Be A Writing Coach for A Low-Income High School Student in LA

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If you would like to learn more about volunteering with Minds Matter SoCal, please use the link below to sign up for an informal 15-30 minute coffee chat with a member of our team!
https://mindsmattersocal.org/volunteers/

Quick Overview: Do you enjoy helping students find their voice and learn how to best present themselves through their essays for college admissions? If so, join us as a writing coach for college applications and scholarships! Your focus is on helping students draft personal statements, UC prompts and other college/scholarship application essays. With the uncertainty around the future of standardized tests, the college application essays take on even greater importance. You will directly help a small handful of students shape their unique voices, powerfully present their stories and successfully navigate the application essay process.

Volunteer Roles & Responsibilities: Writing coaches are paired with 2 to 4 students, start in March of their Junior year, and continue to spring of their Senior year. Creating an environment of trust is essential in order to help students own, and communicate, their unique stories and contributions to college admissions officers and scholarship reviewers. The writing coach is an essential member of each student’s support team, working with the mentors to ensure students stay on track and hit all of their deadlines in the college application process. Writing coaches bring forth the student’s stories by building a transformative relationship and helping to elevate their voices. It is a powerful role that requires one to support but not dominate, to guide with positive, constructive feedback and to listen empathetically.

• Attend Saturday sessions in person, and 2 hours per student, per week from March through May in Junior Year and August through January in Senior year. From February through May of Senior year, only some students are still applying for scholarships or pursuing wait list options.

Additional Details:

Impact : We work with students beginning in their sophomore year of high school all the way through their graduation from high school, both on academics (test prep, writing) and on life skills (time management, financial literacy, leadership). The vast majority of our students will be the first from their families to attend college, and we strive to give them the tools they need to thrive in college and in life.

Mission: Minds Matter is an organization dedicated to preparing motivated and bright students from low-income families to succeed in college. For more information, visit the Minds Matter SoCal website (http://mindsmattersocal.org or email us at recruiting@mindsmattersocal.org).

• 10 graduating classes - 130 graduates
• 100% of program graduates have been accepted to 4 year colleges, including Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, other Ivy League colleges, UC Berkeley, UCLA, among others
• Scholarships recipients: 7 Millennium Gates Scholar, 3 Milken Scholars, 2 Posse Scholars, 1 Jack Kent Cooke Scholar

Notable internships: McKinsey Research Center, Mayor's Office (Los Angeles)

Please note that we require full vaccination for COVID-19 for all volunteers, and require indoor masking at sessions.​