Minds Matter Twin Cities goes beyond other college access programs by providing three years of mentorship, rather than just focusing on a student’s Senior year. Beginning as Sophomores, each Minds Matter “mentee” attends Saturday sessions throughout the year, during which they are exposed to an extensive Minds Matter curriculum including ACT/SAT preparation and application support. Minds Matter also pays for each mentee to attend two summer academic programs at universities such as Yale, Brown, and Princeton. As first-generation students, these summer experiences are often the students’ first exposure to “campus life,” which helps prepare them for the college transition and increases college persistence.
Our students come from all across the Twin Cities, having an annual average adjusted family income of $25,000. They have an average GPA of 3.78, and 100% of the students that have gone through the program have been accepted into a four year University - 73% of these Universities are on Barron’s Most Highly or Very Competitive Schools list.