NEW YORK, March 23, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- With
National College Decision Day set for May
1, peer to peer online platform Unibuddy is partnering with
more than 80 U.S. colleges and universities in 23 states spanning
the nation as a crucial tool for students isolated at home and
institutions scrambling to host college tours remotely.
As spring college admissions season goes entirely virtual this
year because of closures from the COVID-19 global pandemic,
Unibuddy is working with admissions offices at nationally ranked
public and private institutions, as well as regional universities
and community colleges. Unibuddy's platform gives universities a
chance to host virtual events and group chats with prospective
students. Platform features include student-to-student chats,
student-to-staff chats, live online events, and other virtual ways
to help high school students better understand everything from
academics to nightlife to athletics - all without having to step
foot on campus.
"When I was younger, it wasn't practical to visit most colleges.
I know what it's like for today's students; a huge decision to be
made with only websites and brochures. I created this tool to help
students connect directly with each other to talk about what it's
really like to attend a particular institution," said Unibuddy CEO
Diego Fanara. "It's critical now
more than ever to partner with these institutions to better reach
and serve prospective students - even in a world of social
isolation and quarantines."
Unibuddy launched in 2017 and now works with more than 250
higher education institutions in 28 countries. More than 150,000
students have sent over two million messages through the online
platform. Unibuddy works with over half the UK's universities and
partners with the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service.
Unibuddy has the largest number of commercial relationships with
university clients worldwide.
It's a common practice for colleges to ask enrolled students to
serve as campus ambassadors to prospective students, but Unibuddy
allows students to connect much earlier in the decision-making
process to ask questions about classes, majors and campus life.
Unibuddy stands out from other college platforms because it allows
prospective students to make meaningful connections with university
students even before applying to an institution - where other
platforms will only unlock content and peer to peer connections
after a student has been accepted to a university.
At St John's University, 28% of
Unibuddy users committed to attending the university after speaking
directly with students enrolled at the university, compared to the
16% institutional average for prospective students.
"As we approached the accepted students phase, there were a lot
of questions about majors. At 17-years-old, students don't always
know what they want to do. They have questions like: what can I
expect? What kind of internships are offered? What are the
professors like? How big are the classes?" said Corinne Gentile, director of Director of
Enrollment Management Events at St. John's. "Any time a prospective
student has an interaction with an ambassador, they are more likely
to come here. That student -to-student connection always has that
effect."
About Unibuddy
Unibuddy is an online platform connecting university applicants to
existing students. Working with over 250 higher education
institutions in 28 countries worldwide, Unibuddy has helped more
than 150,000 students from across the world make better decisions
about their higher education journey based on human experience and
connectivity, rather than only prospectuses and websites. Unibuddy
is a high-growth startup, founded by Swiss-born Diego Fanara in 2017. It has raised $7 million since inception with investment from
Fred Destin of Stride VC, Bart
Swanson (seed investor and board member of Zoom),
Daniel Borel (co-founder and
chairman of Logitech) and Shakil
Khan (early investor in Spotify). For more information,
please visit: https://www.unibuddy.com/northamerica/
US Media Contact:
Alyssa Miller
alyssa@ammediaworks.com
973-615-1292
SOURCE Unibuddy