Next Generation Scholars

Our Program

Next Generation Scholars offers college and graduate school admissions counseling, psychological services, leadership training, and supportive social services. All elements of our program are approached through the lens of ethnic studies and social justice. Our lectures, events, projects, and personal interactions are rooted in a deep respect for our multicultural society and a desire to provide our students with a meaningful education. It is of utmost importance that all our students not only see themselves as active agents of change in the community, but that they think seriously about what values and causes they are going to enact in their lives.

The following are services provided to all Next Generation Scholars.

Assessment of student academic profile: Every student's academic profile is evaluated thoroughly multiple times throughout the college admissions process. While grades and scores are very important, we know an entire admissions file is closely assessed when a decision of acceptance or denial is made. We deliver honest assessments to scholars so they can make informed decisions as they go through the admissions process.

Curricular and Extra-curricular Planning: Planning is a very big part of the admissions process. Next Generation Scholars works with students and their families to ensure sound academic and extra-curricular choices are made. To ensure that students without privilege have equal opportunities, we use our extensive relationships within the community to enable students to develop their own up-lift projects in conjunction with other nonprofits, thereby developing the skills and interests colleges are seeking from extra-curricular activities.

College Research: There are thousands of colleges in the United States and abroad. Each school has a unique personality. Next Generation Scholars guides scholars through a comprehensive research process that enables them to find ten schools that best match their personal profile. This list is broken down into three "Reach" schools, four "Match" schools and three "Likely" schools. We then help arrange for college tours and visits that enable our scholars to go beyond the tour and actually connect with students, faculty and programs specific to their interests.

Application Strategies: Next Generation Scholars helps students and their families put together the best possible application strategy for each college on their list. Every student has a specific profile unique to him/herself. Next Generation Scholars works with students to find the best way for them to express their profile in a way that is true to their accomplishments and potential.

Personal Essay/ Short Essay Development: The essays are often times the biggest stumbling block in the admissions process. Many college applicants fail to capture their personal experience. Next Generation Scholars, through its clinical director, utilizes the tenets of Narrative Therapy to help scholars find their voices and the words to tell their stories. This process is one of self-discovery and personal growth. In writing their essays, many scholars speak in clear adult voices, faithful to their experiences, for the first time. Next Generation Scholars firmly believes their voices, the true voices from the margins of our society, will lead, through education, to transitional moments for America.

Standardized Test Strategies: Each and every student approaches standardized testing differently. The tests are the necessary evil in the admissions process. The tests in no way reflect a student's intelligence or potential for higher education. What they do test is a student's ability to take tests and follow a strategy. Our program does a complete evaluation of a student's test-taking skills. We then create a series of programs to help each student achieve his/her highest test taking potential.

Summer SAT/ACT Prep: SAT/ACT test prep is a core part of the Next Generation Scholars summer curriculum. This program is much like the Kaplan, Princeton Review and Compass programs. Certain adaptations are made for English language learners so they may receive the extra support they need to be successful. An assessment is done on all students to determine which test, the SAT or the ACT, is the best match for their skills. The Math, Writing and Critical Reading sections are taught extensively with special attention being paid to teaching standardized test-taking strategies. Along with classes, all students take four full tests in an environment that mimics the actual testing environment. These tests serve as a barometer of improvement and allow each student to clearly define the areas where they must concentrate.

Interview Preparation: Throughout our entire program, students are challenged to think and engage their world. Every class includes a college level lecture and discussion that encourages every voice in the room. As we prepare for interviews, we use our classroom time to provoke the kind of discussions that students will have in their interviews. Beyond the classroom, Next Generation Scholars nurtures a positive identity within scholars so they feel pride in telling their story, excitement in explaining their passions, and a firm belief in the accomplishment of their goals.

Academic Support: Many underserved students do not have access to high level academic support. Next Generation Scholars provides tutoring and college-level discussions to support students in AP and honors classes.

College Level Reading/Writing Prep: Next Generation Scholars prepares students for the reading load of college by moving them from upper level high school English to the books assigned by highly selective colleges. We individually select books for scholars that peak their interests and challenge their comprehension skills. Tied to the reading program is a series of progressive writing assignments that challenge students to develop college level writing skills simultaneously.

College Tour Planning: College visits are a very important part of the process. Students must discover for themselves the reasons why an individual college would be a great match for them. Next Generation Scholars works to create enriched college visiting experiences. We help each student put together college tours that enable him/her to gather the information he/she needs to make sound decisions. We also are able to connect current students with Next Generation Scholars who have moved on to college. Through these relationships, our students are able to visit classes, arrange overnights, and see a school from the perspective of a student very much like themselves.

Financial Aid Preparation: Financial Aid is a very complex process. Next Generation Scholars helps students best position themselves to receive aid. We walk through each step of the process and help file all the appropriate forms. When necessary we facilitate the negotiation with a given college so students receive the best financial aid package possible. We also assist students in finding private scholarships and teach our scholar already in college to find and land fellowships.

College Selection: Making informed decisions is the key to the entire process. College selection is the last decision in the admissions process. We make sure each student has all the information they need before making this crucial decision.

Planning the Freshman Year: Transition to college is an eventful and often stressful time. Next Generation Scholars continues to advise students as they enter college. We help them choose classes, find community, and when necessary we aid in the securing of academic support. We keep in contact with each of our students as they navigate their new environment. We also lend support to families as they adjust to having their children away from home. In sum, Next Generation Scholars helps students set sound academic goals and make the most of their college experience.

Summer Program Planning: Summer curricular planning is very important. Next Generation Scholars helps each of our students find meaningful summer experiences. Some of the experiences are international or on the opposite coast, while others are right here in the Bay Area. The point to these experiences is to advance the interests of the student and enable them to spend their summers fully engaged in pursuits that further their ability to gain fellowships, internships and ultimately employment in the future.

Social Capital Building: Next Generation Scholars attempts to level the playing field by taking scholars to live performances, museums, outdoor education sites, conferences, activities to which student's families might not have access. Next Generation Scholars also provides opportunities for civic engagement by encouraging students to actively engage public affairs and institutions of democracy such as school boards, boards of supervisors, human rights commissions etc.

Cross-cultural Relationship Building and Advocacy with Teachers, Administrators and Public Servants: Not all families have equal access to the schools their children attend. By creating productive cross-cultural relationships within the educational community here in Marin, Next Generation Scholars works to build community support and advocate on behalf of all underserved families.

Referrals: Next Generation Scholars is very tightly connected to the community. We have created networks of individuals and institutions throughout the county that help us to provide our students with the resources they need.

Tracking Through College: Next Generation Scholars knows that college does not end with acceptance. We follow our students through to graduation, assisting with course and major selection as well as being the support through homesickness and disappointments. We also share in the successes and encourage scholars in taking the next step. We are here to handle emergencies at home so student can remain at college assured that Next Generation Scholars is attending to what they would have done had they come home.

We offer scholars internships during the summer after their freshmen years to give them the experiences they will need to land fellowships in the following summers. We also teach scholars how to find and land those fellowships from the colleges they attend.

Next Generation Scholars have received college summer fellowships that have taken them to Cambodia, France, Korea, England, Ghana and South Africa. Fellowships, here and abroad, have supported scholars' work/research in war crimes, Art and Women's Studies, Economics, community organizing, migrant children's education, marketing, orphan care, medical research and, of course, college admissions for the underserved.