter of speaking their language. I don’t think it’s the students. It’s the unfamiliarity of the staff that doesn’t know how to use it,” said Marcinkevage, cautioning that the virtual world should not replace an actual campus visit when students make their final choice.
We suspect colleges will keep an eye on how successful Wake Forest is with their webcams and then make the technological jump. After all, it’s 2009 now.
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[…] College interviews turn to the web. […]
[…] Imagine if you didn’t have to deal with that. Imagine if you could have just stayed in your nice comfortable house, flicked on your computer, and had a friendly chat with the admissions counselor from your chair. Well, it seems like that’s what a whole lot of college prospective students are going to be doing …. […]