At ScholarMatch, we provide free, virtual college counseling to high school students across the United States.

In 2010, we started off as a college drop-in center on Valencia Street and have since expanded our services to reach 2,000+ high school youth across the country. In partnership with CollegePoint, our virtual advising platform connects passionate volunteers to high school seniors from California to Kentucky to even Hawaii, making higher education more accessible for under-resourced students through free, individualized college counseling.

We’ve had the opportunity to support such amazing students — and we want the rest of the world to know just how great they are! We had the pleasure of catching up with Maria, an incredible student in Englewood, Colorado who participated in our Virtual College Coaching program last year. Read on to see how Maria’s bold decision to apply for a highly competitive scholarship paid off!

Hey Maria! We wanted to start off by rewinding to a year ago: How did you feel about applying to college?

The college application process was really daunting for me, as I had been focusing so much on my high school career that I wasn’t really thinking about what would happen next. I knew I was going to college — I just didn’t think about the details and assumed I’d figure it all out by the time I had to apply. This led to a lot of indecisiveness and confusion when I was searching for colleges that could fit my needs, and that I should apply to.

What was it like working with your ScholarMatch College Coach?

I was incredibly impressed with my College Coach, and I remember feeling so grateful that a person with so much credibility and expertise was going to help me with my college application process. I had a lot of trust in her since the moment I met her, and she provided amazing support to me.

In what ways has your College Coach supported you?

The biggest highlight of working with my College Coach was when she helped me apply for this incredibly prestigious scholarship, the Boettcher Scholarship. We worked on the essays for my application for 3 weeks, continuously editing my drafts through Google Docs. She would write comments that not only helped with those particular essays, but allowed me to become a better writer in general. I learned so much about how to write concise essays that help get my ideas across powerfully. The best part was that it all paid off when I was named a recipient for the scholarship, which essentially provides a full ride to any four year institution in Colorado! I really enjoyed sharing the news with some of my teachers, which I recorded on video.

What advice would you give to a high school senior applying for college?

It’s okay to be unsure! You cannot know exactly what will happen in college, so don’t stress yourself out trying to look into the future! Just go where you feel most comfortable, and take it from there.

I can offer an example: originally I had been dead-set on going out of state, or even international, for my college experience. However, working with my college coach implored me to look into options I had closer to home as well. Eventually, with the help of the Boettcher Scholarship, I did make my decision to stay in state. Even though this might have shocked me a year ago, I’m so excited to have an abundance of opportunities in my future at CU Boulder!

And lastly, what are you MOST looking forward to in college?

CU Boulder has so many amazing traditions, like having the mascot, Ralphie the Buffalo, run across the field at every home football game, or the Annual Conference on World Affairs. I’m excited to partake in them, and any other adventures that come about! I also can’t believe I almost forgot this… CU Boulder has goat yoga????!!!!! I’m very excited for that!!!

Maria was awarded the prestigious Boettcher Scholarship, which provides her with a full ride to any four-year institution in Colorado! She shared a heartwarming video with us, where she informed her teachers about this wonderful news. In Fall 2018, Maria will be CU Boulder-bound!

ScholarMatch’s Virtual Destination College program provides free college admissions counseling to high-achieving, low- and moderate-income high school seniors nationwide. After students like Maria are referred to ScholarMatch by CollegePoint, we match them with a trained College Coach. Coaches provide one-on-one support for students with everything from personal statements to the financial aid process, and work to ensure that students are accepted to and enroll in a top-performing, best-fit school.

For more information regarding our Virtual Destination College program, please visit scholarmatch.org!

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