I AM and SummerTIME | Students

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Apply to Be an I AM Mentee

Are you a senior at one of our partner high schools? Get free one-on-one help with your college and financial aid applications by applying for the I AM program! All I AM program alums have applied to four-year institutions, and more than 90 percent have attended a four-year institution.

If you’re selected for the program, you’ll be paired with a mentor who is a graduate student or staff member from USC. The two of you will meet once or twice a month from September to June, so your mentor can help you with writing college essays, determining which college to attend, applying for financial aid, and answering any questions you have about going to college.

Eligibility Requirements

  • You MUST be a student in one of our partner high schools: Belmont, Downtown Magnets and Manual Arts. We may partner with additional high schools next year; join our email list for the latest information.
  • You MUST be a senior who will apply for admission to SELECTIVE 4-year colleges and universities such as UCLA, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara, USC, Occidental, LMU, Stanford, and out of state selective colleges and universities.
  • You MUST have a 3.0 (CSU/UC) minimum GPA to participate.
  • You MUST be done with all A-G course requirements by the end of senior year (NO D’s or F’s on transcript).
  • You MUST be willing to meet with your USC mentor once or twice a month from September to June; you and your mentor will set convenient meeting times to cover the college and financial aid application process, making the transition to college easier for you.
  • You MUST agree to respond when your mentor contacts you, including classroom summons, emails and phone calls.
  • There is no residency requirement to be in the mentoring program; you must simply agree to these requirements to apply and participate!

Apply Now

Applications for the 2019-2020 I AM program will be available in April. Get the announcement by joining our email list!

Sign up for SummerTIME

Improve your writing skills and college knowledge with our free four-week SummerTIME program! This program will prepare you for college-level writing and give you resources and tools to make a smoother transition from high school to college.

SummerTIME has a proven record of helping students improve their writing skills; 60 percent of SummerTIME students who tested at the remedial writing level at the start of the program improved their skills to the college-ready level by the end of the program!

Eligibility Requirements

  • You MUST be a senior in a Los Angeles-area high school planning to enroll at a 4-year college or university in the fall. Past participants have come from Belmont, Bravo Medical Magnet, Crenshaw, Dorsey, Downtown Magnets, Foshay Learning Center, Fremont, Locke, Manual Arts, John Marshall, New Designs, Roosevelt, Roybal Learning Center, and other local high schools.
  • You MUST qualify for free or reduced-price meals.
  • You MUST be committed to daily program attendance, class participation, and timely completion of assignments.

Apply Now

Applications for the 2019 SummerTIME program will be available in April. Get the announcement by joining our email list!