Our names are Praharsha and Teddy, and we are 11th grade students at Avenues: The World School. Together, we founded The Get to College Project. We originally became aware of the importance of college admissions support while going through the college process ourselves. Delving into the college process at a New York City private school, it became immediately apparent that we were at an extreme advantage. We have the help of accomplished guidance counselors and a massive support network of peers and adults around us. It made us realize that less fortunate students, even if they are high achieving, have a much bigger hill to climb when it comes to college admissions.

When further researching the issue, we found that not only were our advantages very real, but learned more about the crucial role higher education can play in breaking generational poverty and increasing quality of life. As a result, we decided to step in and try to do our part in making the college process more equitable and approachable for underserved and first generation high school students.

Our premise is simple: we connect deserving first generation low-income high school students with private college counselors, with the aim of maximizing their chances to attend a 4-year college or university. Our organization is entirely funded by donors, who make a one time donation of $3000, which covers all counseling fees for one student. This donation is directly sent to our counselors as compensation.