Let's Get Ready, Inc.

Let’s Get Ready’s three-part model (Access, Transition, and Success) represents a six-year continuum of support from the junior year of high school through college graduation. Services are delivered by volunteer college student Coaches — many of them former participants or from similar backgrounds— who serve as SAT tutors, college advisers, and near-peer mentors. Because of the reliance on carefully trained Coaches, Let's Get Ready's programs are highly flexible, cost-efficient, and scalable. Access participants improve their SAT scores, learn about colleges that are a good fit for them, and complete their admissions and financial aid applications. They acquire skills, knowledge, and confidence that will help them transition to college and earn a degree. Overall, 91% of Let's Get Ready Access alumni enroll in college. Meanwhile, the Transition and Success programs, established in 2014, offer students continued mentorship, resources, and interventions to help students make a successful transition to a college well-matched to their aspirations and level of achievement — and to stay on track through graduation.

College Access: Built on strategic collaborations between colleges, high schools, and community organizations, each Let’s Get Ready high school program brings together 30-50 students and 10-15 trained volunteer Coaches. Each is managed by two college student Site Directors who receive a small stipend. Organizational partners provide space and volunteer time, and many cover part of the program cost. Programs meet twice a week for 3 hours (and some Saturdays), running for 9 weeks in the fall, spring or summer.

Classes are kept small and grouped according to ability. Let's Get Ready has proprietary curriculum and a rigorous training and supervisory structure. Connecting with each young person to encourage, inspire, and build self-confidence is a high priority. The College Access program includes: 30 hours of rigorous SAT prep and 2 practice SAT exams; 15+ hours of assistance with college selection, applications, essays, and financial aid/scholarships; intensive mentoring; college trips and special information sessions with college admissions officers; financial aid workshops with trained professionals for students and families; and family orientation sessions and workshops throughout the year.

Transition: Upon completion of the Access Program, students are automatically enrolled in Transition for support throughout senior year and during the vulnerable period between college acceptance and attendance, when students with fewer resources and less knowledge about college life may fail to matriculate. To facilitate a successful transition, Let’s Get Ready focuses on finding the right college match for each student and staying in contact with students through the summer. Transition Coaches — current college undergraduates, often Let’s Get Ready alumni, with backgrounds similar to that of our students — guide them through the steps of preparing for their fall freshman semester including meeting important deadlines, finalizing financial aid and understanding course requirements and registration. They address individual concerns and help students manage the social and emotional issues that arise during this period through the Signal Vine text-messaging platform. Additionally, we provide Summer Transition Workshops emphasizing skills and activities such as accessing resources on campus, time management and money management

Recently launched in spring 2018, students now have the opportunity to opt-in to our Transition ‘Core Plus’ Program which allows for an increased level of individualized mentoring. The existing Transition Programs’ services offer high-quality and timely information for all students, but we found an urgent need existed for more in-depth and diversified services. Each student in the Transition Core Plus Program is assigned a dedicated near-peer coach to provide regular check-ins to assess progress toward senior year milestones. Let’s Get Ready’s program is based on a commitment to empowering students and building their confidence in their knowledge of their own needs and in their own decisions. Adding this Core Plus option ensures that students use these skills and have a strong choice and voice in the services that will most benefit them.

College Success: Let’s Get Ready’s program model doesn’t end at college enrollment. Over 11,000 Let’s Get Ready alumni now attend a wide range of colleges of varying competitiveness. To increase college persistence and graduation rates for these students, Let’s Get Ready’s College Success Program provides links to critical resources, tools and supports on- and off-campus.

The centerpieces of the Success Program are campus-based Peer Success Sites at colleges with a critical mass of Let’s Get Ready alumni, providing continued near-peer mentorship. Sites are located at 30 colleges and universities throughout Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New York and Pennsylvania and a Virtual Success Site launching in the fall, serving Let’s Get Ready undergraduates at all other colleges. Replicating our near-peer "students helping students” model, Let’s Get Ready trains college upperclassmen, many themselves Let’s Get Ready alumni, to mentor new students through the challenges of college life, help them leverage resources and foster peer mentoring support groups.