ApplyMap

Data-driven college search solution

ApplyMap is a new website that helps high school students decide where to apply to college. Our algorithm recommends an optimized mix of schools to apply to -- including dream, reach, match, and safety schools -- based on a student's grades, test scores, and school preferences. It's the same kind of advice you'd get from talking to a good college counselor for an hour, except it's online, it's free, and it takes less than five minutes. ApplyMap was founded by two UCLA graduate students, Dan Lim and Steve Palley, in the summer of 2013. As teaching assistants in the Department of Political Science, they spent a lot of time teaching UCLA undergraduates. After a while they noticed a pattern: their students were all smart and hard working, but the very best of the best -- the ones who really stood out from the crowd -- were often from less affluent backgrounds. These students had the academic talent and drive to get into a great school like UCLA, but they were also lucky, because college admissions isn’t a level playing field. The competition is fierce, and naturally, applicants use every tool at their disposal to succeed. For every one of the lucky ones who made it into a school like UCLA, how many other great students had missed out on getting into the best possible school for them, simply because they couldn’t afford to hire expert help to guide them through the process? We built ApplyMap to answer this question. We want to fill the growing need for high quality college advice in an intelligent, intuitive and affordable way. Our job is to help as many students as we can understand the possibilities and risks when applying to college. The more you know before you apply, the better off you’ll be when the fat envelopes start to arrive… and we want to celebrate with you when they do!