It all started when Jeremy Gelbart, one of the founders of Ultrinsic, made a bet with Steven Wolf, the other founder, that he would make an A in a college class. After they graduated, they decided to see if this scheme could work on a larger scale:
Ultrinsic, currently in beta form, allows students at 37 colleges to gamble on their grades in each of the classes they take. The student hands over money to Ultrinsic–as well as access to his or her official school records–as a wager that they will attain a certain grade. If they get it, Ultrinsic pays out on a sliding scale.
A pilot scheme in place at both Penn and NYU over the last academic year had some takers, including one guy who won $150, although the serious money is to be made by high schoolers as they head off to university. Then, if you bet $20 on getting a 4.0 GPA, then you’ll walk away with $2,000 should you succeed. That, apparently, is what motivation looks like.
No comments:
Post a Comment