Zinch in the Press

"...High school students accustomed to social-networking Web sites have flocked to new online sites that let them send information about themselves to colleges in hopes of gaining an edge over fellow applicants.

'It’s only natural, given today’s students’ comfort with sharing personal information on a Facebook or MySpace,' said Tony Pals, a spokesman for the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, a Washington-based organization of more than 900 private institutions. 'Students are further motivated by the fact that college admissions has never been so competitive.'

Zinch, which was co-founded by a Princeton University student and launched last March, 'is one of many sites that are trying to do the same thing,' said Jeannine C. Lalonde, an assistant dean of admission at the University of Virginia, in Charlottesville, who also maintains an admissions blog. But, she said, 'it’s the one that most students seem to prefer.' " (Education Week, December 18, 2007).
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Two co-founders of Zinch are interviewed during the last 8 minutes of this New York Times Tech Talk Podcast (New York Times, November 8, 2007).
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"Zinch is a Facebook-like Web site that allows aspiring college students to post profiles that reveal far more about themselves than a standardized test score will, while aiding college admissions officers to recruit students more effectively.

If a college is looking for an exceptionally bright bisexual cribbage champion and clarinetist who hopes to study paleontology, it's not unlikely they will discover a match on Zinch." (Salt Lake Tribune, December 7, 2007).
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"...minorities and low-income students fall through the digital divide: even if they want to go to college, they don't always have access to admissions coaches and other self-promoting tools that bolster their chances at scaling the ivory tower. That's where Zinch.com comes in...

The site is even using a slogan that will be familiar to NEA's impassioned advocates for overhauling the No Child Left Behind Act: 'I am more than a test score.'" (NEA Today, November 7, 2007)
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"If the old model allows a college to identify students interested in music, the [zinch] approach would let a college buy the names of oboe players. And if a college wanted Asian, bisexual oboe players, a list of names might be possible there, too. More broadly, the traditional model has the student largely on the sidelines after providing information about herself. The new model creates more of a role for students in trying to get in front of certain colleges." (Inside Higher Ed, September 28, 2007)
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"Trumpeting the mantra 'I am more than a test score,' the new Web site Zinch.com targets high school students worldwide who are more interested in sharpening their creative abilities than their Number Two pencils — and Yale is interested.

The Admissions Office is finalizing a decision to try out the site, which allows college admissions officers to view profiles created by high school students that showcase their personalities, educational achievements and extracurricular activities." (Yale Daily News, September 13, 2007)
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"High-school students who hate the alphabet soup of admissions testing may instead opt to Zinch.

Launched in April, Zinch is a Facebook-like Web site that allows students to show prospective schools more than their PSAT and SAT scores. Applicants can create profiles that showcase their accomplishments and extracurricular activities and upload video, images and audio clips.

Admissions experts say that students who don't perform well on tests early in high school are often at a disadvantage, since top universities receive names of high scorers on the PSAT and focus their recruiting efforts on those students." (Daily Pennsylvanian, September 20, 2007)
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"Three young entrepreneurs have unveiled a new Web site that they say will help college admissions deans more effectively recruit students. The Web site, called Zinch, allows high-school students to post online profiles revealing their talents, hobbies, and passions — things that do not show up on transcripts and reports of standardized-test scores — before they start the college-application process. In turn, colleges could use a search function to find and recruit students with specific interests, like tuba playing or poetry writing." (Chronicle of Higher Education, March 26, 2007)
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"Sus programas, dice, permiten que cada estudiante incluya información sobre sus talentos y habilidades que van más allá de las calificaciones PSAT o SAT (el examen estándar de admisión utilizado por las universidades en Estados Unidos).

Zinch.com permite hasta 400 entradas para los aspirantes a la universidad, donde pueden registrar, además de sus calificaciones escolares, información sobre los instrumentos que ejecutan, las lenguas que hablan, los deportes que practican, las actividades en las que han participado." (La Opinión, November 25, 2007)
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"..This school year, she’s begun referring students to a new Web site modeled on MySpace and Facebook where students can more actively market themselves to prospective higher-learning institutions.

The strength of the approach is that students who may not score the highest on standardized tests are able to make their own cases about their skills and interests to recruiters." (Washington Examiner, November 9, 2007)
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"Here's a new, free, and very interesting online product you may want to examine. It's called Zinch. It features a simple but revolutionary premise: while would-be college students can continue to apply to the best schools as they always have, maybe it is time for the best schools to go out and find the best or most appropriate students. In short, if you think colleges ought to be recruiting you, take a look at Zinch." (UMass Blog, July 9, 2007)
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"Zinch.com gives students a place to say, 'I am more than a test score,' the Web site read. Not only can students create online profiles to present themselves to their dream colleges, but college admissions officers can also use the site to advertise themselves to potential students and search for prospective undergraduates." (Daily Collegian, December 12, 2007)
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"According to Kropf, one way that Albion is trying to reach out to interested students who might fall outside the normal recruiting area is through the website Zinch.com...

...Essentially a Facebook for prospective students, people can create profiles for colleges to peruse. Zinch is a free service that allows Albion to search for students nationwide who are interested in colleges like Albion, and who fit the profile of an Albion student." (The Pleiad, September 28, 2007)
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"After six months of competition and several rounds of judging, the Utah entrepreneur challenge announced Zinch.com as the grand prize winner last Thursday at Rice-Eccles Stadium Tower...Zinch.com members described themselves as a business 'dream team.' The company focuses on personalizing the college application process." (Daily Utah Chronicle, April 23, 2007)
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"Zinch allows high school students to create profiles detailing their educational and extracurricular information as well as their personal stories. Registered college admissions officers may then search or browse the database to find students they are interested in recruiting...

...The site’s main objective is to help students who may be overlooked in the college recruitment process, which typically starts when colleges receive students’ standardized test scores, such as the PSAT. This disadvantages students who do not take standardized tests before their senior years or who do not score high enough to make the cutoff for colleges’ targeting efforts." (Yale Daily News, April 16th, 2007)
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"The first step is for the student to create a profile with their interests, academic qualifications and extracurricular experience. Then they make the profile available for viewing by colleges that have also signed up on the site. The services match the student with colleges based on their profiles and the colleges can contact the student with application information." (Ed Fund, May 22, 2007)
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"The college admissions process was such a pain that it inspired Mick Hagen with the idea for a company. Zinch.com is all about helping students showcase themselves for college admissions officers. As Hagen says, there's a lot more to students than test scores. Zinch lets students create a searchable profile that combines their academic scores with a broad collection of achievements, talents, interests, arts, extracurricular activities, athletics, music and more." (Pod Tech, April 30, 2007)
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"A half-century ago many colleges and universities required a photograph on student application forms. This permitted them to weed out black applicants. Now almost all of our leading colleges and universities encourage black students to apply. But today at many schools, increasing the number of blacks who apply for admission is a major task.

A new Web site may become an important tool for admissions officers seeking to diversify the student body at their particular institution. The Zinch Web site allows high school students to post online resumes which can reveal more about an individual’s creativity, ingenuity, and personality than might come across in a traditional college application." (Journal of Blacks in Higher Education, April 12, 2007)
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"Is this the future of college admissions?" (EduWonk, March 29, 2007)
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"Zinch recently won $5,000 in prize money in the e-business category of Brigham Young University’s Business Plan Competition, sponsored by the Kevin and Debra Rollins Center for eBusiness...

...In addition to winning the e-business category of the BPC and its recent success with students across the nation, Zinch also won first place at the Utah Entrepreneur (UE) Challenge, a program that helps promote entrepreneurship among college students." (BYU Magazine, June 2007)
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"By March 2007, high school students preparing for higher education have had no easy way of getting seen by colleges of their preferences. Now, thanks to a new internet service called Zinch.com, students can be seen by college recruiters as more than a test score...

...Technology is doing modern marketing a one-on-one experience. Zinch's services are riding that wave and allowing college admissions officers to target recruitment material to students based on all types of requirements other than test scores." (PC Distric, May 29, 2007)
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"Drie jonge ondernemers hebben een website opgezet waarop aankomende Amerikaanse studenten zichzelf in de kijker kunnen spelen bij universiteiten. Deze website, genaamd Zinch, maakt het voor onderwijsinstellingen makkelijker om geschikte kandidaten te werven." (Edusite, March 27, 2007)
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"Zinch lets the students 'shout-out' to specific programs and universities they are interested in attending. Universities purchase a subscription to the content database with the ability to search various criteria. Zinch gives the university an additional way to target prospective students and then market specific programs students are looking for, rather than deliver generic, campus-wide information." (Rocky Mountain Voices, April 27, 2007)
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For a high school student, getting into a good college or university has never been more competitive. Provo-based Zinch hopes to empower students across the world to show college recruiters they are more than just a test score. (Connect Magazine, July 17, 2007)
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"In the ultra-competitive world of college admissions applicants are always looking for a way to stand out and colleges are always trying to find those outstanding students. A new website, zinch.com, promises to help in both efforts...

...Zinch.com wants to help students highlight that they're "more than a test score." Colleges and universities generally use test scores to recruit, but zinch.com wants to help students show off their other skills." (WTNH News, September 20, 2007)
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