Leave the typewriter in the garage, put the white-out back in the drawer and forget about trekking to the post office the night before your college application is due. Now there's a fast and convenient way to apply for college: via the computer. High school seniors can now download applications from university Web sites or request college applications on computer disks. About two-thirds of the United States' four-year colleges make their application available on at least one electronic application program. Last year the University of California predicted that 20 percent of the total 85,000 undergraduate applications it receives annually would be filed electronically. This system is easier for the admissions staff because they do not have type the eight-page application into the university's computers. Almost 2,400 students had submitted applications the first day, and 5,000 had applied online by the first week. Starting Feb. 15, 2000, an new Web site called Student Friendly Services will be ready to start helping students with the online application process. It will allow students to apply to any college or university in California, including all University of California and Cal State campuses, 107 community colleges and 72 private universities. California State already has a program called Cal State's Mentor. Students can start entering information about classes and extracurricular activities as early as eighth grade. The application is stored in an online file that is protected by a password and is always accessible. The program is easier for students because instead of entering the same information into 10 similar college applications, students fill out one application and the information is sent to each college chosen. Senior Le Phan applied to eight colleges online. She feels that applying online is easier than using the traditional paper applications. "I did have a few problems with my applications," Phan said. "It took a long time to load when you wanted to work on your application. Also, the computer froze a lot." MIT's (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) Sloan School of Management now accepts applications only through the computer. It is the first undergraduate or graduate school in the nation to form such a policy. MIT was able to save thousands of dollars that would have been spent on processing, printing and mailing applications. Students fill out the required forms, pay the fees and arrange to have their test scores sent to MIT on one Web site. However, college transcripts and outside recommendations cannot be filed electronically. Other business schools, such as Harvard, Columbia, Dartmouth, Northwestern, the University of Texas, Tulane, Michigan State and UC Davis will also accept applications from the same web site MIT uses. Students are also able to search for scholarship opportunities and take virtual tours of campuses. Examples of college search sites are CollegeNET, CollegeTown, FishNet, CollegeView, and CollegeXpress. Students who are worried about sending private information over the Internet, can use CDs like Apply. Apply is a popular CD-ROM that contains 600 college applications. Students simply fill in the blanks, print out the completed application and send it by regular mail. Although some students might be concerned about privacy and safety issues, the number of students using the Internet and CDs to apply for college is expected to increase 25 percent this year.
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