There’s now a tool to help community college students transfer to four-year schools. According to an article in Inside Higher Ed:
CollegeFish.org… collects information provided by users, including “co-curricular interests, size of institution desired to attend, housing needs, financial need, GPA, anticipated course load, ability to relocate geographically, etc.” This information is then used in an algorithm designed to “rank [five] colleges which provide the best fit for the student.”
Once a set of potential matches is identified, the user is informed of the institutions’ deadlines for admission, housing, financial aid and course registration via e-mail. Users can see what scholarships their potential match institutions have set aside specifically for community college transfers.
CollegeFish.org, a project of Phi Theta Kappa, an honor fraternity for students at two-year colleges, is free for all community college students using the site.
This transfer matching service might be of limited use to community college students, however. The student who goes to community college hoping to transfer to a four-year should probably consider where to transfer well before even showing up for community college. It’s not clear whether or not the matching system considers what four-year schools are welcoming to transfer students, either. Most small schools aren’t.
The site appears to be not a service to community college students as much as marketing tool for colleges. According to the article, “Four-year institutions wishing to use the site are charged an annual subscription fee based on the number of students they attempt to recruit.” And all four-year schools aren’t in the system.
