163. Better Tech & Better Processes for College Choice with David Hurwitt

Education Evolution

English - May 23, 2023 08:00 - 45 minutes - 63 MB
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The whole college admissions process is frustrating from both sides. Students rely on the school mailers they’re inundated with beginning their second or third year of high school. And schools buy student lists and “spray and pray” them with mailers. There’s no real science behind it and, as a result, students end up transferring or leaving their college after a semester or two (if they opt to go at all) and colleges are constantly looking for new students to fill seats and meet revenue quotas.

Not only that but students of privilege tend to get better access to college planning resources, leaving a big gap in those who end up with a good fit college vs. those who don’t.

David Hurwitt is on a mission to change this. By leveraging research from the dating app eHarmony, he’s created a free tool where students can match with a good-fit college. This creates better student successes as well as better results for the colleges and universities that provide data and feedback to the system.

Not every student is meant to go to college, and that’s okay. But giving more students access to resources that allow them to forge their own paths is essential. This is a step in the right direction.

Listen in to hear more.

About David Hurwitt:

Dave Hurwitt is an innovator. Over the course of his career, he’s led the development and launch of new products and services – from toothpicks to wind turbines – that have generated well over $1 billion in sales.

If you have a large, front loading washing machine in your house, that was Dave and his team at Whirlpool. They re-envisioned the traditional, small European washer for the US market and took front loaders from 1% of the market to over 50% today, saving billions of dollars in electricity and water consumption in the process.

Dave has lived and worked around the world, and is now based in Burlington Vermont with his wife and two Golden Retrievers. Their 3 “kids” have now graduated from college, but it was his experience with them on their college journeys that started his innovator’s brain cranking on what became Troove.

Having worked in admissions through grad school, he was amazed by how little technology and the internet had impacted the college search and admissions process. And even more, he was dismayed to discover how often students were transferring or dropping out altogether.

In early 2020, this led directly to his founding Troove, a 2-sided, AI powered platform to help students discover their passions, people, and place based on the real experiences of recent alumni and current higher education students.

An accomplished photographer, lover of history, and avid traveler, Dave has made it to every state but Alaska (so far!) and some 50 different countries, camera always in hand. The same curiosity about people that shows up in his photography also shows up in the new products he creates – always with a focus on human interaction and how we can better blend the old and the new.

Jump in the Conversation:

[1:39] - where did story of school transformation begin for you

[4:49] - The story of Benjamin Woodbridge’s application to Harvard in 1637

[6:35] - What can solve this problem

[9:02] - Goal for admissions officers is enrollment, not retention

[12:00] - People don’t know exactly what they’re looking for, making it difficult to find the right school

[14:04] - Leveling the playing field in higher education against the bias toward those with more means

[17:56] - Why admissions offices need this resources

[20:34] - What the process looks like for students

[25:26] - When to start using a resource like Troove

[32:46] - Turbo Time

[39:04] - David’s Magic Wand