What's New in Year 2 of Apply

Check out the highlights of what's new for Apply Coalition with Scoir Year 2!

Updates to Apply with Scoir for the 2023-24 Application Cycle

• 30% of them are first-generation
• 45% were eligible for fee waivers
• 44% are students of color

This academic year, students can now apply to 130 eligible colleges, all committed to graduating them on-time and with less debt! 🎉 

We've been busy getting ready for the upcoming application cycle, and have made significant updates to the experience of applying with Scoir. Here's a rundown of what's new and improved.

Updates for Students and Parents/Guardians

✅ Profile Updates

In year 2, applicants benefit from an updated experience more fully integrated into Scoir's popular My Colleges. In addition to this enhanced experience, the profile itself has been updated based on the feedback we received from our partners in year one. The complete details of these updates can be found in the Application Profile Specification, but some details include: 

Personal Information updates

• Female
• Male
• X or another legal sex; the code passed for this new value is "X"

Citizenship Information updates

• We've reworked this section to better support scenarios that previously raised questions, including improvements to prompts for refugees and asylees
• We added a question to allow a student to share that they’ve applied for a Visa and are awaiting the decision

Members can use this information to tailor support for students.

Family Information updates

Instead of mother or father, sister or brother, we’re using more inclusive terms like parent, sibling, grandparent, etc.

Pre-population of basic info

When ready, students will start their application right from My Colleges.
We'll pre-populate their basic info and they can edit as needed!

The best part? When they apply to multiple colleges with Scoir, we’ll help 
students re-use the parts of their application that are the same, from one application to the next.

✅ Improved Application Guidance

We've made efforts to encourage application completion, including more transparency and guidance for students on what to expect when they reach supplements, and clear instructions throughout the Scoir experience. 

✅ Simpler Experience for Unlinked Students and Supporters

For year 2, we've improved the experience for students and supporters who are not at a Scoir-linked high school. Here's what we've added (and will continue to add):

• New: A dedicated space for students to manage document requests and review their status
• Coming Soon: A dedicated space for supporters to quickly see all of their students

These efforts will help address challenges with unlinked students and counselors, many of whom were international.

Updates for Colleges

✅ Colleges Not on Slate Can Receive Applications

In year 2, we're offering colleges who aren't on Slate the option of using a separate application with daily batches of completed applications sent for import into their system of choice.

✅ Expansion of Fee Waiver Criteria

In addition to the Coalition fee waiver package, you have the option to extend fee waivers in other categories, without requiring documentation. Members can optionally extend no-proof-required fee waivers for all students, or only U.S. citizens or students who reside in the U.S.

New categories include:

1. Students who self-identify as the first in their family to attend college
2. Students whose family receives public assistance
3. Students enrolled in a federal, state, or local program that aids students from low-income families 
4. Students who live in federally subsidized public housing, a foster home or are homeless.
5. Students who are a ward of the state or an orphan 
6. Students who receive need-based scholarships elsewhere
7. Students who are being assisted by any college or university access program

✅ Additional Application Visibility

Colleges can now test their application experience to see exactly what the applicant sees. This will also allow partners to generate test files to validate their process.

Updates for High School Counselors

✅ Improved Docs & Recs Space

With the new Docs & Recs space for students, managing documents and recommendations is a breeze!

We summarize requirements and status in the new Docs & Recs space, accessed from My Colleges. While the process of sending documents hasn't changed, we hope this increased usability and visibility for students will decrease the number of questions counselors receive.  

Updates for All Scoir Users

✅ CBO Collaboration

For the first time, CBOs can collaborate with their students on the same platform where they’re searching for and applying to schools!

We're currently conducting a Community Based Organization Pilot with more than 35 CBOs, which runs from June 1 - October 31. Our goal is to collect feedback from these organizations and ascertain what their needs are and how we can support them. During this first iteration, they can: 

• Invite students to collaborate with them
• Review and manage student roster 
• Search for colleges 
• Recommend colleges to students
• Message directly with students

Not to worry, we are running this pilot to ensure all the proper safeguards are in place for all supporters, including counselors, so each party on Scoir can do their job effectively. More details to come!

✅ Increased Outreach

We're working to reach and teach high schools and counselors about the experience.

Share your feedback with us!

We’d love to hear what you think about these new configurations. Share your feedback!