CollegiateChat
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CollegiateChat?
CollegiateChat is an innovative network of current college students who have agreed to serve as campus ambassadors to answer your questions, tell you about their experiences and help guide you through the college search process. This is your opportunity to ask the hard questions and get honest, unscripted responses. You will get 15 minutes to speak with a student on campus, who is prepared to talk about anything from social life to academics, dorm life to food options and beyond. Do you prefer to email with a current student? Want to try instant messaging? Both are just as easy to do.
How many campuses are in the network?
The CollegiateChat network has student ambassadors on over 275 campuses across the U.S. This includes most of the top 100 national universities and the top liberal arts schools. The network includes community colleges, junior colleges and traditional four-year schools.
What information do you share with the college ambassador?
CollegiateChat is completely secure and private. We do not provide any of your information to our campus ambassadors other than your first name. Your ambassador will never be given your last name, email address or phone number, unless you decide to provide it directly. Your call will be made over our phone system, so our caller ID will show up on the other phone. IM and emails are done through our server, so email addresses are never shared.
How do I decide on a college student for a call?
Selecting your college student is very easy. CollegeSolved has developed a search tool (www.collegesolved.com/students), which will allow you to easily narrow your options. You can search by a specific college, gender, academic year and interests. With a network as broad as ours, you should be able to find a college student that fits your interests on most any campus.
As you start to filter through the network, the list of college students automatically narrows, allowing you to see who meets your criteria. You will also be able to see some of the activities in which each ambassador participates on campus.
Once I find a college student, what’s next?
Once you have found a college student for a conversation, click on “Contact” or the campus ambassador’s name. This will take you to the Connection Page or to a sign up page, if you have not created an account. Each connection takes four credits. You can either earn free credits by going to your profile page and completing certain requirements under your credit bank or purchase credits. We encourage you to consider speaking to students on different campuses (or even multiple students on the same campus) in order to get a good feel for campus life and where you would feel most comfortable.
Now that I have made the Connection, what do I do?
If you selected a call, as soon as you make your connection, an email goes out to your chosen campus ambassador letting him know that he was selected for a call. The ambassador, through the CollegeSolved scheduling system, will provide a list of available times for the 15-minute call. Until this step is completed, you do not need to do anything else. You will receive an email from CollegeSolved letting you know that your campus ambassador has provided available times. Then you can simply log into your account and choose a time that works for you. Don’t forget when you are looking at times for your call to confirm your time zone (we don’t all live in the same area!).
If you selected an email, your message is being sent through our server to your chosen campus ambassador. The ambassador will then read and respond to your email through his or her CollegeSolved account. You will then receive an email from us with your ambassador's response.
If you selected an IM session, your selected campus ambassador will receive a "buzz" fom CollegeSolved. If he or she responds within sixty seconds, you will be connected through our server for a secure conversation. You wil be able to for up to 15 minutes.
Once the time is set, what is next?
Prior to your call, you should think about what questions you want to ask your campus ambassador. If you need some ideas, click here to look at our list of questions. After selecting your time, you will receive an email with a phone number and PIN. When your call is scheduled to start, just dial the phone number, enter the PIN and you will be connected with your ambassador. It is as simple as that.
What if my campus ambassador does not answer the call?
Unfortunately, sometimes emergencies do occur, and our campus ambassadors are not available at the scheduled time. While we hope to minimize any of these issues, if you are unable to reach your ambassador, you will be given three options.
- Try calling your campus ambassador again immediately, in case he was on the other line or missed the call.
- Reschedule the call using our scheduling system.
- Find a new college ambassador to call.
I have additional questions about CollegiateChat. How can I get more information?
We are always happy to answer your questions or troubleshoot any issues. You can email us at questions@collegesolved.com at any time. We will try to get back to you quickly. You can also send us an email after your call to let us know how it went. If your campus ambassador was terrific and answered all of your questions or you know a great way to improve the CollegiateChat system, we want to know.