Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Consolidating College on the Web

For anyone who’s ever had trouble keeping track of all the Web sites they browse, three Georgetown seniors may have just solved your problem.

MyKollege.com is the brainchild of Dan Gavula (MSB ’07), John Suliman (MSB ’07) and Mike Toomey (MSB ’07), who were tired of having to constantly reopen Web sites they frequently use.

“We saw the need to create a consolidated homepage, something so that Georgetown students would have every link readily available,” Suliman said.

The site, which launched on Thursday, includes homepages specific to Georgetown and eight other colleges and universities. The pages contain links to sites frequently visited by college students in general – including popular sites like YouTube, ESPN and eBay – and Georgetown-specific sites like Blackboard, Student Access+ and GU Mail.

At the start of the academic year the three sent surveys around campus asking students which Web sites they use most frequently. They developed the site’s basic layout using Microsoft Excel, and then handed off Web-developing duties to a Web design company.

“I dabble in the Web site layout program called Dreamweaver, but we weren’t capable of doing it by ourselves,” Suliman said.

They also pitched the idea to friends at other schools, who distributed surveys similar to those handed out at Georgetown. yKollege.com now has homepages for the University of Virginia, George Washington University and Northeastern University, among others.

“We thought this was something that students from other schools would benefit from having,” Toomey said.

The Web site has received positive feedback from some Georgetown students. Toomey said dozens of students have sent him e-mails praising the site.

Matt Bjonerud (MSB ’07) said that he has found the site helpful.

“I have already set it to my homepage because I got so tired of clicking on a bunch of different Web sites,” he said.

Joe Silvestri (NHS ’10), however, said that he does not think he will use the site frequently.

“I think this Web site is going to be really helpful, but I don’t see myself setting it as my homepage,” he said. “I don’t really mind typing in the addresses of all of the sites, anyway.”

Gavula said he has been pleasantly surprised by the success of the site, which is not currently hosting advertising.

“Our expectations of reaching 1,000 hits in the first month have already been reached. We have had almost 500,000 hits in four days,” Gavula said.

The three creators are already thinking about ways to improve the site. They said that they are preparing to launch an updated version of the site with links for over 60 schools.

“We also got some e-mails asking us to include some more Georgetown links, such as a link to the GoCard site and the Credit Union site. We plan to add that to the new version,” Toomey said.

Gavula thinks that the site is beneficial for college students.

“We think we created something that students need,” he said.

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