A new paid service is coming to Stillwater. But instead of taking OSU students’ money, it will pay them $10 for a 30- minute cell phone conversation with an interested high school student.
CollegeSolved gives high school students the opportunity to talk to current college students to help in the decision-making process. The new program also pays the college student for their time answering their questions.
Co-founders Andrew Ullman and Hayward Majors started the company about two years ago to make the college search process more personal and to connect students with other people who have been through the same process, Majors said.
He said within the last year Facebook and Twitter have really helped to get the word out about the company’s ideas.
“I think it would be good to participate in the program, to help high school students because (coming to college) is different, and you learn more when you are actually
talking to someone that is a real student,” said Morgan Zobrist, an accounting freshman.
The company’s newest endeavor, CollegiateChat, allows high school students to search a database to find a college students they can contact who may help in the decision process, Majors said.
“Being able to talk to a current college student makes it very personal,” he said. “It’s (their) chance to ask someone that’s not going to give (them) a canned response but a very truthful response. It’s very much a back-and-forth conversation rather than reading a book or reading something online.”
The chat program has not launched yet, but plans to in early March, he said. They have been building a network of college students and putting the finishing touches on the website.
The high school student will be able to search based on major, hometown, university and classification as well as other characteristics Majors said.
When the high school student finds a college student they want to talk to, the college student will receive an e-mail. He said the college student will then go to an online calendar and will suggest times that they are available. Then, at the chosen time, the high school student will call CollegiateChat.
To protect college students’ privacy, CollegiateChat will then connect them to the college student he said. The conversations are 30 minutes. For every 30 minutes a college student spends on the phone, they will get paid 10 dollars.
“I think its an excellent idea. High school students are always trying to look for anything to find out more what college is like,” said Brendan Fox, a chemical engineering junior.
“Everyone knows it is kind of a tough adjustment, and getting to talk to actual students, especially ones that are pursuing things that they are interested in in high school, would be a huge advantage coming into college.”
“I think getting paid is definitely an incentive to join the program,” said Jessica Bowden, a management freshman.
Majors said the program will launch at all the Big 12 schools including OSU. He said he hopes to soon expand to graduate and transfer students. When the program launches they expect there to be lot of business because this is the time of year when acceptance letters go out and decisions are made, he said.