Private Prep is committed to supporting students through our scholarship program, which places high-achieving students from low-income or underserved backgrounds with individual tutors and admissions coaches who will help them navigate the test prep and college application process and ultimately gain admission to these best-fit colleges. This highly personalized support ensures that they have access to accurate information and are fully supported in their college journeys. Our team provides students with a superior level of expertise and one-on-one attention that is second to none.
With the season of giving upon us, we wanted to take a moment and look back on the work of the Private Prep Scholarship Program under the leadership of Stefanie Lob, Westchester and Fairfield Partner, and Rachel Elmer, Director of Admissions Counseling.
Can you give us a little background on the program?
The Private Prep Scholarship Program was piloted in 2015 with three students from a NYC public high school. Our focused approach was intended to have a more meaningful impact on the students we would be serving by providing our scholarship students the exact same test prep and college admissions support that we provide our private students.
Where does the program stand today?
As of 2020, this program has grown to include all of our domestic markets and has supported 55 students to date. Students who have participated in our program have attended schools such as University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Barnard College, Wake Forest University, Northwestern University, and Vanderbilt University, to which they received full-need-met scholarships.
How are students selected for the program?
Our selection process involves submitting transcripts, counselor or teacher recommendations, and application essays, in which students get to highlight their strengths, interests, and voice. We’re currently selecting our Class of 2022 scholarship recipients and have extended our application deadline to December 1st, 2020. For more information about our criteria, please see our application.
How do you hope to grow the scholarship program in the future?
Part of what makes Private Prep special are the relationships we develop with the communities we serve. Building strong partnerships with school counselors and those in the nonprofit sector is an essential part of growing and strengthening our scholarship program. The deeper these relationships are, the more we can grow.
We also believe that successfully supporting our scholarship students requires working collaboratively with other people in our students’ lives — their counselors, their parents, schools, and local nonprofits. We are always growing and considering how we can better support our students, and we welcome the opportunity to connect and collaborate with any organizations with similar missions.
Finally, because our aim is to support students from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences, we acknowledge that this program will require continued assessment, especially through the lens of racial equity. We are currently in this process and look forward to the continued work of incorporating racial equity into our approach.
Know of a great candidate or a school or nonprofit that might have potential students? We welcome nominations and appreciate the help of our community partners and clients in spreading the word about our growing scholarship program. Together, we can help even more students learn to thrive.
