At College Essay Guy, we’re steadfastly committed to our mission of providing access to high-quality essay and application support for any student, anywhere.
We acknowledge our responsibility to actively work toward addressing inequities in higher education. Our team continues to be committed to listening, to learning, to checking our assumptions, and to taking action. We recognize the power that we hold and remember those not in the room when making decisions and assigning company priorities.
But for us, discussion of equity isn’t truly meaningful without action.
New Resources Designed for First-Generation Students from Low Income Households
We developed and launched free material specifically designed for first-generation students from low-income households including:
College Application Hub for International Students (incl. six resources for students with high financial need)
Essential Tips for the Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Application
Paying for College in Four Steps (requires free login)
New Resources Designed for Public and Charter School Counselors
Supporting public and charter school counselors is a key avenue to reaching historically underresourced populations, so we developed two robust resources specifically for these professionals:
New Resources Designed for Independent Educational Consultants Who Are Access Minded
We believe that independent consultants can make a powerful impact with their time, energy, and business model. To this end, we:
Created this list of 100+ Community-Based & Nonprofit Organizations Accepting Volunteers
Led 3 webinars on 40+ Ways Counselors Can Help Bring More Equity to the College Admission Process
Ethan co-facilitated a year-long Anti-Racist Working Group with college counselor Lauren Fletcher
Matchlighters Scholars Program
Increased our commitment by hiring both a full-time and part-time staff member
Launched 25+ cohorts on college campuses to help provide community for our scholars as they enter college
Hosted We Are Matchlighters webinar to raise awareness and accessibility of program
Pay-What-You-Can Courses
In an attempt to eliminate barriers to access, we offered pay-what-you-can spots to:
4,474 students
603 school-based counselors
334 counselors from community-based organizations
College Fair Launch
Hosted two college fairs with proceeds funding our Matchlighters Scholars Program
Piloted an “Ask a Counselor” room where students could get high-quality information and advice instantly
Essay Review Platform
Launched two separate one-to-one essay review platforms, offering one free essay review for every paid review
Provided 436 pro bono reviews
Workshops
Facilitated 35 pro bono workshops reaching over 4,000 students in public and charter schools, and community-based organizations
Speaking Engagements, Webinars, Podcast
Hosted 30+ webinars via the CEG platform offering free resources and information to counselors, students, and parents. Selected titles included:
Ethan spoke on a number of panels and at virtual conferences
Effective Altruism & GiveWell
Guiding Q: How can we do the most good not only in education — but in the world?
Each year, CEG is proud to donate a portion of its revenue to GiveWell, which uses data and well-considered metrics to determine the most effective charities and organizations around the world. More on Effective Altruism in this TED talk, this podcast, or this book. More on GiveWell here.
But that was last year. Here is…
College Essay Guy pledges to continue our growth into an intentionally anti-bias company, working to democratize the application process.
In 2022, we’re committed to aggressively closing the gap toward our goal of creating a one-for-one business model by:
Increasing access to college essay and application help for high-achieving students from low-income households
Provide 1,000 students with list building and application/essay support through 1:1 work with Essay Coaches, Scholars Coaches and Matchlighters volunteers
Provide free college application/essay resources to tens of thousands of low-income students
Provide free essay and application workshops to 10,000 low-income students
Provide pay-what-you-can spots to 10,000 students
Deliver 10,000 free essay reviews via the Essay Review Platform
Ethan and CEG community members will continue to present in person and virtually, both via the CEG platform and at local and national counselor conferences (NACAC and local ACACs), sharing tools to help counselors bring more ease, joy, and purpose to their students’ lives — with a particular focus on reaching counselors working with historically disadvantaged students.
Development and Accessibility of Free Resources
We will continue to build resources for both first-generation students from low-income households and the counselors that support them, and will make 100% of the content available for no charge. With the understanding that accessibility is critical, we plan to build new avenues to spread the word about our free resources, programs and pay-what-you-can courses.
Matchlighters Scholars Program Extension
Extending the benefits of the Matchlighters Program, we will:
Continue to build cohorts at colleges and universities
Develop a robust Matchlighters alumni network to support internship and job placement
Build relationships with colleges and universities in the US, both to raise awareness of our program and to advocate for our scholars in the admissions process
Connect our scholars with key diversity programs, resources and personnel committed to FGLI support on 30 college campuses
Some of the Challenges We’re Currently Working on
Reaching more counselors serving historically underrepresented students
Continuing to build a full-time, Scholars Coach and Matchlighters volunteer team that reflects the diversity of the students and counselors that we serve
Identifying community-based organizations that could benefit from our resources
Finding ways to share our resources more broadly and effectively with the populations that need them the most
Developing avenues and structure to allow for robust fundraising
We remain committed to pushing back barriers to access in higher education and are eager to elevate our equity work in ‘22. We’d love to have you join us on this path toward equal and open college access for everyone.
Have an idea for potential collaboration? Email erika@collegeessayguy.com
Want to work with us? Check out our careers page.
What equity goal are you willing to commit to in 2022?
I’m willing to commit to…
[THEN PLEDGE/COMMENT WALL GOES HERE.]
