It's yet another way that minorities and low-income students fall through the digital divide: even if they want to go to college, they don't always have access to admissions coaches and other self-promoting tools that bolster their chances at scaling the ivory tower.
 
That's where Zinch.com comes in. Students upload Facebook-like profiles and extras, including writing samples and video of extracurricular activities, for free. On the other side of the web are college admissions counselors who pay $3,000 to $15,000 annually to access Zinch's database of 200,000 student profiles. So far, more than 340 schools, including Stanford and Yale, use the service.
           
Students can also send a "shout out" to any school theyre interested in to help make the connection. Founders call their service an invaluable way for universities to recruit students, especially minority and low-income students.
           
"It's free, it's very simple, very kid-friendly," says Jaime Huertas, a high school guidance counselor and NEA member in Union City, California, who encourages teachers at his school to talk about the site with their students. "Even though we have resources here at the school you always need extra help -- anything that facilitates the student getting in."
          
Company co-founder Mick Hagen says the site, lets students "tell their whole story, putting themselves out on the radar for colleges well before the actual application process." He adds, "teenagers' demand for online interaction has now met college admission's desire to put flesh to paper." The site is even using a slogan that will be familiar to NEA's impassioned advocates for overhauling the No Child Left Behind Act: "I am more than a test score."

--Cynthia Kopkowski