WisconsinMentor Helps Students Prepare for College
July 1999 – The private colleges and universities of Wisconsin are making it easier than ever for students to plan for and apply to college.
A new and free Website, called WisconsinMentor (www.wisconsinmentor.org), will help prospective students prepare for college admission, seek information about independent higher education opportunities in Wisconsin, find the best college choice among Wisconsin’s private colleges and universities, and apply online for admission.
With a simple click of a button, WisconsinMentor offers tremendous opportunity and insight into college planning, free of charge to all students.
A student can begin planning for college as early as junior high school by entering courses taken and grades earned into the Student Planner.
The Planner will then provide a customized summary of courses, grades, and SAT/ACT scores necessary to meet the requirements of the student’s college of interest.
In order to help students choose a college, the Student-Campus Matching Assistant helps them match what they want and need with what an institution has to offer.
In addition, the Financial Aid Overview makes students aware of their scholarship opportunities and financial responsibilities, and helps them apply for financial aid.
An important aspect of WisconsinMentor is its student-centered approach – offering students access 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to information that is customized to help them navigate the sometimes-choppy waters of the college search process.
In addition, because it is Internet-based, students and families can access WisconsinMentor on any computer that has Internet access – at home, at school, at the library, or at work.
WisconsinMentor is not just for high school students looking for an undergraduate college or university.
The site also offers information for a broad spectrum of transfer and graduate students as well, including an online graduate-student application.
Adults wishing to return to college to start or complete a degree will find everything they need to know online.
WisconsinMentor includes a number of interactive and informative features for prospective students and their families, including:
- A private and secure student-profile database which allows students to enter and maintain personal and academic information that they can later use to complete multiple applications and other forms without re-entering data.
- An online application process that allows students to apply over the Internet.
Campuses will receive the applications just minutes after they have been submitted.
- A student planner that will assist students in planning to meet college and university admissions requirements.
- SAT and ACT dates at testing locations closest to students’ homes.
- Multimedia campus tours, including video clips and Virtual Reality Tours.
- Free e-mail accounts and e-mail addresses to campus offices to provide students with direct access to the experts.
- Detailed financial-aid information, including information on eligibility, award estimates, and scholarship searches.
It also provides important links to Project EASI and the U.S. Department of Education’s FAFSA-on-the-Web.
- A specialized search engine that enables users to search for given topics within specific campus websites.
- Comparative Views and the Student-Campus Matching Assistant to help students in determining which campuses best match their needs and interests.
- Direct links to campus home pages.
- And much, much more!
Access to WisconsinMentor is free.
The only fees will be the application fees that colleges and universities may require for students submitting completed applications.
The Website was developed by XAP Corporation, a cutting-edge Internet company, in cooperation with The Student Loan Corporation, a Citibank subsidiary, for the Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (WAICU).
"WisconsinMentor will further enhance the outreach and admissions efforts at Wisconsin’s private colleges and universities," said Dr. Rolf Wegenke, WAICU president.
"The site will help students prepare for one of the most important decisions they will ever make: choosing a college."
"It is the online transacting facility," explains Bill Beckman, president of The Student Loan Corporation, "that attracted Citibank to this exciting new initiative.
We believe it’s important that students and their families understand their financial-aid opportunities and eligibility – and with WisconsinMentor, we are able to provide this information right at their fingertips."
Colleges and universities participating in WisconsinMentor include:
- Alverno College
- Beloit College
- Cardinal Stritch University
- Carroll College
- Carthage College
- Concordia University
- Edgewood College
- Lakeland College
- Lawrence University
- Marian College of Fond du Lac
- Marquette University
- Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design
- Milwaukee School of Engineering
- Mount Mary College
- Mount Senario College
- Northland College
- Ripon College
- St. Norbert College
- Silver Lake College
- Viterbo College
- Wisconsin Lutheran College
