How We Mentor

Charting A Path to College

Students at YTL will begin to chart their path toward college by creating a college list and conducting research on what college might be right for them. They will learn about the factors to assess when selecting a group of colleges, including geographic, financial, and family considerations.
As part of their assignments, students will learn to draft essays and short-answer responses to common questions asked on school, scholarship, and college applications. Through practice and feedback from the instructor, they will learn to write responses that are original and genuine (not AI-generated) and responsive to the question asked. Students will also learn how to request letters of recommendation from teachers, and how to select good letter-writers.
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Core Skill: Essay Writing

Many students find it difficult to write personalized, detailed responses to common questions posed on school, college, and scholarship applications.
What topic in STEM appeals to you and why? Name a time that you overcame a significant challenge.
We provide a consequence-free environment for students to draft responses and get feedback from instructors who have read hundreds of such essays.

Professional Development Portfolio

Woven into each week's assignments will be portions of the college application process, and tools the student can use to identify other enrichment opportunities including summer programs, internships, entrepreneurship mentoring programs, scholarships, and the like.

Portfolio Elements

During the course, students will create the following:
  • College choice list
  • List of summer programs for future years
  • Responses to common college essay questions
  • A resume
  • List of teachers to ask for recommendations, including a draft message to a teacher
  • A sample "cold email" to a professor asking for a research internship
  • A sample "cold email" to a business contact
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Core Skill: Networking

Many students would like to engage with adults, and many adults are happy to engage with students, but a significant communication barrier may exist between them. We teach students to draft polite, direct e-mails to folks in the business and academic worlds to engage in informational interviews and begin to build a professional network.