The Zinch Vision
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The students
Many students are overwhelmed by the college admissions process – and with good
reason. Students have over 4,000 colleges and universities from which to choose,
multiple standardized tests to prepare for and take, and numerous applications to
fill out. The process begins too early for some, causing anxiety and a quest for
overachievement and perfection. For others, it begins too late leaving little time
to prepare for this important process. The pressure of college visits, college fairs,
homework, tests, athletics, extra-curricular activities and part time jobs are all
juggled by today’s high school students, while the some of the operations of the
college admissions process magnify and exacerbate this stress.
Students lack control and visibility in this process. Zinch empowers all students
to better view their options and present themselves. It allows students to actively
let any college in America know who they are and to show what they bring to the
world. Zinch is a movement for students to show colleges that they are not the 27
or 1860 they’re currently seen as; they have names, passions, and background differences
that make them unique and desirable to colleges. Zinch is thus a tool by which colleges
can make better recruitment decisions based on better information. It’s a win-win.
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Colleges and Universities
Colleges and universities have long recognized the need for a greater reach in their
recruiting efforts. There has been significant movement in the last few years: over
700 universities have dropped the requirement to take and submit an ACT or SAT score
and big-name universities like Harvard and Princeton have dropped their early admissions
programs. “We think this will produce a fairer process, because the existing process
has been shown to advantage those who are already advantaged,’’ said Derek Bok,
the interim president of Harvard.
Whether through targeting minority students or those from diverse backgrounds, universities
are anxiously engaged in finding better methods for recruiting. Currently, due to
lack of reliable alternatives, colleges and universities depend heavily on test
scores to recruit high school students. Unfortunately, these practices inherently
filter out many students. First of all, has the student taken a college entrance
exam? How did he or she score? Was that score indicative of their ability to succeed
at a college level? Our fight is not with entrance exams; we recognize that this
is one method to begin a selection process. We argue that this is one among many
criteria that profile a student and admissions recruitment should reflect this.
Further, unless students have resources, including knowledgeable college guidance
counselors, parents or college bound peers, access to college campuses or books,
they fall short in the college race.
As college admissions become increasingly competitive, the need for better information
earlier in the process is imperative. With better methods, the gap between privileged
and underprivileged will decrease.
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Zinch
Zinch levels the playing field by providing all high school students with the leverage
they need to thoughtfully engage in the college admissions process without the need
for expensive resources. Zinch shines light on those students hidden in obscurity
and adds fire to those already burning their candle. On the most basic level, we
believe high school-age students to be, regardless of circumstance, champions in
embryo. We believe that many students have abilities and talents best developed
in a college or university setting. The question is whether or not that picture
of potential can be extracted for a college admission officer to see. Zinch exists
to reveal that ability. By utilizing Zinch, colleges can recruit students with complete
information. Students can shine for all that they are. This is our mission. This
is how we seek to level the playing field.
Zinch asks students to: “Showcase yourself. Be discovered. Don’t make college admissions
a passive process, hoping that somehow, colleges in America will find you. Shout
aloud your dream university; then go get it. You are more than a test score. Find
them. Show them. Personalize the process.”