What We Do
Since its founding in New York City in 1991, Minds Matter has achieved remarkable and consistent success:
100% of Minds Matter students have been accepted into a four-year college or university.
The organization since has expanded to fourteen cities nationwide, beyond New York, and our chapter here in Chicago, to include Boston, Cleveland, Denver, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco, Seattle, the Twin Cities, Detroit, Washington D.C. and Houston.
Our local chapter is committed to making higher education a reality for accomplished high school students from low-income families in the Chicago area.
What makes us unique?
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Students are paired with two mentors who regularly help them with course work and other academic assignments during our weekly sessions. They help their student to apply for summer prep programs during their sophomore and junior years. And our mentors play an important role in the ultimate college application processes during senior year
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The Minds Matter program includes free standardized test preparation, community service efforts, writing and speaking skills ... and other skills that benefit the student academically. Ultimately, this plays a role in expanding personal life skills.
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We send our students to academic summer programs in their sophomore and junior years at NO COST ... to the student, their family or their school. As with the rest of our program, these summer programs are fully funded by our organization through the generosity of our donors and corporate sponsors.
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Minds Matter helps our mentees and their families navigate the often complicated financial aid process, to make sure that any and all funding available is accessed by every student.
Through our intensive, holistic mentoring and college prep program, we're proud to foster a culture of excellence. Working together with our students, the mutual goal is to raise their expectations, broaden their dreams, and equip them with a toolkit for future success.
Becoming a graduate of the Minds Matter program is a mark of hard work, commitment and achievement to potential colleges and employers.
Here in Chicago, many of our students are the FIRST in their families to attend a college or university. In that way, the Minds Matter experience can help transform, not just the lives of hard working individuals, but entire families as well.
College Acceptances for Minds Matter Chicago Students Include...
