In a world where there is an App for virtually (pun intended) everything, it's no stretch to find Apps slowly creeping into the already cramped and convoluted world of college applications and admissions.

Yes, there are Apps to match students to colleges. Apps for scholarships. Even Apps to help you on the SAT (Number 2 pencil App not included).

And now, from the folks who brought you Naviance, The Musical comes Naviance, The App. Hold on to your iPhones, iPads and iWhatHaveYous, ladies and gents. The iGods have pre-empted your afternoon game of Angry Birds to download the Naviance App.

Add this weapon, high school students, to your already burgeoning arsenal as you wage war against the evils of an increasingly complex and unimaginably competitive college admissions process. Engage your classmates in the battle to one-up them as you fight to gain entry to that top notch college. Leave no stone unturned, and no link unclicked, as you trek the muddied battlefields on your way through the ivy-covered gates.

As if you didn't already have too much to do, recreating your entire high school life on Naviance, the Common App, and your high school resume. You will now be connected, 24/7, through cyber entities that would boggle the Borg ("resistance is futile").

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing. Our daily lives are technology-driven, with information quite literally at our fingertips. To be sure, Apps have their place in the crazed and frenzied cornfield maze that has become the college application process.

The College Whisperer™ gave the Naviance App a quick test drive. [He had to disconnect to take a call from a student looking for a FAFSA App.] It does, as the folks at Naviance claim, have its merits. Students can:

  • Research over 4,200 colleges and save them to their “interested” college list
  • Update and add tasks (and connect them to specific colleges)
  • Communicate with counselors
  • Email or call a college directly from the app
  • Map the location of colleges and plan visits

Indeed. But can they order a "100% all-natural Angus beef, vegetarian fed, humanely raised" burger from Shake Shack? Probably.

Still, as with all Apps, it has its limitations, and functionality issues (wait for Naviance App 2.0). And don't think, for a nanosecond, that this, or any App, can replace the sundry tasks you will encounter (and come to dislike immensely) as you plod your way to college. The Naviance App is a supplement, much like a vitamin. It doesn't replace that balanced meal as much as it simply adds something else to your already overflowing plate.

While The College Whisperer™ loves unfettered access to everything college, he has to wonder -- when is it too much? Do we really need to be connected everywhere and all the time? Is there no respite for the application weary student or the technologically challenged parent? Is there no escaping the insanity?

Well, at least students will now have an excuse when teachers catch them on their iPhones during AP Chemistry. "Hey. I was on Naviance!"

Makes one wonder, though. Can a Common App App be far behind???

Plan. Prepare. Prevail!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of The College Whisperer.

Who knows what peril lurks in the college application and admissions process? The College Whisperer knows. . .

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