SmartyScholars
We provide free college test prep services to talented, low income students from Baltimore-area high schools so that they can gain admission into top 20 colleges with comprehensive financial aid packages.
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Sponsor a SmartyScholar

A donation of $2,500 would provide one Scholar with 5 months of test prep. Sponsor a scholar and one of our scholars will write you a hand-written thank you note.

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News and Events
Trivia Night

Thanks to those who came to Trivia Night on April 11. It was a huge success. We auctioned off 20 of the 30 items, sold 107 tickets, raised nearly $6,000 for the SmartyScholars fund! 

Stay tuned for our next event in early fall of 2019! 

Scholar of the Week

John McFadden

John is part of our pilot SmartyScholars boot camp. She was featured on WJZ, and is tenaciously motivated. WJZ feature! Baltimore Sun Feature!

Who are you dedicating your hard work to? My family

College goals: Wherever I go, I want a full scholarship

Professional Goals: To become either a civil, mechanical, or electrical engineer

 

Donate to Scholars like Raegan
The Impact
There is no shortage of high achieving, low-income students in Baltimore, but structural barriers, such as college admissions testing, often keep these students from applying and achieving admission to elite schools. It is often only the elite schools that are able to offer need-blind admissions and comprehensive financial aid packages.
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Data from Pell grant recipients has shown that that high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds graduate at much higher rates when they attend resource rich, more selective universities.
See the data...
  • Only 3% of students at the nation’s top colleges come from families in the bottom 25% income bracket.
  • 60 percent of the wealthiest students complete their studies and graduate, but only about 16 percent of low-income college students graduate, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. However, low income students at elite colleges (which tend to have already higher graduation rates) graduate at almost the same rate as affluent students and end up earning almost as much on average as affluent students who attend the same college.
  • There are 29 colleges with graduation rates over 90% for Black and Latina students.  Here are the top ten: Brown University, Pomona College, Harvard University, University of Notre Dame, Skidmore College, Scripps College, Davidson College, Emory University, Stanford University, Wesleyan University.
  • Low-income students who attend selective colleges are less likely to have debt than those who attend low-tier colleges.  Typical lower-income students  (from a family earning $50,000 or less) face an annual bill of $6,000 at top private colleges.  
  • Elite colleges, as compared to less selective institutions, offer low income students peer mentoring, transition programs, and supportive advising at a higher rate.
After my SmartyScholars program, I improved by 150 points on my SAT score, and yesterday I was accepted into Johns Hopkins University with a full ride scholarship. Mauricio Rodriguez

Total Value of Scholarships Awarded to 2018 Cohort

SmartyScholars 2018 Cohort Acceptances:

*Full-ride acceptance

Brown University*
Johns Hopkins University* (2)
University of Maryland, College Park Honors College* (2)
New York University
Lehigh University*
Rutgers University
Virginia Tech
UMBC (2)
Penn State
NC State
Williams College
Amherst College

Howard University
Delaware State University
North Carolina A&T State University
University of Southern California
Howard University
Goucher College
Emerson College
The New School
Washington and Jefferson College
Wagner College
Lincoln College

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