Introducing the College Prep Club

Last Fall, student participants in the BetterGrads pilot eMentoring Program at Granada High (Livermore, CA) formed a new club on campus unlike any other. The College Prep Club was designed to encourage students – 2400 in all – to see college as an attainable goal. Since its inception, the College Prep Club 2012 (with “2012″ signifying the year members will graduate from high school and begin college) has significantly improved the college-going culture on campus. The College Prep Club has been involved in several college-themed activities, including SAT study sessions and College Planning “Expo” nights. Recently, students initiated the Pennant Project, for which club members collect pennants from Granada teachers’ alma maters and ask them about their experience there. The pennants will be displayed in the Granada High library and career center with the intent of further promoting college-going culture by connecting specific schools with students’ teachers. As part of [...]

Announcing the BetterGrads-Pedrozzi Scholarship

BetterGrads is delighted to announce the BetterGrads-Pedrozzi Scholarship, which will award two $1,500 college scholarships to students who participate in our pilot eMentoring program at Granada High School in Livermore, Calif. The BetterGrads-Pedrozzi Scholarship is funded by a partnership with the Pedrozzi Scholarship Foundation, a Livermore-based private family foundation. Since 2008, the Foundation has awarded more than 200 scholarships to deserving graduates of Livermore high schools in pursuit of higher education, totaling nearly $1 million. The scholarship will recognize two student mentees at Granada High who have embodied the ideals of the BetterGrads eMentoring Program through leadership and community service. Students will fill out an online application, which includes two short essay questions and an optional letter of recommendation. Two equivalent scholarships will be offered at Livermore High School during the 2011-12 school year, when we expand our programs there. The deadline to apply for the BetterGrads-Pedrozzi Scholarship is 11:59 [...]

BetterGrads Website, Version 2.0

Today marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for BetterGrads. We are delighted to announce the launch of our re-designed website. The streamlined, informative, resource-rich interface supports our raison d’être: to empower students for success and create sustainable college-going cultures at their high schools by connecting them to recent alumni.

Letter to Self – Take Charge

Dear High School Matt, You are about to make the biggest jump of your young life, try not to worry about it so much.  It is a significant transition, but you will soon find that you can handle it, so embrace it as soon as possible. And I know that you stumbled on UC Davis as your school, but don’t worry about it. You will come to love the school and the town of Davis sooner than your imagine. While it was not an easy decision for you, it will turn out fantastic. After you get settled in at Davis, get involved as much as you can as soon as you can. Don’t waste your freshman year in a mess of drama, when you could be participating in many productive ways.

Letter to Self–Trusting Yourself

Even though it’s been five years, I remember what you’re going through all too well. Let’s see…you’re freaking out about passing precalculus, waiting on pins and needles to hear back from colleges, and wondering why senior year has been the complete opposite of the idyllic year promised by yearbooks and teen movies. Am I right? Thought so.

Letter to Self – Keep Smiling

I remember you at seventeen, about to start your senior year of high school as the new student at a private, Catholic school in the Los Angeles. The earlier years of high school were a challenge for you – your mother being diagnosed with breast cancer and constantly feeling out of place within the LAUSD school system. You had too many passions and too little outlets for them. Would college be the solution to your feeling out of place? Would college allow you to make up for the social and extracurricular experiences you missed out on, when you came home early to provide support to your mother because you could not bear to be out when someone you loved so dearly was in such tremendous pain?

Letter to Your High School Self

Write a letter to your high school self. Share the things you questioned about college that eventually were answered. Share your wisdom and advice. Give some guidance to the next generation of college potentials.

Mother’s Day, or: A Celebration of How Your Future Is Decided?

The apple often doesn’t fall far from the tree. We all know that adage. For better or for worse, our moms (and dads) make a big difference in our college and career success. What to do if your parents were not well-educated or high up on the professional ladder.

Why College? Part 6 — Rejecting College Rejections

How to turn that NO into a YES (sort of): Rejecting College Rejections.

College 101 Panels in the SF Bay Area in January 2010

BetterGrads will be offering four College 101 panels in January 2010 at San Francisco Bay Area High Schools, including Richmond High School and Oakland Technical High School.