Admission Possible
Background and Purpose
Admission Possible was founded in 2000. Its mission is to make college admission possible for talented, motivated, economically disadvantaged students in Minnesota by providing SAT/ACT test preparation, admission application support, and financial aid consulting.
During their junior year groups of 6 to10 students are matched with trained AmeriCorps members twice each week for intensive SAT/ACT preparation. Seniors focus on college searches, applications, essay writing, and financial aid and scholarship applications. Throughout each student's two years with Admission Possible, they have the opportunity for campus visits to a number of Minnesota public and private colleges, which are designed to give students a feel for campus life and academic requirements.
Tours typically include 1:1 meetings with college students from similar backgrounds, attending a class, and experiencing student dining and housing. Admission Possible currently indicates that 81% of its students are either enrolled or have graduated from a four-year institution. At this time 1,200 students (800 juniors and 400 seniors) are enrolled in the program. At present the program is in 15 metro high schools, including all of Saint Paul's public high schools.
Since its inception Admission Possible has had phenomenal growth and significant success in assisting low-income students gain access to college. The success of the program has created demand to expand the program to additional high schools. The Admission Possible board of directors has set a three-year expansion goal of increasing the number of student participants to 1,300 by the 2008-2009 school year.
Current Request
Admission Possible is in the second year of a three-year expansion of its program. To facilitate expansion, Admission Possible will need to raise an additional $3 million. The success of this expansion depends on Admission Possible's ability to diversify its revenue base. For its long-term sustainability, Admission Possible is requesting funding to provide challenge grants for new or increased contributions to help with its expansion and broaden and deepen its fundraising base.