Research on choosing colleges takes many forms, including visiting campuses and studying the schools' Web sites. But for a lot of high-school students and their parents, finding a centralized resource containing information about numerous schools still means buying one of the thick, costly printed guides to college that have been around for years. The Web versions of these books are surprisingly dry.
But there's a new, free Web site that, while overseen by paid editors, is built on lively content submitted by current students at the colleges. The information isn't just words and numbers, but includes numerous photos and videos for most schools. You also can create a small social network of people interested in the same schools or who share other common traits.
In other words, this is a college-information resource built for the age of YouTube and Facebook.
The site, Unigo.com, costs nothing to use and supports itself with ads. Although it's only a few months old, it already covers about 250 colleges and universities, and claims to average dozens of student-created reviews, photos and videos for each college. Its sophisticated search engine lets applicants comb all this material to find just what applies to them. For example, Unigo would let you see all content relevant to an Asian-American female applicant with conservative political views.
I've been testing Unigo, and I like it. In the sampling of college profiles I read, the site seems to have struck a good balance between the immediacy and candor of student submissions, and the professionalism needed to weed out wildly biased or inaccurate claims.
The site, founded by a 26-year-old who formerly created printed college guides, says it employs 19 full-time editors. This team uses information from a nationwide network of 300 representatives on campuses to create each college's profile. Each representative rounds up contributions from others on campus, so that the site claims that over 15,000 students contributed to the profiles of the first 250 colleges.
Reviews, photos and videos can also be submitted out of the blue, and these are also eventually reviewed by the editors.
Each profile starts with a fairly long editor-written overview, liberally sprinkled with comments from students and accompanied by basic information, statistics and rankings.
But the heart of Unigo's look at each college is student-created, in multiple forms. For instance, the site's section on the University of Michigan includes 92 written student reviews, some running to thousands of words; 35 photos; 36 videos; and 10 student-written 'documents.' The latter are often by campus journalists and cover things like athletics or critiques of nearby restaurants.
The videos are the most interesting part of Unigo, because they provide a look at current students and at the campus that isn't often captured in standard guides. Most of the videos are fairly short, some only containing the answer to a single question like 'What's the best or worst thing about this school?' But others include opinions on issues like what kinds of students fit in best or worst on campus, or minitours of the campus or of typical dorms.
One student video I watched was a walk down the main street of the college town. Others are reflections on the school's reputation, or on why the student chose one school over another. Another was about a student's biggest freshman-year mistake (he took Classical Mythology, found it boring, didn't do the work and flunked the course.)
I stumbled on a rap video submitted by a student from Clarkson University, which doesn't yet have a review on Unigo, in which the rapper comments on the alumni, the architecture and the weather at the Potsdam, New York, school.
Unigo also contains articles on general topics, such as how to decide what size of college is best for you, and how to get the most out of a college tour.
While the editors ban personal attacks and nudity, they don't bar negative comments. Unigo deliberately seeks out pro and con opinions. Many of the student submissions are enthusiastically positive, but plenty are negative comments on campus social life, the costs, the food, the faculty, the dorms and other topics.
The site feels surprisingly full for such a young venture, but it has some quirks and issues. Coverage is uneven. For instance, Vassar College in New York boasts 117 reviews and 42 videos, while the much larger University of Kansas has only 45 reviews and three videos. Finding the detailed search feature can be clumsy, because it's not obvious on the home page. You can't generate a quick comparison among colleges, and the site lacks any parent-oriented sections, although parents are free to use it.
Finally, there are just loads of colleges that aren't yet included. The first 250 schools were 'seeded,' with months of research and solicitation of student content. Unigo is confident it can get more schools, but only time will tell.
Still, Unigo is a good example of how user-generated content can do a lot to enhance an important topic, and still keep editorial standards.
選擇大學(xué)時可以對學(xué)校進(jìn)行多種形式的考察，比如探訪校園、研究各個學(xué)校的網(wǎng)站。不過多年來，眾多高中學(xué)生和家長只有購買那種大厚本且價格高昂的大學(xué)指南，才能同時獲取各個大學(xué)的綜合資訊。奇怪的是，這類指南根本沒有網(wǎng)上版本。
不過，現(xiàn)在終于出現(xiàn)了一個免費網(wǎng)站，由全職編輯負(fù)責(zé)管理，內(nèi)容由在校大學(xué)生提供，真實反映了當(dāng)下的大學(xué)生活。網(wǎng)站提供的資訊不僅僅是文字和數(shù)位，而且還有多數(shù)學(xué)校的大量相片和視頻錄影，對同一所學(xué)校感興趣或者有其他共同點的人，還可以在網(wǎng)站上建立起小小的社交網(wǎng)路。
也就是說，這是一個YouTube和 Facebook時代的大學(xué)資訊網(wǎng)站。
該網(wǎng)站的網(wǎng)址是Unigo.com（Unigo意為“上大學(xué)”），其運營費用均來自廣告，上網(wǎng)無需任何花費。雖然創(chuàng)立的時間只有短短幾個月，卻已經(jīng)涵蓋了250所學(xué)院和大學(xué)，平均每所學(xué)校都有幾十篇學(xué)生創(chuàng)作的評論、照片及視頻。借助網(wǎng)站先進(jìn)的搜索引擎，報考大學(xué)的人士可以仔細(xì)搜索所有這些材料，找到自己合用的東西。比如，你可以查到有關(guān)一位持保守政治觀點的亞裔美籍女考生的所有內(nèi)容。
近我一直在試用這個網(wǎng)站，感覺很不錯。根據(jù)我看到的那些學(xué)校介紹，我覺得該網(wǎng)站既保留了學(xué)生上傳內(nèi)容那種直白坦率的特色，又有足夠的專業(yè)素質(zhì)來剔除那些太過偏頗或不準(zhǔn)確的言論，在二者之間取得了很好的平衡。
該網(wǎng)站的創(chuàng)建者年僅26歲，以前是制作那種紙質(zhì)大學(xué)指南的，他說網(wǎng)站共有19名全職編輯，并有一個由300名代理人組成的網(wǎng)路負(fù)責(zé)撰寫學(xué)校介紹。這些代理人遍布全國各所大學(xué)，搜集各自所在學(xué)校學(xué)生提供的材料。據(jù)網(wǎng)站稱，首批250所大學(xué)的資訊是由1萬5千多名學(xué)生提供的。
也有一些評論、照片及視頻不期而至，這些終也要由網(wǎng)站編輯把關(guān)。
每篇大學(xué)介紹的開頭都是一段編輯撰寫的概述，篇幅相當(dāng)長，其中有學(xué)校的基本資訊、相關(guān)統(tǒng)計資料和排名，還引用了大量來自學(xué)生的評論。
不過，Unigo網(wǎng)站學(xué)校介紹的核心還是那些學(xué)生自創(chuàng)的內(nèi)容，其形式多種多樣。比如，網(wǎng)站介紹密歇根大學(xué)的內(nèi)容有92篇學(xué)生撰寫的評論，有些洋洋 數(shù)千字；35幅照片；36段視頻；10篇學(xué)生撰寫的“文檔”?！拔臋n”通常是由校園記者撰寫，內(nèi)容涉及學(xué)校的體育活動、對附近餐廳的評論，等等。
Unigo網(wǎng)站上有趣的內(nèi)容要數(shù)視頻，觀者可以借助視頻看到這些學(xué)校的在校生和校園，而這在一般的大學(xué)指南中通常并未涵蓋。多數(shù)視頻都很短，有些僅僅是為了回答某個問題，比如“這所學(xué)校的強(qiáng)項或弱項是什么？”。不過，也有一些會針對某個問題提出自己的觀點，比如，哪類學(xué)生在學(xué)校里如魚得水或格格不入。還有些視頻可以帶你簡單參觀校園或宿舍。
我看到有一段學(xué)生視頻就是帶你走了一趟大學(xué)城的主街。還有一些視頻講了學(xué)校的知名度，或視頻拍攝者講述為什么自己會選擇這所學(xué)校。有一段視頻講述了拍攝者在大一時犯下的嚴(yán)重錯誤（他選了“古典神學(xué)”課程，但覺得這門課很乏味，就沒有用心學(xué)，結(jié)果拿了個不及格）。
我還無意中發(fā)現(xiàn)了克拉克森大學(xué)（Clarkson University）一個學(xué)生上傳的一段說唱視頻。這所大學(xué)位于紐約的波茨坦，Unigo目前還沒有該大學(xué)的相關(guān)介紹。這位學(xué)生通過說唱的形式對這所學(xué)校的學(xué)生、建筑以及天氣品頭論足了一番。
Unigo網(wǎng)站上還有一些針對一般性問題的文章，內(nèi)容包括什么規(guī)模的大學(xué)適合你、如何通過校園游來充分了解一所學(xué)校，等等。
網(wǎng)站編輯會遮罩有關(guān)人身攻擊以及色情的內(nèi)容，但是不會攔截那些負(fù)面評論。實際上，網(wǎng)站還會刻意挑出那些針鋒相對的論點。很多學(xué)生對學(xué)校的評價都是正面、熱情洋溢的，不過也有很多對于學(xué)校的社交活動、費用、伙食、師資、宿舍等等提出了抱怨。
對于創(chuàng)辦時間如此之短的一家網(wǎng)站而言，其內(nèi)容的豐富程度已經(jīng)是非常驚人了，不過，缺點和問題也還是有的。各所學(xué)校的介紹材料比例有欠均衡。比如，紐約瓦薩學(xué)院（Vassar College）的評論文章多達(dá)117篇，視頻有42段，而規(guī)模大得多的堪薩斯大學(xué)（University of Kansas）卻只有45篇評論和三段視頻。找到網(wǎng)站的深度搜索功能不太容易，因為主頁上沒有明顯的標(biāo)示。你也無法很快地對各所大學(xué)做出比較。此外，雖然學(xué)生家長可以免費使用該網(wǎng)站，網(wǎng)站中卻沒有任何針對家長的欄目。
另外，還有很多學(xué)校未被網(wǎng)站收錄。首批250所大學(xué)是通過數(shù)月的調(diào)研和向?qū)W生征稿“篩選”出來的。Unigo網(wǎng)站有信心收攬更多的學(xué)校，但這一點尚需拭目以待。
盡管有這些缺點，Unigo網(wǎng)站還是堪稱典范，它表明，用戶提供的內(nèi)容能使一個人們關(guān)心的重大問題變得更精彩，而同時仍能讓網(wǎng)站保持其編輯水準(zhǔn)。
But there's a new, free Web site that, while overseen by paid editors, is built on lively content submitted by current students at the colleges. The information isn't just words and numbers, but includes numerous photos and videos for most schools. You also can create a small social network of people interested in the same schools or who share other common traits.
In other words, this is a college-information resource built for the age of YouTube and Facebook.
The site, Unigo.com, costs nothing to use and supports itself with ads. Although it's only a few months old, it already covers about 250 colleges and universities, and claims to average dozens of student-created reviews, photos and videos for each college. Its sophisticated search engine lets applicants comb all this material to find just what applies to them. For example, Unigo would let you see all content relevant to an Asian-American female applicant with conservative political views.
I've been testing Unigo, and I like it. In the sampling of college profiles I read, the site seems to have struck a good balance between the immediacy and candor of student submissions, and the professionalism needed to weed out wildly biased or inaccurate claims.
The site, founded by a 26-year-old who formerly created printed college guides, says it employs 19 full-time editors. This team uses information from a nationwide network of 300 representatives on campuses to create each college's profile. Each representative rounds up contributions from others on campus, so that the site claims that over 15,000 students contributed to the profiles of the first 250 colleges.
Reviews, photos and videos can also be submitted out of the blue, and these are also eventually reviewed by the editors.
Each profile starts with a fairly long editor-written overview, liberally sprinkled with comments from students and accompanied by basic information, statistics and rankings.
But the heart of Unigo's look at each college is student-created, in multiple forms. For instance, the site's section on the University of Michigan includes 92 written student reviews, some running to thousands of words; 35 photos; 36 videos; and 10 student-written 'documents.' The latter are often by campus journalists and cover things like athletics or critiques of nearby restaurants.
The videos are the most interesting part of Unigo, because they provide a look at current students and at the campus that isn't often captured in standard guides. Most of the videos are fairly short, some only containing the answer to a single question like 'What's the best or worst thing about this school?' But others include opinions on issues like what kinds of students fit in best or worst on campus, or minitours of the campus or of typical dorms.
One student video I watched was a walk down the main street of the college town. Others are reflections on the school's reputation, or on why the student chose one school over another. Another was about a student's biggest freshman-year mistake (he took Classical Mythology, found it boring, didn't do the work and flunked the course.)
I stumbled on a rap video submitted by a student from Clarkson University, which doesn't yet have a review on Unigo, in which the rapper comments on the alumni, the architecture and the weather at the Potsdam, New York, school.
Unigo also contains articles on general topics, such as how to decide what size of college is best for you, and how to get the most out of a college tour.
While the editors ban personal attacks and nudity, they don't bar negative comments. Unigo deliberately seeks out pro and con opinions. Many of the student submissions are enthusiastically positive, but plenty are negative comments on campus social life, the costs, the food, the faculty, the dorms and other topics.
The site feels surprisingly full for such a young venture, but it has some quirks and issues. Coverage is uneven. For instance, Vassar College in New York boasts 117 reviews and 42 videos, while the much larger University of Kansas has only 45 reviews and three videos. Finding the detailed search feature can be clumsy, because it's not obvious on the home page. You can't generate a quick comparison among colleges, and the site lacks any parent-oriented sections, although parents are free to use it.
Finally, there are just loads of colleges that aren't yet included. The first 250 schools were 'seeded,' with months of research and solicitation of student content. Unigo is confident it can get more schools, but only time will tell.
Still, Unigo is a good example of how user-generated content can do a lot to enhance an important topic, and still keep editorial standards.
選擇大學(xué)時可以對學(xué)校進(jìn)行多種形式的考察，比如探訪校園、研究各個學(xué)校的網(wǎng)站。不過多年來，眾多高中學(xué)生和家長只有購買那種大厚本且價格高昂的大學(xué)指南，才能同時獲取各個大學(xué)的綜合資訊。奇怪的是，這類指南根本沒有網(wǎng)上版本。
不過，現(xiàn)在終于出現(xiàn)了一個免費網(wǎng)站，由全職編輯負(fù)責(zé)管理，內(nèi)容由在校大學(xué)生提供，真實反映了當(dāng)下的大學(xué)生活。網(wǎng)站提供的資訊不僅僅是文字和數(shù)位，而且還有多數(shù)學(xué)校的大量相片和視頻錄影，對同一所學(xué)校感興趣或者有其他共同點的人，還可以在網(wǎng)站上建立起小小的社交網(wǎng)路。
也就是說，這是一個YouTube和 Facebook時代的大學(xué)資訊網(wǎng)站。
該網(wǎng)站的網(wǎng)址是Unigo.com（Unigo意為“上大學(xué)”），其運營費用均來自廣告，上網(wǎng)無需任何花費。雖然創(chuàng)立的時間只有短短幾個月，卻已經(jīng)涵蓋了250所學(xué)院和大學(xué)，平均每所學(xué)校都有幾十篇學(xué)生創(chuàng)作的評論、照片及視頻。借助網(wǎng)站先進(jìn)的搜索引擎，報考大學(xué)的人士可以仔細(xì)搜索所有這些材料，找到自己合用的東西。比如，你可以查到有關(guān)一位持保守政治觀點的亞裔美籍女考生的所有內(nèi)容。
近我一直在試用這個網(wǎng)站，感覺很不錯。根據(jù)我看到的那些學(xué)校介紹，我覺得該網(wǎng)站既保留了學(xué)生上傳內(nèi)容那種直白坦率的特色，又有足夠的專業(yè)素質(zhì)來剔除那些太過偏頗或不準(zhǔn)確的言論，在二者之間取得了很好的平衡。
該網(wǎng)站的創(chuàng)建者年僅26歲，以前是制作那種紙質(zhì)大學(xué)指南的，他說網(wǎng)站共有19名全職編輯，并有一個由300名代理人組成的網(wǎng)路負(fù)責(zé)撰寫學(xué)校介紹。這些代理人遍布全國各所大學(xué)，搜集各自所在學(xué)校學(xué)生提供的材料。據(jù)網(wǎng)站稱，首批250所大學(xué)的資訊是由1萬5千多名學(xué)生提供的。
也有一些評論、照片及視頻不期而至，這些終也要由網(wǎng)站編輯把關(guān)。
每篇大學(xué)介紹的開頭都是一段編輯撰寫的概述，篇幅相當(dāng)長，其中有學(xué)校的基本資訊、相關(guān)統(tǒng)計資料和排名，還引用了大量來自學(xué)生的評論。
不過，Unigo網(wǎng)站學(xué)校介紹的核心還是那些學(xué)生自創(chuàng)的內(nèi)容，其形式多種多樣。比如，網(wǎng)站介紹密歇根大學(xué)的內(nèi)容有92篇學(xué)生撰寫的評論，有些洋洋 數(shù)千字；35幅照片；36段視頻；10篇學(xué)生撰寫的“文檔”?！拔臋n”通常是由校園記者撰寫，內(nèi)容涉及學(xué)校的體育活動、對附近餐廳的評論，等等。
Unigo網(wǎng)站上有趣的內(nèi)容要數(shù)視頻，觀者可以借助視頻看到這些學(xué)校的在校生和校園，而這在一般的大學(xué)指南中通常并未涵蓋。多數(shù)視頻都很短，有些僅僅是為了回答某個問題，比如“這所學(xué)校的強(qiáng)項或弱項是什么？”。不過，也有一些會針對某個問題提出自己的觀點，比如，哪類學(xué)生在學(xué)校里如魚得水或格格不入。還有些視頻可以帶你簡單參觀校園或宿舍。
我看到有一段學(xué)生視頻就是帶你走了一趟大學(xué)城的主街。還有一些視頻講了學(xué)校的知名度，或視頻拍攝者講述為什么自己會選擇這所學(xué)校。有一段視頻講述了拍攝者在大一時犯下的嚴(yán)重錯誤（他選了“古典神學(xué)”課程，但覺得這門課很乏味，就沒有用心學(xué)，結(jié)果拿了個不及格）。
我還無意中發(fā)現(xiàn)了克拉克森大學(xué)（Clarkson University）一個學(xué)生上傳的一段說唱視頻。這所大學(xué)位于紐約的波茨坦，Unigo目前還沒有該大學(xué)的相關(guān)介紹。這位學(xué)生通過說唱的形式對這所學(xué)校的學(xué)生、建筑以及天氣品頭論足了一番。
Unigo網(wǎng)站上還有一些針對一般性問題的文章，內(nèi)容包括什么規(guī)模的大學(xué)適合你、如何通過校園游來充分了解一所學(xué)校，等等。
網(wǎng)站編輯會遮罩有關(guān)人身攻擊以及色情的內(nèi)容，但是不會攔截那些負(fù)面評論。實際上，網(wǎng)站還會刻意挑出那些針鋒相對的論點。很多學(xué)生對學(xué)校的評價都是正面、熱情洋溢的，不過也有很多對于學(xué)校的社交活動、費用、伙食、師資、宿舍等等提出了抱怨。
對于創(chuàng)辦時間如此之短的一家網(wǎng)站而言，其內(nèi)容的豐富程度已經(jīng)是非常驚人了，不過，缺點和問題也還是有的。各所學(xué)校的介紹材料比例有欠均衡。比如，紐約瓦薩學(xué)院（Vassar College）的評論文章多達(dá)117篇，視頻有42段，而規(guī)模大得多的堪薩斯大學(xué)（University of Kansas）卻只有45篇評論和三段視頻。找到網(wǎng)站的深度搜索功能不太容易，因為主頁上沒有明顯的標(biāo)示。你也無法很快地對各所大學(xué)做出比較。此外，雖然學(xué)生家長可以免費使用該網(wǎng)站，網(wǎng)站中卻沒有任何針對家長的欄目。
另外，還有很多學(xué)校未被網(wǎng)站收錄。首批250所大學(xué)是通過數(shù)月的調(diào)研和向?qū)W生征稿“篩選”出來的。Unigo網(wǎng)站有信心收攬更多的學(xué)校，但這一點尚需拭目以待。
盡管有這些缺點，Unigo網(wǎng)站還是堪稱典范，它表明，用戶提供的內(nèi)容能使一個人們關(guān)心的重大問題變得更精彩，而同時仍能讓網(wǎng)站保持其編輯水準(zhǔn)。