Corsava introduces students to a broad scope of college characteristics, helping families understand student preferences and encouraging them to think beyond name recognition, size, and location to find a college that truly resonates with their wants and needs. Corsava’s free gamified tool is a great way for families to jumpstart conversations and get on the same page early in the college search process and helps provide focus during both the research and admissions phases.
How Corsava Online Works
The first step with Corsava is to set up an account and complete the Corsava Card Sort activity, designed to introduce your student to a broad scope of college characteristics. Each card represents a unique characteristic of the college experience (definitions are included) and reflects an aspect of college that she knows from experience as well as studies that correlate to whether students thrive in life after college. For each college characteristic, students indicate a preference with one of four choice cards that include “Must Have,” “Would Be Nice,” “Do Not Care,” or “No Way.”
Students think about their college choices in a whole new light, as they consider questions they rarely consider, like: Do you like being at the top of your class, or do you do better when pushed by your peers? Do you want a more collaborative or competitive atmosphere? Do you want to meet new people every day at a large college, or do your want to see familiar faces every day?
After completing the card sort activity, your student’s Corsava Report is automatically generated. Their report is a color-coded summary that organizes their preferences by category and level of importance. You can save, print, or share your report to help get a better understanding of what matters to your student. Students can continue to use their Corsava account to organize and record their research of particular colleges, keeping the focus on the aspects that matter most to them. Corsava uses these student impressions to provide a personalized ranking of their list - an invaluable tool for both applications and making final decisions. These impressions are also key resources for writing application essays and preparing for admissions interviews.
Testimonials: Corsava Online provides a way to open conversation around a variety of aspects of college life that a student might not otherwise consider. This activity has been an eye-opening experience for families and helps to start a dialogue around differences in student and parent ideas about the college experience. Not only do the cards help students hone in on what is important for them in the college search, but it also serves to solidify decisions when May 1 rolls around. When students feel torn between options, I often have them refer back to their card preference list, or re-do the card sort to see if their preferences have changed.
“I honestly cannot think of any individual tool in the college admissions process that is as impactful as Corsava.”
Corsava Cards allows us to leverage digital tools but more importantly avoid the conundrum of students having access to research tools but not knowing what they are looking for, ending up confused and overwhelmed. This program allows them to consider other variables than the school’s brand name and recognize what they need to research to be happy and pick the right fit school. Thank you!
