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Online gambling for GPA takes off on campuses

Rising Penn junior Nick Migliacci knew for sure (by May): He’d scratched out a 3.2 (out of 4) GPA for the spring semester. So close.

“I mean, I got the grades,” Migliacci recalled, sighing, “but lost the bet.”

Since last fall, Migliacci has been wagering on his grades through a website called Ultrinsic.com, founded by former Penn student Jeremy Gelbart, 23, and longtime friend Steven Wolf, 27. The site offers two options: “rewards” bets that incentivize classroom success and “grade insurance,” allowing students to short-sell their own academic prospects.

To the latter end, as hypercompetitive classmates scoured campus for an academic edge, Migliacci began his semester with a preemptive hedge: that he’d finish with a 3.0 GPA or lower.

“I wasn’t wagering enough to motivate me not to do well,” Migliacci said. “But at least I’d walk away with some money if I didn’t.”

Soon, thousands of students nationwide will have access to the same choice. After a soft launch at the University of Pennsylvania and New York University last year, Ultrinsic is expanding to over 30 schools this fall, including Harvard, Princeton, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Southern California. Now operating from an office in New York, the founders expect enrollment – over 500 through the spring, between Penn and NYU – to jump by about 100 per new school. (The company declined to discuss its financial history or expectations.)

Read the full story at the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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