College Coach Resource Page
Welcome to your one-stop-shop for volunteering with ScholarMatch!
Monthly Goals + Resources
Monthly Goals
- Milestone 1: Welcome to the Destination College program. Confirm if students have signed the program agreement with their parents or legal guardian. If they haven’t received a program agreement, please have them email us at advising@scholarmatch.org. Submitting the program agreement is a required step in order to participate in our program.
- Milestone 2: Explore College Fit and Match. Support students in exploring what they are looking for in a college and research colleges that will challenge them academically.
- Milestone 3: Check SAT/ACT Test Policies. COVID-19 has impacted many colleges’ policies on requiring the SAT or ACT for admissions. Many colleges have become test-optional or test-free. We recommend checking the testing policies at each college on your list so you can determine if testing is right for you.
- Milestone 4: Finalize Your College List. Once you finish Milestone 2, please help your student ensure their college list is balanced.
Resources
- College application tracker: As students create their college list, have them use this tracker to stay organized.
- High-graduation rate schools (Also known as CollegePoint schools): This list includes four-year colleges and universities in the United States with the highest graduation rates, 70% or higher. They represent a diverse range of geographies and institution types and include safety, match, and reach for students.
- College spotlight: This document is a good starting point to help your students with their college lists. It offers specific school characteristics, majors, and interests.
- Student-friendly college spotlight: Please feel free to share this college spotlight resource with your students. Thanks to our friends at College Possible for sharing this great resource!
- FAFSA Checklist: Help your student get ready to complete the FAFSA and/or CSS Profile
Announcements
Read the latest Coach newsletter
Join us for Office Hours on 9/16/21 @ 12PM
these office hours are optional and a great way to connect with ScholarMatch staff and other coaches! Join us by clicking here
Coach Led Webinars
- If you are interested in leading a webinar or participating in a panel discussion, we are currently accepting webinar interest forms for the 2021-22 program year. Submit this form to get started
Become a Varsity Coach!
- The Varsity Coach Gallery has allowed coaches to connect with one another across time zones, states, and countries, to share knowledge, ask questions, and collaborate in different ways.
- Complete this form to get started
Resources for First Year Coaches:
- List-building resources: We’ve compiled a list of resources that will be helpful during this process. If you have any other tools or websites you want to use during this process, please feel free to incorporate them when advising students.
- Building rapport with your student (guide): We suggest using this guide to foster productive conversations with your student, gain further insight into their college process, and understand the best ways to offer support and guidance.
FAFSA & Financial Aid Goals
Do you have questions about financial aid? We recommend reaching out to our Varsity Coaches and visiting our college toolkit to review resources available for Financial Aid. We recommend that you support your students in gathering the necessary documents required to submit their applications. Our recommended deadline for students to submit their financial aid applications is December 15th.
COVID-19 Counselor Toolkit
This kit contains information regarding resources, opportunities, information, and updates to better assist and inform students and their families.
Does your student need a SAT Fee Waiver?
Complete this form and we’ll get back to you.
Community & Support Platforms
Unresponsive Student Protocol
College Toolkit
The College Toolkit is our resource bank/archive documents, guides, and links on topics as wide ranging as how to build a balance college list, how to submit the FAFSA, scholarship lists, and more.
If you have resources you think should be added to the toolkit, we’d love to consider them!
Quick Links
Data Tracking & Reporting Needs: For students in C/O 2022 you will only need to submit Coach Reports. Read through this document for more details.
Milestones: Students are required to submit their College Ready Milestones, along with occasional other check-ins. Review the new milestones here.
Student Support Playbook: Review the playbook before your first conversation with students!
College Ready Milestones
You’re encouraged to look through our Milestones page for an overview of the year’s work ahead!
Please note that the majority of these dates represent only a suggested deadline to help keep you and your students on track – we recognize that each student has different needs and works through the process at a different pace.
Student Communication and Engagement
Helpful Student Communication Guides
Have you been matched with a student who isn’t responding? Has your scholar gone radio silent after you began working together? Is your student rescheduling all your meetings? We know from precedent that this unfortunately happens with a small number of our students each year, so we’ve created a few guides to help you out and clarify our expectations.
