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Draft:Vericant

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Vericant
Company typeSubsidiary
IndustrySoftware
FoundedMarch 2011; 13 years ago (2011-03)
FoundersChris Boehner
Guy Sivan
Nicki Fung
Kelly Yang
Headquarters
Chaoyang, Beijing
,
China
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
Guy Sivan (CEO)
ParentEducational Testing Service (2021–present)
Website

Vericant is a video application and educational testing company headquartered in Beijing. The company was co-founded in 2011 by Chris Boehner, Guy Sivan, Nicki Fung and Kelly Yang with the goal of reducing application fraud to educational institutions while helping students apply to US schools and universities.[1][2][3]

Vericant developed a language proficiency assessment that is based on the conversation in the interview called the Spoken English Evaluation (SEE). Alongside the video application service, the SEE uses a score which determines the applicants true communication skills.[4][5]

Since 2021, Vericant has been a subsidiary of Educational Testing Service (ETS). [6][7]

History

Background

During his time as an educational consultant in China, Chris Boehner realized that students expected him to write their teacher recommendation letters and personal statements, a responsibility that puzzled him as it fell outside the scope of a consultant's role. Further investigation revealed that this problem was widespread, resulting in US schools admitting underqualified Chinese students who often struggled academically.[8]

With the goal of creating a more transparent and fair application process, Boehner launched Vericant in early 2010 alongside Guy Sivan, Nicki Fung and Kelly Yang. Made by combining the words "verify" and "applicant," Vericant aimed to assist schools in verifying the abilities of Chinese students during the application process by conducting face-to-face interviews and proctored writing samples. Later, Vericant expanded beyond China, offering interview services to institutions for all their international applicants globally.[3][8][9][10]

ETS aquisition

Vericant was acquired in 2021 by Educational Testing Service (ETS), the world’s largest private nonprofit educational testing and assessment organization. [6] [7]

Services

Vericant provides services to verify the English proficiency, personality and other relevant skills of students applying to schools in the United States.[11][12]

Vericant also offers the Spoken English Evaluation (SEE), a language proficiency assessment based on the actual conversation in the video interview.[13][14]

Application Process

Vericant's services have revealed instances where students exhibited strong spoken English abilities but struggled to write proficiently. By providing this comprehensive evaluation, Vericant offers schools a more holistic view of their applicants.[8]

In an effort to prevent cheating while also assisting institutions in gaining deeper insights into their prospective students,[15] Vericant's interview process provides an assessment of a student's English language proficiency, a crucial step for institutions that have English proficiency requirements for admission.[16][17][18]At the same time, students have a fair opportunity to demonstrate their English proficiency and communication skills as well as showing a clearer insight into their personalities.[8][19][15]

The assessment process for applications consists of a 10-minute recorded interview and a 30-minute writing test with randomized questions to prevent preparation or cheating. The interview questions often deviate from conventional topics aiming to provoque genuine responses.[8][11]

Partnerships and Collaborations

Vericant has collaborated with various organizations and institutions to expand its services, these include:

References

  1. ^ Custer, Sara (8 Sep 2014). "Vericant secures funding to move into HE". The Pie News. Archived from the original on 21 Mar 2016. Retrieved 30 Jul 2023.
  2. ^ "Vericant Raises Series A to Streamline Foreign Student Applications". edsurge. 8 Sep 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023. Retrieved 30 Jul 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Vericant". Crunchbase. 11 Mar 2021. Archived from the original on 30 Jul 2023. Retrieved 30 Jul 2023.
  4. ^ Gupta, Priyanka (1 Apr 2016). "How Vericant Is Defining The Future Of International Admissions?". Ed Tech Review. Archived from the original on 30 Jul 2023. Retrieved 30 Jul 2023.
  5. ^ "Vericant Integration". Slate. 12 Oct 2021. Archived from the original on 11 Apr 2023. Retrieved 30 Jul 2023.
  6. ^ a b "ETS acquires Vericant". Jones Day. Mar 2021. Archived from the original on 25 Jan 2022. Retrieved 30 Jul 2023.
  7. ^ a b "ETS Strategic Capital Announces New Deals, Expands Portfolio". ETS. 11 Mar 2021. Archived from the original on 31 Mar 2023. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d e Xiangyi, Xiao (3 Jan 2013). "Firm targets student cheats". China Daily. Archived from the original on 4 Apr 2013. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  9. ^ Lincoln, Hannah (3 Feb 2014). "Ghostwriting for Chinese College Applicants". Forbes. Archived from the original on 20 Aug 2021. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  10. ^ Ross, Andrew (11 Jul 2015). "How the children of China's elite learned to (by)pass the gaokao". China Economic Review. Archived from the original on 24 Mar 2023. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  11. ^ a b Gao, Helen (28 Mar 2012). "How China's New Love Affair with U.S. Private Schools Is Changing Them Both". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 29 Jan 2023. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  12. ^ Li, Cao (24 Dec 2015). "Another hurdle on the road to studying in the United States: third-party interview". New York Times. Archived from the original on 31 Jul 2022. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  13. ^ Krantz, Laura; Meyers, Jessica (19 Jan 2016). "Fight to find cheats takes schools around the world". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on 6 Jun 2023. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  14. ^ "Spoken English Evaluation". Vericant. 11 May 2014. Archived from the original on 11 Apr 2023. Retrieved 30 Jul 2023.
  15. ^ a b "Crafting a future". The Economist. 19 Feb 2015. Archived from the original on 26 Jul 2023. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  16. ^ "Vericant". ETS. 11 Mar 2021. Archived from the original on 9 Sep 2023. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  17. ^ "What is Vericant?". Cialfo. 21 Jan 2022. Archived from the original on 9 Sep 2023. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  18. ^ "Aplication Process". The Lawrenceville School. 23 May 2022. Archived from the original on 6 Jun 2023. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
  19. ^ Redden, Elizabeth (15 Nov 2012). "Seeing is Believing". Inside Higher Ed. Archived from the original on 9 Sep 2023. Retrieved 9 Sep 2023.
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