As a high school stu­dent, it can be dif­fi­cult to envi­sion what col­lege life is really like.

This was the shared sen­ti­ment in the sum­mer of 2007, when a group of col­lege friends and I devel­oped a series of pre­sen­ta­tions to share our insights on col­lege life with the next gen­er­a­tion of high school stu­dents from our alma mater. We offered five free “Col­lege 101” pre­sen­ta­tions attended by over 100 stu­dents, par­ents, and edu­ca­tors in the Tri-Valley (CA). The pre­sen­ta­tions answered all of the ques­tions we remem­bered hav­ing as college-bound high school­ers and revealed the biggest kept secret of the col­lege expe­ri­ence. The pro­gram was a hit.

I really enjoyed your pre­sen­ta­tion. It was deliv­ered very well and was hilar­i­ous. ~Dustin, a senior at Liv­er­more High School (CA)

We were glad we attended. You pro­vided a per­spec­tive we have not yet con­sid­ered. ~The Lip­ski Fam­ily, Liv­er­more (CA)

I would love to tell my friends to go to ya'll’s pre­sen­ta­tion ‘cause I loved it! ~Ash­leigh, a junior at Mil­ton High School (GA)

I learned a lot. I really did appre­ci­ate the fact that it came from some­one more our age because I wouldn’t have paid atten­tion if it was any­one else. ~Cathy, a senior at Liv­er­more High School (CA)

The seed was planted for a larger-scale move­ment in 2009: BetterGrads.

Bet­ter­Grads con­nects high school stu­dents with local col­lege stu­dent peer advi­sors to pre­pare them for the col­lege expe­ri­ence and long-term success.

Through student-driven “Col­lege 101” pre­sen­ta­tions and an inter­ac­tive web­site, Bet­ter­Grads will trans­form how high school stu­dents think about and pre­pare for col­lege. We aim to be the pre­mier student-driven men­tor­ing net­work in the United States.

For­mi­da­ble bar­ri­ers threaten the qual­ity and avail­abil­ity of col­lege prepa­ra­tion nation­wide. Per­haps no edu­ca­tional sys­tem is as endan­gered as California’s, where Bet­ter­Grads is based:

• Severe bud­get cuts in edu­ca­tion will total $6 bil­lion next year. This adds up to a reduc­tion of $900 for every pub­lic K-12 stu­dent in the state;
• High school career cen­ters will be cut an addi­tional 40% next year;
• Low expec­ta­tions for suc­cess among stu­dents stymie poten­tial and destroy col­lege dreams;
• An estab­lished, replic­a­ble student-to-student national men­tor­ing sys­tem is nonexistent.

The time is now for inno­va­tion in edu­ca­tion to cul­ti­vate bet­ter grad­u­ates. High school stu­dents need advi­sors close to their age who are con­nected to their schools. Cur­rent col­lege stu­dents are uniquely posi­tioned to impact their younger peers. Thus, Bet­ter­Grads’ col­lege stu­dent peer advi­sors deliver pre­sen­ta­tions at nearby high schools and con­tribute to a web­site that will serve as a gate­way for high school stu­dents to explore col­lege and engage with the peer advi­sors online.

Bet­ter­Grads’ web­site and pre­sen­ta­tion con­tent are cre­ated and pre­sented by col­lege stu­dents and recent grad­u­ates. We offer an hon­est take on hun­dreds of college-related top­ics within four cat­e­gories: admis­sions, aca­d­e­mics, social life, and beyond college.

We believe high school stu­dents need to know the truth about col­lege: Col­lege is all about choices. By encour­ag­ing local advis­ing and national con­nec­tiv­ity between stu­dents, Bet­ter­Grads empow­ers high school stu­dents to know how to thrive in college.

Our com­mit­ted team wants to reach 2000 high school stu­dents in our first year through our Col­lege 101 pre­sen­ta­tions and our inter­ac­tive web­site. We want to empower this gen­er­a­tion of col­lege stu­dent lead­ers to give back to the high schools in their local com­mu­ni­ties. We want to trans­form col­lege prep, as we know it.

But we can­not do it alone. Com­mu­ni­ties are the bedrock of Bet­ter­Grads. We can­not suc­ceed with­out local com­mu­ni­ties and pas­sion­ate indi­vid­u­als stand­ing up for their students.

Whether you are a par­ent, school offi­cial, cor­po­ra­tion, foun­da­tion, sim­i­lar orga­ni­za­tion, phil­an­thropist, col­lege stu­dent or high school stu­dent, we need your sup­port. Please con­sider one of the many ways to invest in our cause.

Thank you very much.

With Grat­i­tude,
Kevin F. Adler
Exec­u­tive Direc­tor, Founder
BetterGrads