Grad Grab screen shots from the app, available on iOS and Android.
GradGab
For first-generation, low-income students, applying to college can be a difficult experience. These students typically lack parental guidance and may have limited resources to guide them through applications. Michelle Nguyen and William Chen are two students who lived this experience just a few years ago.
“Applying to college seemed like a distant and intangible idea because no one in my family had ever done so,” says Nguyen. “I went to my guidance counselor and I received little help and didn’t have the privilege to ask my parents for additional resources to feel confident with my applications.” Chen added, “The application process was tremendously stressful and I constantly questioned whether the schools I was applying to were the right choice for me.”
The feelings expressed by Nguyen and Chen are common among first-generation and underrepresented minorities applying to college. Further, many of these students cannot visit college campuses firsthand and connect with current students to get a feel for the campus culture.
The startup GradGab was created to bridge this gap. Bryan DelloRusso, a cofounder of GradGab, stated, “Our mission is to promote equity for students regardless of socio-economic status, college lineage, or race.” DelloRusso worked for years for top admissions consulting firms and realized that many of his clients were from privileged backgrounds. “I felt like we were contributing to the problem by giving advantaged people an edge at getting into top schools.”
To solve this problem, DelloRusso, along with Duke University classmate Carter Prince and serial entrepreneur Zech Francis, founded GradGab. GradGab is a networking platform that improves college exploration and planning by connecting prospective students with current student mentors. Students engage in informational video chats, live virtual tours, and interview prep, all of which offer prospective students an affordable way to locate and gain acceptance into colleges.
GradGab’s founders have created a diverse team of advisors, mentors, and employees from all backgrounds: from first-generation, low-income students to underrepresented minorities and international students.
GradGab has joined forces with other organizations that help underprivileged students. They’ve partnered with Girls Inc. and ScholarMatch to sponsor free chats. “We’re focused on partnering with key organizations to make GradGab accessible to all students, everywhere,” says Zech Francis. They’ve also integrated on Princeton Review’s website to connect students through schools’ homepages. And, they’ve launched a scholarship partnership with Niche.com. “Legacy players in education understand the need for an innovative peer-to-peer platform like GradGab,” says Francis.
Nguyen says, “The cofounders’ goal of making GradGab accessible to marginalized students is amazing and transforms the college search process.” Prince added, “The very core of our mission is to democratize the admissions process and make it equitable for every student, regardless of background.”
GradGab launched in October 2020 with over 4,000 mentors at 500+ colleges. Their app is available on iOS and Android.
