Wesleyan Hosts Unigo-Wall Street Journal Webcast

Imagine being a college-bound high school student and getting the chance to sit down for a 90-minute question and answer session with a chief admission officer from one of the best colleges in the nation. Now multiply the opportunities of that session times seven and you have a sense of what a recent webcast hosted by Wesleyan offered to students across the nation.

The Dec. 2 webcast from the Daniels Family Commons in the Usdan Center was produced by Unigo and The Wall Street Journal through their new partnership, “WSJ on Campus,” and featured candid, live conversations with seven chief admissions officers: Seth Allen, Grinnell College; Roby Blust, Marquette University; Eric J. Furda, University of Pennsylvania; Nancy Hargrave Meislahn, Wesleyan University; Richard L. Nesbitt, Director of Admissions, Williams College; Janet Lavin Rapelye, Princeton University; Jenny Rickard, Bryn Mawr College; and Beth A. Wiser, University of Vermont.

Moderated by Unigo founder and CEO Jordan Goldman ’04, the panel featured candid answers to dozens of questions that college-bound students and their parents often ask about the admissions process. These included:

“What makes a great college essay?” (hint: originality helps; typos, hurt).

“Can your Facebook profile hurt your chances of acceptance?” (maybe…).

“How important are the SATs?” (still important; how much so depends on the school).

The event also featured video recorded questions asked by high school students from across the country which members of the panel also answered live for the webcast. For instance:

“Can parents be too involved in the process and hurt your chances?”

“How important is geographic diversity and diversity of other types?”

“Does whether I have a prospective major factor into admission?”

Several more questions were asked and answered during the full 90-minute webcast.

The event drew more than 3,000 viewers during its peak and has had more than 20,000 log-ins since. It was the first in a series of informational presentations that will be produced by WSJ On Campus, Unigo and The Wall Street Journal.