A few weeks ago, we announced our pro bono program in partnership with the Fieldstone Foundation. We are so excited to be able to serve more students through this program, and we wanted to take some time today to tell you more about our new project and answer your questions!

What is the Pro Bono program?

As you know if you are a client or regular reader of the blog, we at DC College Counseling specialize in helping students who need one-on-one assistance with the college process. However, there are many students out there who need some extra support, but don’t have the ability to pay. While we love helping students, we know that there are ongoing issues of equity in educational consulting and in the college process as a whole. We are so excited to be able to help in a small way by providing one-on-one college counseling services to economically disadvantaged students, completely free of charge for the student and family!

What is the Fieldstone Foundation?

The reason that we are able to make this happen! One of our favorite clients and an active FCPS parent, Heather Hawa, founded the Fieldstone Foundation and is providing generous support that will allow us to do this work without passing on any of the costs to the student. In Heather’s own words: 

“I AM SO INSPIRED BY THE SERVICES DC COLLEGE COUNSELING HAS PROVIDED MY FAMILY. I AM A FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE GRAD SO I APPRECIATE THE VALUE OF A COLLEGE DEGREE. I WANT TO MAKE THE SAME SUCCESS POSSIBLE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION OF COLLEGE STUDENTS.”

Who is eligible?

Students who are enrolled in grades 10, 11, or 12 for the 2021-2022 academic year who reside in Fairfax County and receive free or reduced price lunch at school are eligible to apply. 

We hope that students who are interested in this program are eager to maximize their application strategy and demonstrate their commitment and desire to succeed in the college process and beyond.

How are students selected for the program?

Students interested in the pro bono program can fill out our application. If we receive more applications from students than we have spots in the program, we’ll evaluate them based on their essays, passion, and determination when it comes to being successful in the college process. 

We will review applications on a rolling basis, so apply as soon as possible! In order to ensure that we can provide dedicated time and assistance to each student, we will not accept applications once all slots are filled.

Are pro bono students treated differently from full-pay students?

No! While pro Bono students will have a different package that provides a more standardized set of services and meetings, they will receive access to all of the resources that we use with our full-pay students. These include a customized college plan through College Kickstart, a paid subscription to the Wow Writing Workshop college essay curriculum, access to weekly drop-in hours for ongoing assistance, and reminders and support to keep track of tasks and provide accountability, as well as strategy sessions and meetings with our essay coaches. 

If there are any needs that we are not able to meet, we can provide recommendations and referrals to other resources, such as College Access Fairfax.

What can I do to help?

Spread the word! We are currently accepting applications for our first class of pro bono students, so if you know anyone who may be interested (or want to pass on the opportunity to your own school counselor), please let them know and send them to our website: http://www.dccollegecounseling.com/probono.

How can I learn more about the program?

If you can’t find the information that you need on our website or in this post, email Shannon or give us a call at (703) 66-ADMIT ((703) 662-3648).