Cleveland schools go electronic for college applications

The process of applying for college is a difficult one, even under ideal circumstances. Students must fill out multiple forms and supply all transcripts, recommendations and any other requested information in a specific format - and in a timely fashion. Irregularities of any kind- even if simply procedural - may harm a student's chance for admission.

To help facilitate this tricky process, the Cleveland Metropolitan School District (CMSD) will standardize its college admissions process across all 22 high schools in its district. And the process will be electronic.

"We believe the secure, accurate and electronic transfer of student data and application materials from high schools to colleges is a key element of a revamped college application process," said Eric Gordon, Chief Academic Officer, Cleveland Metropolitan School District. "This will ensure students are able to make selections that best fit with their educational and career aspirations and will allow our counselors to spend more time assisting students and less time focused on the paper-based administrative aspects of the application process."

To accomplish its goal, CMSD chose the electronic application processing product SuperAPP™. An application processing solution, as opposed to an application format, SuperAPP uses and supports all of the most popular application formats including: The Common Application®, Universal College ApplicationT, and unique applications for more than 1,400 colleges nationwide.

SuperAPP facilitates the application process, including official transcripts, letters of recommendation, college essays, high school profile and the application from a single, secure location. It streamlines the application process for college admission officers by delivering a full electronic student application to the colleges in a single integrated data feed and in the preferred format.

"Through the use of SuperAPP we are hoping to positively impact both our students and guidance counselors by providing them with the advanced technology and tools they require to make more informed college choices and better manage the entire process electronically," added Gordon.