Applying to colleges can be complicated and confusing– especially when no one in your family has ever attended college. Where can you get help with writing admission essays or figuring out financial aid forms?
Well, one high-school is matching parents who have gone through the process with their own college students to kids hoping to be the first in their families to continue with higher education.
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Newton North High School in Massachusetts created a program called Transitioning Together that taps the city’s affluent parents to help their neighbors’ children.
Since 2012, these experienced parents are paired with students who are first generation college applicants — many whose parents speak English as a second language.
Then-principal Jen Price noticed a huge gap between college enrollments based on race and income and helped create Transitioning Together. She’s moved on to another school, but the mentoring program she helped start has continued to grow.
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The program featured 29 students last year. All 29 went to college. This year, 40 students are taking advantage of the program — and, best of all, there’s no shortage of mentors.
“As people had amazing experiences, they started talking at cocktail parties and to their friends and to their neighbors and so the mentor pool has really grown,” Price told WGBH News.
— Photo by sentraldigital, CC
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