Students may enroll in the service beginning in the eighth grade, and the program will recommend courses of study through high school. This way the mentor will prepare the student for entrance in the college or university of his or her choice. Currently, mentor systems exist only for the state university's served by Xap. But Firstenberg hopes that private universities like NYU will one day invest in a similar program. Although the web seems to be changing the face of higher education, critics point out that it has limitations.
Nothing beats personal interaction.
Smith pointed out that many colleges have yet to even develop their own web sites. Another concern voiced by many admissions professionals is the uncontrollable nature of the Web. But I think we are much better served as a university if students learn more about us before making a critical choice in life. With a market of over 16 million students in grades eight through twelve, Xap is just one of many companies vying to become the one-stop source for prospective students' college searches. CollegeEdge, a Web site run by Snap Corporation, claims to be the market leader in online applications and is used by the Stern School of Business Management Education Program to offer applications to prospective graduate students.