College Connect is designed for students entering their senior year of high school. It is at this time that the bulk of the college application process occurs, and we typically like to begin working with students from August or September up to January or February. Sign up now if you fit this description!
The best way to connect with other College Connect users is to reach out to our help line at help@cccollegeconnect.org and let us know if there is any questions you may have that your mentor cannot answer. We will do our best to put you in contact with someone who can help.
Matches typically take 2 - 5 weeks to finalize depending on mentor availability and the number of students in need of matches at any time. Please remember to stay patient but feel free to email us or message us on socials if you need an update!
Click here to be redirected to our sign-up form! Simply fill out the form completely and check your email regularly for a pairing update!
There are a number of ways to get in touch with our organization staff. You can email us at help@cccollegeconnect.org or send us a DM on our Instagram.
College Connect is open to any student currently applying to any higher education institution. Anyone is invited to join, regardless of institution of interest, grades, extracurriculars, or financial situation. Fill out our form to join our database of interested students. We typically recommend students sign up by August so they can start working with their mentors from September to February. However, students can sign up later than September if needed and end the program earlier than February based on individual application needs and circumstances.
College Connect is completely free to students, regardless of one's individual financial situation. All of our mentors are volunteers, so we are able to provide this service free of charge. However, donations are still appreciated to help us meet our organizational operating costs!
Sadly, no. Since we are a non-profit and our mentors are volunteers, we do not have unfettered access to every potential mentor. Thus, when we have a student sign-up who can't be effectively matched with an existing mentor, we reach out to their school of interest to ask for a mentor that meets the student's requirements. However, this is not guaranteed to work. But, signing up is free so it can't hurt to give it a shot!
Our mentors help with a variety of the various parts of a college application. We can assist with editing essays, working with the Common App/Coalition for College, presenting extracurriculars, and much more! Visit our Services page for more info!
During meetings with your mentor, be prepared to follow up on what you discussed during your last meeting, present any essays you are working on, etc. Sessions occur as often as you can with your mentor and are flexible based on your schedule and your mentor's. College Connect recommends you meet with your mentor at least once every other week for an hour for the most beneficial results. Don't hesitate to contact your mentor once you receive their information and decide on times that work for both of you.
Most colleges end their regular decision period for the fall term by the end of March or beginning of April. After you have submitted your application to your colleges, you and your mentor can choose to continue to work together on scholarships, housing, etc. If you do decide that you don't need to continue working with your mentor, you will fill out a program ending form. You are welcome to continue communication with your mentor but College Connect assumes no responsibility for any communication past our program. Students will also be sent a form where they can enter information about universities that they were accepted to and where they have committed to attending, as well as an opportunity to submit a student testimonial and encourage future students to achieve their dreams!
Mentors can fill out this form to join our database of volunteers! A match is not always guaranteed but we always need volunteers for any new students that need our help. We encourage you to sign up and volunteer your time to help students who are in the same position that you were and help be a guiding figure in their college application experience. Please also share our service with your friends and get them involved with giving back to future incoming classes.
Think of this like a tutoring service. You will help students with all aspects of their application based on your own personal experience and do your best to answer questions they have. As a mentor, you are responsible for meeting with your student at least once every other week for an hour. Additional meetings can be discussed and held based on your availability and your student's availability. Your meetings can be split (ie. meet once a week for 30 minutes each). Meeting days and times are entirely up to you and your student. All meetings MUST be logged in a form that will be sent to you when you are paired with a student. College Connect prides itself on providing our mentors with a lot of flexibility. Pair this with our low time requirement and you get a volunteering opportunity that both fits your schedule and has an amazing impact!
You are expected to be familiar with the Common App as well as common essay writing tips. For further detail on all the aspects of a college application, please visit our Services page!
We ask all our mentors to be current undergraduate students so we can provide our College Connect mentees with the most up-to-date information regarding the college application process. This process is constantly changing, so it is helpful when our mentors just went through it themselves only a couple years ago.
You need to meet with your students biweekly, unless there is an extenuating circumstance. You must meet with your students for at least one hour every two week, and additional time spent is up to you and your student. You will be meeting with your student until January or February at the latest. In reality, your time with your student will end when they decide they are no longer in need of specific help or have completed their application process.
There are other application help services out there, but they cost tons of money. Many students cannot make that financial investment, but we here at College Connect believe that cost shouldn't block them from valuable access regarding college admissions. Post-secondary education is extremely important, and in an effort to make access to resources to help students obtain this education, we serve the community as a non-profit. Since we do not make money by offering our services, we seek volunteers who believe in our mission and are willing to donate an hour a week to helping future graduating classes achieve their dreams.
