Things have changed a lot since I was a high school senior applying to college. Back in my day (I’m not that old…I just sometimes feel that old) you submitted your transcripts, SAT scores, a personal essay or two (these were the.worst.), and put it in the mail. Any display of your personality or individuality had to come out in your essay. That was really the only opportunity you had to give your application a voice.
Now prospective students can submit videos, pictures, or pretty much any other form of media to highlight their accomplishments and passions. One platform that is helping them do this is ZeeMee. ZeeMee allows students to create their own personal pages that can then be linked to any online college application. Students can build their own individualized pages however they want, within the parameters of the site which is specifically designed to keep things simple and easy to read (for the benefit of those flipping through hundreds of applications a day).
So what are the chances that anyone will actually click on your ZeeMee link? Pretty good, as it turns out. Much to my surprise, most college admissions teams are not comprised of a bunch of old heads sitting around dark and dusty offices. These teams are primarily under 30, have grown up with social media, and appreciate visuals along with required documents to provide a more vivid and robust profile of a candidate.
ZeeMee is definitely one of the platforms leading the way for how applicants can put their best foot forward. Despite this, they make it abundantly clear that they do not possess any magical powers when it comes to getting a student accepted, they are simply bringing college applications into the 21st Century. According to their website:
“ZeeMee is in no way, shape, or form your magical ticket into college, having cash rain down on your head, or becoming CEO of a Fortune 500 company for your first job out of college.
We don’t pretend to be that and we could never become that.
ZeeMee doesn’t replace all the hard work you have done; it simply showcases it.
You use ZeeMee to put your best foot forward and stand out from the crowd.
Other than taxes and death (thank you Ben Franklin), there are no guarantees in life.”
And getting into your top choice isn’t even the hard part. College only gets more daunting after the acceptance letter arrives. But don’t worry, there are lots of tools out there that will help you survive.
Here’s a short video of how to build your ZeeMee page:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uQixNV71Fi4