Marx and Parker created the program as a public service to educate high school students around the nation who come from backgrounds that do not encourage application to institutions of Amherst's caliber. Most of the participants in the program are first-generation college students. Many, but not all, are minorities. No preference is given to students of any race or ethnicity-the only requirement is that the students in the program come from high schools that provide insufficient college guidance.
Mentors inform high school students about their college options, help them decide what courses in which to enroll during their senior year of high school and help them choose the best college for them, regardless of whether Amherst is that school. The program also gives high school students a direct connection with someone who has recently been through the entire admissions and financial aid processes from start to finish.
The telementoring program is unique because of this direct connection with college students, and particularly because it pairs these high school students with current students at the College who come from similar backgrounds and who therefore have gone through similar application processes.
"Who better to give advice than someone who has been through it?" asked Marx.
The mentors, who receive compensation for their work through the College's work study program, can relate to the high school students and bestow a perspective that high schoolers do not feel they can acquire from high school counselors, college admissions personnel or other faculty.
Still, the high school students' reactions to the program varied. Some embraced it, communicating by phone, instant message and e-mail with their mentors regularly. Others were initially unsure of the value of the relationship with a mentor. Though only in communication every few weeks, the mentors tried to convince their students that as college freshmen, they could offer sound advice on the college process.
"I didn't think, 'Yes, this person will help me.' It was more of a whim. I thought, 'Cool, I'll try it,'" explained Isabel Duarte-Gray '09, who was mentored last year by Claire Rann '08. Duarte-Gray, who ultimately was accepted and decided to matriculate at the College, is now glad her whims led her into the program. "[Claire] answered all my questions honestly; it was something real," she said.
Since the program's inception last year, mentor participation has expanded from five to 24. Mentee participation has expanded similarly, from approximately 10 to 72 high school seniors.
Oscar Baez '08 is one of the new mentors this year. "Our ultimate goal is to use our experiences to give these students guidance that may be lacking in their school or home environment," he said. "No other college has started a program like this, which makes it exciting but also full of unknowns. While that may be worrisome, I know the group of telementors is, if anything, well prepared and anxious to get started."
While Duarte-Gray chose to matriculate at the College after her year in the telementoring program, students are not required, nor are they heavily pushed to choose or even to apply to Amherst.
"We do this as a public service because the students we are mentoring may not even apply to Amherst, and that's fine," said Marx. "We need to be a leader in higher education, to help spread the pool of opportunity even if it does not have a direct benefit to us, though we do hope some of those students will consider applying to Amherst."
Darren Reaume '02, the program's director, reiterated that the goal is to help students through the admissions process, not to encourage them to attend the College. It is a way to "find the best fit for all these kids," he said, not a way for students to automatically gain acceptance to the College. Out of the 10 high school students who participated in the program last year, about half were accepted to the College and even fewer decided to matriculate.
QuestBridge, a non-profit organization that helps low-income students receive higher education, links Amherst to the students. Reaume said that he and College administrators also hope to find other ways to locate students who would be a good fit.
The program is still very much a work in progress. Reaume and his mentors are continually improving the program and are changing it "on the fly." Feedback from mentors, high school students and various education professionals allows the program to evolve as everyone starts to understand what works well and what does not.
Optimally, the program will grow too big for the College to handle alone. The participants of the program here hope that other colleges will follow Amherst's example and adapt their own programs for helping low-income students in order to help a larger population than any one college can work with.
Jaime Botero '08, who is a mentor for a second year, is enthusiastic that other schools will want to participate in similar programming. "We're trying to do this program in a way that it lays the groundwork," he said. "Other schools will follow suit. We want to give them a blueprint for what's going on."
Marx expressed similar sentiments. "We have an elegant little program model, and I am delighted that students are excited about it," he said. "I suspect other universities and colleges are going to be paying attention to this and mimicking it."