COMPANY: CollegeLink.com
WHERE TO FIND IT: www.collegelink.com
Rhode Island's Market Has Changed. Developers, Builders, Investors and Sellers Must Change With It.
By Emilio DiSpirito IV License Partner | Engel & Völkers Oceanside Leader | The DiSpirito…
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CRITIQUE: CollegeLink.com is a bursting bag of information geared towards college-bound youth, which includes online applications and links to colleges, tips for success in applying, and even an online recruiting area for athletes and coaches. The site succeeds in its primary function of providing an online application process, which the Newport-based company claims was the world’s first, but with a sterility and overabundance of information that can sometimes be intimidating.
NAVIGATION: Viewed on Internet Explorer version 4.0, there are few problems with the navigation. With a constant menu on top, if one browsing the sites gets lost, he or she can always find a way to familiar territory.
A separate EXE program, the actual college application is a step by step process with a checklist on the left margin, to make sure you fill out every necessary detail. The introduction to this area boasts that it “lets you complete all your college applications in the time it normally takes you to do just one.” This is a claim on which CollegeLink.com makes good. Applying to as many schools as you wish, you send the information electronically to CollegeLink. In turn, they ship you the documents to sign, and you mail them out, paying CollegeLink $5 for each submission after the first, which is free. The file effectively guides you through every step of the process.
The only difficulty in navigating the site is on the non-application pages, which are sometimes too similar to one another. The same character crouching and peering up at you on the right side of the “College Search” page (we’re to assume he is college-bound, although he looks a little bit older), is the same character crouching and peering up at you on the right side of the “Scholarship Search” page. The only thing to differentiate is the color of the navigation bar. The character also appears when you enter an incorrect destination in the URL window. The character’s identity is never revealed.
CONTENT: While all of the information on this site is relevant to itself, it does not all seem necessary. Over-extension is one of the biggest problems with many Web sites. The attempt to be an online application center, a college search engine, a scouting network, and an online newsletter, makes CollegeLink a jack of all trades, but a master of only one, which is the application program. While the intentions are noble, it just doesn’t seem right for the company to include on its opening page, a link to what high school freshman and sophomores should do to prepare for college. It’s overkill. Let them be kids for a little while.
And the fact that the company cannot focus all of its attention on only one aspect of its site may be the reason that Brown, CCRI, RIC, RISD and New England Tech. are not listed among the 900 colleges in the Rhode Island company’s database.
USEABILITY: Although there are many shortcomings to this site, it still functions very well. The two-minute RealPlayer video in the “Investors” section works well, and the aforementioned on-line application works very well. The only missing luxury is that there is no spell check in this area.
DESIGN: Another source of intimidation is the clinical and hospital-like blue and white theme of this site. There is also no entrance page. Upon typing in the URL, the user is thrust into the thick of it. Any site without an entrance page just seems less professional. It makes you feel like you’re walking into the concert when the band has already started.
Additionally, the set up of the navigation bar at the top, with another menu on the left side of the first page, makes you think there is no way you can possibly read all that this site has to offer. And you’re probably right.
WHO CREATED IT: CollegeLink.com
