Take Advantage of Phi Theta Kappa's Newest Member Benefit at CollegeFish.org

Phi Theta Kappa members and advisors can now check out Phi Theta Kappa's latest member benefit - CollegeFish.org, an online tool to assist students in planning for transfer.

Aimed at smoothing the transition from a two-year college to a four-year, the program gives community college students the opportunity to search more than 3,000 scholarships, explore more than 2,000 profiles on four-year colleges and universities, and assists them in navigating the transfer process.

Members may now build their online profiles at CollegeFish.org free of charge. New members are emailed their passwords and existing members may contact Technical Support with their name, school and member ID number for assistance.

Advisors are encouraged to take a look at this latest benefit of membership - so that they can see the newest transfer tool now available to their members. Advisors may enter their PAM usernames and passwords to access CollegeFish.org. PAM username and passwords are provided to all new advisors through their new advisor emails. To reset your PAM password, visit the PAM website.

Phi Theta Kappa's Executive Director Rod Risley officially unveiled CollegeFish.org to more than 3,800 delegates at the Society's 89th annual International Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, in April.

The website will help students understand the terminology associated with planning for transfer and the sequence of tasks to be completed for transfer, and contains a personal automatic calendar noting important deadlines. "One of our major goals is to introduce students to four-year colleges that are not only interested in recruiting them, but that are also eager to ensure their success," Risley said.

Currently Phi Theta Kappa members can log onto CollegeFish.org to build individual profiles. The Society's International Officers have completed their online profiles on CollegeFish.org and encourage their fellow members to do the same.

"I was impressed by the simplicity of the navigation of the website. CollegeFish.org is almost like having an advisor knowing your profile and matching you to all four-year schools that would suit you most," said Ulugbek Baymuradov, 2007-2008 International Vice President - Division IV. "Now that I have visited my personal page several times, I have a clearer idea of where I would want to transfer and why a particular four-year school would address my preferences of education better."

Those who have already completed their online profiles will find the new "College Match" feature of the CollegeFish.org website, just unveiled this fall. This capability will enable users to be matched with potential four-year colleges based on the information they have provided regarding what they are seeking in a transfer institution, whether or not that college or university is already in their "fishbowl" of personal selections.

"Many students select their college based on where their parents want them to go, where their friends are going, or because the school is located nearby. Often people don't take the time to consider if the school might actually meet their needs," said Phi Theta Kappa's Director of Scholarship Programs Heather Johnson. "By filling out your transfer preferences, we can then take that information and recommend colleges that will be a good fit for you."

"Transfer students want to find colleges that meet their specific needs. By completing your profile and selecting the items that are most important to you, the College Match will help you identify a school that fulfills your requirements." Johnson said. "By attending a school that gives you what you expect, you're likely to have a much higher rate of success in achieving your bachelor's degree."