ScholarMatch: Become a Volunteer College/Career Coach!

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

Since there is a lot of combined college and career expertise in this forum, I wanted to share info about an organization that works to help young first-generation students pursue their goals.

ScholarMatch works to ensure that students from all backgrounds can have access to higher education and a strong career. College Coach volunteers work remotely with their matched senior students, advising them on building balanced college lists, editing application essays, and providing general advice along with continued motivation. Career Coaches, on the other hand, assist university students with career guidance. All volunteer coaches will receive training, and communicate via e-mail, texts, Skype; whatever.

More info on college coaches is available here: https://scholarmatch.org/get-involved/college-coach/
And career coach info is here: https://scholarmatch.org/get-involved/career-coach/

Requirements are listed on those pages, but volunteers should already have a Bachelor's degree, be able to pass a background check, and be able to commit to ~4-6 hours per month advising their matched student.

It could be a nice opportunity to connect with other students out there, or a good gateway for anyone interested in counseling, education, or social services.

Thanks, and hopefully someone else out there might be interested.

[ss20ts]

Has anyone heard back from them? Just wondering what the process was like. I applied last night. We'll see how it goes!

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

Has anyone heard back from them? Just wondering what the process was like. I applied last night. We'll see how it goes!

Really good to see someone else from here helping out! Last year, I completed their training program and was even about to fly from Beijing to their San Francisco conference, but then things became very hectic at work for months on end due to unforeseen staffing shortages. Sadly, had to postpone until this year. But based on the discussions I saw coaches having throughout the admissions season, they were an active and engaged group.

Their training was a great overview of the competitive college admissions process. I remember it mentioned the main kind of issues that 1st-gen students might be curious about, like applying for financial aid, choosing colleges with high graduation rates, and some overall campus life concerns. Things like developing engaging application essays, interviewing, and building activities lists are already my bread and butter, but I believe they had some helpful resources for advising students about these tasks as well. They don't expect any volunteers to know all of this stuff off-hand, but they do help prepare you to become a good mentor for students who may not have one.

[Merlin]

Really good to see someone else from here helping out! Last year, I completed their training program and was even about to fly from Beijing to their San Francisco conference, but then things became very hectic at work for months on end due to unforeseen staffing shortages. Sadly, had to postpone until this year. But based on the discussions I saw coaches having throughout the admissions season, they were an active and engaged group.

Their training was a great overview of the competitive college admissions process. I remember it mentioned the main kind of issues that 1st-gen students might be curious about, like applying for financial aid, choosing colleges with high graduation rates, and some overall campus life concerns. Things like developing engaging application essays, interviewing, and building activities lists are already my bread and butter, but I believe they had some helpful resources for advising students about these tasks as well. They don't expect any volunteers to know all of this stuff off-hand, but they do help prepare you to become a good mentor for students who may not have one.

I was considering volunteering for a college and/or career mentor. I've visited their site and looked around, but I haven't signed up yet. I normally have a pretty busy schedule, but I'm happy to make time to answer emails and take a phone call now and then to help. I'm not sure if I'd be better suited to the career coach or college coach, or if I should consider both. It also comes down to the time commitment and other expectations.

This does sound interesting to me since I enjoy helping and I've got some experience as a career coach as well as the volunteer work helping folks with college planning on this forum and elsewhere. I'm not as well-versed on the competitive college application process as I once was so going through the training sounds fun. I'm also located in SF (well, nearby) so that also seems like a plus.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

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I was considering volunteering for a college and/or career mentor. I've visited their site and looked around, but I haven't signed up yet. I normally have a pretty busy schedule, but I'm happy to make time to answer emails and take a phone call now and then to help. I'm not sure if I'd be better suited to the career coach or college coach, or if I should consider both. It also comes down to the time commitment and other expectations.

This does sound interesting to me since I enjoy helping and I've got some experience as a career coach as well as the volunteer work helping folks with college planning on this forum and elsewhere. I'm not as well-versed on the competitive college application process as I once was so going through the training sounds fun. I'm also located in SF (well, nearby) so that also seems like a plus.

Good to see even more potential interest from an experienced coach! I was also partly attracted to the program because their training could help shore up some advice I could give to students.

ScholarMatch usually had drop-in coaching in their SF location, but that's been suspended due to COVID-19. Seems like everyone's online now. If it helps, they estimate around 4-6 hours total per month of time spent assisting two students as their college coach. This includes contact hours, writing off a short progress report (they value data, which is great), and I imagine any needed prepwork. Career coaching services seem to request two one-hour contact sessions each month. 

I'm unsure what kind of differences to expect between the two services, but maybe you'd find more specialized, more "mature" young adults looking for a career coach since they're approaching graduation, vs. the 1st-gen high school applicants who may not know all of the opportunities available to them who just need a bit more guidance. If you or anyone else reading this can find the time--which is so often the biggest hurdle--I'm sure you'd help change some lives there just like you already have here.

[ss20ts]

I received an email last night inviting me to take the first modules of the training. I have to complete them by a specific date and then I move onto the next phase. There are several phases to being completely accepted it looks like. I will give updates as I complete this process in case someone else would like the info. It sounds like a great program especially today since so many kids are now giving up their college dreams because of the virus sadly.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

I received an email last night inviting me to take the first modules of the training. I have to complete them by a specific date and then I move onto the next phase. There are several phases to being completely accepted it looks like. I will give updates as I complete this process in case someone else would like the info. It sounds like a great program especially today since so many kids are now giving up their college dreams because of the virus sadly.

Well, that's a good turnaround time. I remember separate phases, too. I hope you enjoy them.

Just to check, your Bachelor's degree is still in progress now?

[ss20ts]

I received an email last night inviting me to take the first modules of the training. I have to complete them by a specific date and then I move onto the next phase. There are several phases to being completely accepted it looks like. I will give updates as I complete this process in case someone else would like the info. It sounds like a great program especially today since so many kids are now giving up their college dreams because of the virus sadly.

Well, that's a good turnaround time. I remember separate phases, too. I hope you enjoy them.

Just to check, your Bachelor's degree is still in progress now?

Yes, I am working on my BS right now. I am enrolled at CSU Global. I included this on my application. I completed an AAS and an AS years ago and included them on my application. I was surprised they accepted me since my bachelor's degree isn't completed. Maybe being female and a first generation college student helped? Maybe my location?

[Merlin]

I ended up applying for both volunteer positions. So we'll see what comes of it.

[PrettyFlyforaChiGuy]

Yes, I am working on my BS right now. I am enrolled at CSU Global. I included this on my application. I completed an AAS and an AS years ago and included them on my application. I was surprised they accepted me since my bachelor's degree isn't completed. Maybe being female and a first generation college student helped? Maybe my location?

This is good, since maybe they are looking for different perspectives more than they have hard and fast rules.