<p>I applied to this program in June and I didn’t really know what it was about. If I remember correctly, it was posted on my school website so I thought it would be real.</p>
<p>But now I’m starting to wonder whether it’s some type of false program. They’re mentioning Skype chats and stuff, so I wanted to know if anyone else has ever heard of this program before.</p>
<p>We just wanted to reply to the post above. </p>
<p>The Phoenix Project is structured to equip first-generation, low-income, and/or minority students with resources for success in the college admissions and scholarship process. The Phoenix Project seeks to identify other phoenix students, who have risen above challenging circumstances. Thus, the overarching goal of the Phoenix Project is to make college education equitable across racial and socio-economic lines by utilizing students at elite universities to provide free college admissions counseling, personal statement editing, and scholarship application support for high school students.</p>
<p>In 2010, we had 93 high school senior scholars paired with 45 Stanford mentors. All of our scholars were accepted into over 60 four-year colleges across the nation - Stanford, Harvard, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Morehouse, MIT, U Penn, and more! </p>
<p>We are passionate about our mission and will continue to expand our outreach in the future.</p>
<p>I just wanted to add to this post. I was actually a mentee for the project this past year, and it was really a wonderful experience. My mentor was extremely helpful, and refused to give up on me, even when I was really dismal in the college process. She proofread my essays at all hours, called me every week to check up, and always made me feel like regardless of the decisions, I did my best and there was nothing else I could have done. Truthfully, if you apply to schools like Stanford and Harvard and etc you’re already a highly motivated individual, but sometimes it’s really nice to have that extra push to keep going. It’s a great program and anyone who has the chance to apply should definitely do so!</p>
<p>This program is extremely different from Questbridge. This program is not a scholarship program, it is merely a mentorship program. Students from Stanford help high achieving low income/first gen/minority students work college and scholarship application essay reading. Mentees who participate in this program are mainly drawn from California and get into a wide variety of top universities. It’s going to be a great program and I encourage anyone who is interested to give it a try. :)</p>
<p>To be honest, they are definitely duplicating some of the work that QuestBridge does, which includes linking mentors at partner colleges to low-income students (in the College Prep Scholarship). It would make more sense for them to work directly with QuestBridge, which takes care of all the recruitment and works on a more national scale. And since QB was started at Stanford, by Stanford students/alums, and is headquartered just off campus, it makes sense to work with them.</p>
<p>Interesting. I joined CC to help my niece with her college search, but am also learning about possible programs for my daughter who is a Sophomore. She has dreams about going to Stanford (seriously, actual dreams) and we did hear of Questbridge but not the other program. We are not from California though, so a national program may be a better fit. I hear Questbridge is super selective, not that she can’t compete with the best of them, but I always try to teach her to have options.</p>
<p>Amazhon, QuestBridge is selective to an extent, but not extremely. If your niece is a low-income student (generally under $60k income by QB’s standards), and does decently in school (good GPA, some extracurriculars, etc.), she should make it to finalist status in the National College Match. It’s harder to get one of the College Prep Scholarships, but if she has good recs, etc. she should have a decent shot.</p>