Today we’d like to introduce you to Erica Rosales.
Hi Erica, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As the oldest daughter of Mexican immigrants, I worked hard every day. My parents instilled in me a strong work ethic and convinced me that an education was a way out of poverty. If I worked hard, this country would provide me the opportunities to excel. At my East Los Angeles high school, I took advantage of every AP class offered, checked out books to study for the SAT, and filled out all financial aid forms needed to qualify for financial aid. Gaining admission to Wellesley College (my dream school) was proof that if I worked hard enough, I could lift myself up. The only advice my dad gave me before boarding my plane to Logan Airport was that I had to work harder and smarter than anyone around me. I boarded an airplane to the East Coast by myself. I was a trailblazer. No one in my family had gone to college, I had never been on an airplane but I walked on that plane feeling like a winner. Once on the picturesque college campus (that I had never visited), the confidence that carried me 3,000 miles away from home began to wane, and feelings of doubt began to creep into my mind. What if the admissions office had made a mistake? Those questions emerged as I saw the advantages my classmates had experienced their whole life: private prep schools, vacations to exotic places, parents who could fly with them and help them set up their dorm rooms. My parents would not step foot on my college campus until the day of my college graduation. There was nothing I could have done to prepare for this discrepancy in wealth. My father was right; I just had to work harder and smarter.
As a first-generation, low-income student at Wellesley College 24 years ago, I came to the conclusion that LUCK had much to do with my college admissions decision and vowed to change that for others. There were so many qualified, motivated students in the inner-city of Los Angeles who could benefit from a private, elite education. Having experienced it, I knew that first we needed to show students these opportunities, and then help prepare them through the process (the college application and financial aid process is daunting), and finally ensure that students feel supported through college to finally graduate. At Wellesley, I made a commitment to help level the playing field. I decided to dedicate my career to helping students like me to access a college education. This commitment has taken me from starting the first charter high school in Los Angeles 22 years ago while I was a graduate student at UCLA to now leading a non-profit organization dedicated to college access. When I first met Harley Frankel sixteen years ago, I knew that he was on to something big. He is a visionary. He had founded College Match in 2002 with the belief that if we provided each student the same level of support wealthy students get from parents and private high schools combined, then our students would succeed in the college application process and in college. The vision is that these students can be as successful as any others in getting into selective colleges if they receive the same level of support. Over the years this has been wonderfully validated. The class of 2022 surpassed all expectations with 90% of our students admitted into a Top 25 college and 99% admitted into a Top 50 college. 95% of our students graduate from these great colleges.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My students are brave, ambitious, intelligent, and above all grateful for the opportunities presented to them. As the Executive Director of College Match, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, I keep my commitment to myself by providing our students academic support, East Coast college trips, and dedicated volunteers who help them with the college and financial aid application process. It is a long two-year process, and sometimes a shift in mindset. My students are not used to asking for help, they thrive on being trailblazers.
College Match was established in late 2002. Our mission is to assist talented students from low-income communities in Los Angeles County to get into great colleges with significant financial aid packages. According to a 2016 Jack Kent Cooke and Century Foundation report, the most underrepresented group of Americans at the nation’s top colleges are students from low-income families. Only 3% of students at the most selective colleges come from families in the bottom quartile, while 72% come from families in the wealthiest quartile. According to this report, high-achieving students from the bottom socioeconomic quartile are only a third as likely to enroll in selective colleges as academically similar students from the top-income economic quartile. Higher education is still the main path to socio-economic mobility and for first-generation students a four-year college degree is transformational. Too many talented but poor students do not apply to the nation’s most prestigious colleges. The support of College Match is crucial to high-achieving Angeleno students as they try to navigate the selective admission process.
College Match is an innovative idea in the world of college access because our efforts are focused on students with strong academic records who need the knowledge to apply and attend highly selective colleges. I know firsthand that students who attend large public high schools do not have the resources needed to effectively participate in the college admission process. Students who demonstrate the intellectual curiosity and academic vitality to attend a selective college do not receive the specialized support needed to maximize their potential. These students are capable of becoming outstanding leaders, and there are many colleges around the country who would love to educate them. For these students, they are high school seniors only once and this is their best opportunity to attend a great college and change their lives.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
College Access Non-Profit
In 2023 College Match will serve approximately 1,055 low-income students–715 college students across 120 colleges, 165 high school seniors and 170 high school juniors. Approximately 78% of our students are Latino; 10% are African-American; and 12% are Asian Americans. Two-thirds of our students are female. All of our students come from low-income families, and the majority will be the first in their family to attend college. Our 30 high schools are comprised of nine in South Los Angeles, twelve in East Los Angeles, seven in Downtown Los Angeles, two in Inglewood and one in Lawndale. Most of our students are the first in their families to attend college. We continue to support our students through college graduation.
While in high school, each student receives two years of comprehensive services including academic tutoring as needed, and optional test prep classes, visits to outstanding colleges all over the country, assistance with their essays, college applications and financial aid forms, and advocacy on their behalf with the colleges. In college, we continue to offer students support through our ambassador program, Career Launch, and emergency scholarships. Once in college, we provide the necessary support to ensure college graduation.
College Match has created a model that brings expertise and guidance to the student. College Match has partnered with high schools by selecting cohorts of students at 30 LA high schools and increased the professional development opportunities and capacity of each high school – one opportunity being the ability for high school college counselors to chaperone the East Coast college trips. College Match is changing lives one student at a time while bringing entire schools along. There is no other college access organization in Los Angeles that offers programming for students that is as individualized, comprehensive and specialized as College Match that also integrates the high school community. College Match is innovative because we are bridging the gap between institutions of higher learning and inner-city Los Angeles high schools.
The crisis has affected us all in different ways. How has it affected you and any important lessons or epiphanies you can share with us?
The COVID-19 crisis taught me that there is nothing more important than connection and community. With the support of dedicated volunteers and staff, our students have stayed on track toward the dream of a college degree. The COVID-19 pandemic shed a spotlight on the inequities that exist in our nation. The pandemic easily derailed or delayed the college plans of any student! Our students were most vulnerable to the negative impacts of the global pandemic. For over twenty years we have provided hard-working, talented students from low-income Los Angeles communities the same level of college access services that more fortunate students receive from their parents and private schools. Our students and scholars need College Match now more than ever!
We serve a population of students who are not served effectively by the public school system. Higher education is still the main path to socio-economic mobility and for first-generation students a four-year college degree is transformational. Too many talented but poor students do not apply to the nation’s most prestigious colleges. The support of College Match is crucial to high-achieving Angeleno students as they try to navigate the selective admission process. During the pandemic, we activated our responsiveness to provide our students with the vital resources, support and knowledge to be the support system necessary to guide students to and through college. As our students endured the global COVID-19 pandemic, our goal at College Match was to be the support system they can count on. This meant providing families financial support, giving students adequate technology, and facilitating virtual conversations with admission officers and families. We did everything in our power to ensure our students applied to, enrolled in and continue to succeed in college. We maintained the goal of college access and success as our guiding north star while centering student wellness and learning through the pandemic and the social unrest in our country.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.collegematchla.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/cmatchla
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/cmatchla
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/mwlite/school/college-match-la
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/@collegematch628
Image Credits
Barry Falls Jr.
