This group helps Baton Rouge youth get to college — and it's getting a big expansion
The Advocate visited BRYC’s new Airline Campus not long after the grand opening to hear what Fellows are saying.
By Charles Lussier | Published in The Advocate Nov 28, 2024
“You have two weeks to go. Our deadline is Dec. 1, right? Two weeks.”
Catherine Molleno sounds her sharp, but evenly toned warning to a darkened room full of Baton Rouge teenagers.
It’s Monday, the week before Thanksgiving. The teenagers, all seniors from different high schools, are gathered after school in a converted office space on Airline Highway. A timer, projected onto the wall in front of them, counts down for the next 30 minutes.
Their task? To compose essays they will soon submit to colleges near and far. Or failing that, set up a plan to do so soon.
“I don’t believe any of you want to be working on these during school breaks, right?” Molleno asked rhetorically.
This recently renovated locale is the latest home of the Baton Rouge Youth Coalition, or BRYC, a nonprofit group that helps hundreds of teenagers each year improve their chances of getting into a good college.
Dec. 1 is the deadline for many scholarship applications. This is key for BRYC students — the program calls them “fellows” — since many have little money for college.
To qualify for BRYC, fellows need to have a family income that qualifies them for a federal Pell Grant. BRYC strives to get them into good schools and to do so without accumulating debilitating debt.
But Dec. 1 is just one of many deadlines colleges are serving up at the moment.
Nov. 1 was the day to try to gain early admittance to many schools. Another deadline passed Nov. 15, and more are coming Dec. 15 and Jan. 1.
