We're getting close to 100,000...

Wow. What a response from the U Sphere community to our contest with Brickfish and the JMC Academy in Australia.

We are inching closer and closer to 100,000. This is just from digital artists and those who want to study in Australia -- so those who are entering represent just a small slice of the U Sphere populace (SAT word). For instance, in the US alone, 2 million students will start college for the first time this fall.

So obviously we have just scratched the surface of those who want colleges to compete over them.

Anyway, you're probably wondering what's next. Ahoy, people, this is just the first of lots in store. It is only September after all.

And if you're NOT an art person, don't do photography, not an animator...well, there are schools out there as part of the U Sphere universe that are looking for you.

U Sphere presents a guide to acronyms that will become popular

While none of this is LOL funny, some of these can help you during the college application process.

Let's start with the obvious: LOL. Last week, I had to question whether it meant "Laugh out Loud" or "Lots of Luck." Neither...

LOL: "Let (me in) Oh (PLEASE) Let (me in)." An acronym to be used only by the student who cannot accept a denial letter from his or her school of choice.

IMHO: "Ivies Might Help you Out." For instance, if you're the right person at the right time for the right school -- like a left-hander from Wyoming -- then it's a good idea to apply to the Ivy of your choice.

GG: "Don't bother me, the latest edition of US News came out, and I'll just go crazy if the school I've always wanted to go to isn't one of the Top 76 Liberal Arts schools that don't offer Master's East of the Missisippi but still North of the Mason-Dixon Line."

EOM: "Error on my transcript." I didn't really need to take Typing as a Freshman, so the D shouldn't count. (It happened to me. They called it "typing" then. Now, as a Freshman in High School, do you take "Texting?")

And, the most popular one, like, ever:

OMG: While use of this acronym is prevalent, using it on the application process contains this asterisk: *"My use of the term OMG means that I am 100% on board with your school's religious affiliation. For instance, I WILL CONVERT to Wesleyanism to get into Wesleyan. Or Southernism to get into Southern Methodist."

The News Release on Our Brickfish - JMC Academy Partnership

Here's the news release that hit the "wires" yesterday afternoon.

August 21, 2007 05:25 PM Eastern Daylight Time

U Sphere Partners with Brickfish to Send One Digital Design Devotee Down Under with Exclusive Scholarship

College Networking Site Connects Up and Coming Designers with Aussie Art Experts

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Brickfish, the online content marketing platform, today announced a partnership with college networking site U Sphere, Inc. (www.usphere.com) to launch the “U Sphere JMC Design” campaign, a contest inviting students wanting to embark on the world of digital design to enter their art for the chance to win $5,000 in tuition towards a year of study at the accredited JMC Academy in Sydney, Australia. Located at www.brickfish.com/Lifestyles/UsphereScholarship, the contest will award the most artfully-inclined entrant with a week of higher education in the land down under.

“As a global network of students and universities looking to find each other, we understand that digital media is a red hot industry with a vast number of prospective students vying for the chance at a once in a lifetime opportunity,” said Dave Van de Walle, president & CEO, U Sphere. “Aspiring artists are eager for the chance to showcase their work and a user-generated content campaign allows them to share their talents with millions of people globally across the Internet. We can’t wait to whisk one deserving student off to Australia and the exclusive JMC Academy to train alongside the experts.”

The campaign enables entrants to submit online examples of their most creative digitally designed art. Anyone can view, vote on and share their favorite designs and U Sphere will hand select one grand prize winner from the U.S. to receive a $5,000 tuition scholarship towards a year of study at the JMC Academy or a $1,000 scholarship for any educational purpose in the U.S. A second place winner, chosen by top score from the top 50 entries, will receive a week of online design tuition, and the most viral entry will receive a $100 Amazon gift card.

According to Van de Walle, the Brickfish user-generated content (UGC) platform creates the perfect opportunity for students and aspiring designers to broadcast their talent over the Internet by enabling users to share their favorites through email, Instant Messaging and hundreds of Internet sites around the world. In addition, it provides a way for entrants to obtain direct and useable feedback on their work because anyone can view and vote on entries.

“Good education has become increasingly coveted as students vie for that one-of-a-kind experience,” said Shahi Ghanem, CEO of Brickfish. “UGC creates a unique way for educational institutions to preview potential students and secure feedback from outsiders. We are very excited to work with U Sphere to make one student’s dream take off with an incredible scholarship to a leading international design school.”

The “U Sphere JMC Design” campaign ends September 28. For contest rules and more information about Brickfish, visit www.Brickfish.com.

About U Sphere, Inc.

U Sphere, Inc., headquartered in Evanston, Illinois, works with students throughout the globe to match them with the colleges and universities that are appropriate for them. The company's proprietary platform includes an application tool and "Personality Profile," which aims to get at the character traits that are most in line with the needs of U Sphere's college and university clients (in North America and around the world). Schools can then make an offer of admission to those students who they think will fit in best on campus.

About Brickfish

Brickfish is an online marketing company that has created a new platform for driving consumer interaction and response through User Generated Content (UGC). Companies use the Brickfish platform to launch advertising and marketing campaigns that spark the creation of brand-relevant UGC, such as blogs, images, video and audio. Campaign content is shared in a peer-to-peer fashion via email, IM and thousands of sites across the Web and campaign participants are rewarded for creating, voting, reviewing and sharing campaign content. Brickfish tracks consumer interactions with this content and then provides customers with comprehensive analytics on campaign reach and performance. This approach provides better value than traditional online marketing approaches such as display-based advertising and key word buys. Brickfish is headquartered in San Diego, Calif. with personnel in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.

Contacts

Brickfish
Rachel Kay, 858-587-2530
Rachel.Kay@Brickfish.com

| Business Wire 2007

Which Comes First: The College Application OR The College Visit?

Great question from the peanut gallery -- specifically, the parent of a high schooler in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. (Or Obamaville to some.)

Jill F. of Chicago asks: "What's your view on visiting colleges before you apply vs. after you've been accepted?"

Pluses on visiting before you apply:

1. Many schools consider that "first contact" and track your interest when you visit. So you can be on their radar screen early.
2. Some schools will throw you a bone if you visit first -- Florida Institute of Technology drops about 3000 bucks off tuition if you have visited the school. (Goofy, I know, but true.)
3. Good to winnow down your list before you apply...a Saturday spent touring a school that you thought you'd like might yield a big fat "NO" from the student -- before you have to waste time on the application.

Pluses on waiting til after you accepted:

1. The first contact thing above is becoming less of a factor -- one school (a selective private one in Indiana, name withheld) reported that 30% of their applicants' first contact with the school was the application itself.
2. Leverage. Your interest in the school is hereby confirmed if you walk into their Financial Aid office with the acceptance letter in tow.
3. If you wait til afterwards, it becomes MORE about "fit." I think that's a big plus -- instead of thinking "could I get in here?," the pressure is off and the visit becomes all about "will I fit in here?"

GREAT question (thanks Jill).

Be Careful With Your Profile...A Lesson from MIT

At the intersection of "getting into college" and "what you say about yourself" comes this story that is sending shockwaves through the college admissions universe:

The Dean of Admissions at MIT has resigned, effective immediately, for claiming to have degrees that she didn't have. Story here.

What's perhaps most interesting is that this school is highly competitive, and this dean had, among other things, advocated transparency in the admissions process.

Remember this, students, as you think about what you say about yourselves online.

Good Luck Making Sense of All This...

The Early Show continues...

Big article in The Wall Street Journal (link here, subscription required) that discusses a number of random things going on with early admissions. Different Early Decision dates, different styles of applying early, different product names.

If your head is spinning, join the crowd.

The article also discusses "FastApps" and "SnapApps" -- common tools that some schools are employing to offer you, the student, a pre-approved offer of admission (sortof) by pre-populating your application with a bunch of your info.

(The article didn't mention a school that is offering free iTunes just for applying. Such an animal is rumored to exist, and I, for one, am anxious to sign up to join the Freshman class. After all, college is all about ignoring the professor while listening to your iPod, right?)