Germantown startup aids elders hunt for college by getting the aid of other students

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/germantown-startup-helps-seniors-search-for-college-by-enlisting-the-help-of-other-students/2011/09/21/gIQA7ygqwK_story.html
Germantown startup aids elders hunt for college by getting the aid of other students
When Neil Soni, which graduated a few years earlier from a senior high school in Germantown, tried that can help his younger bro apply to college in 2012, he uncovered he simply recognized a whole lot concerning one college-- the one he went to.

"I understood I can offer him general recommendations, yet I actually couldn't offer him" specialized recommendations for each and every college, claimed Soni, which is now a student at Carnegie Mellon University.

So when his bro shared interest in the University of Michigan-- a college Soni recognized little about-- he tried to find pals which went there. He located a student at Michigan, yet he additionally located an online business suggestion.

"I assumed, if I do not know any individual at one college, why isn't there an area I could go online as well as locate a person?" he claimed.

The College Folks was born.

Soni's new firm aims to match senior high school students with students at the colleges they are applying to, to supply them with individualized recommendations as well as aid in editing the essays on the application, for a cost.

Begun last July, The College Folks ran a fundamental service last application year for 10 students at Northwest Senior high school in Germantown. The firm is preparing to run a more comprehensive pilot this year, as well as has partnerships with colleges in Maryland, Virginia, as well as Pennsylvania.

The services range from $75 to $150, based on the sort of application, as well as the firm is shooting for 100 paying clients this moment around.

There are difficulties to this business plan. The application year oftens be short as well as the clients as well as consultants are perpetually passing on.

"I assume it is an amazing suggestion, yet it is an execution concern," claimed Luke Skurman, which runs College Prowler, a preferred Internet site where college students supply candid testimonials as well as grade their colleges. Skurman has a bargain in area with The College Folks to supply the site with several of his content.

The College Folks sponsors college students via personal networks as well as via work sites such as barefootstudent.com. It puts them via a series of driving tests as well as a training program, as well as pays them around $20 per hour, Soni claimed.