+ What is Project Access and how do you help?

We’re a non-profit organisation that believes in fair access to top universities. That’s why we’ve created a completely free program for students from less privileged backgrounds.

At the core of the program is 1-1 mentorship, matching you with a mentor who studies your dream degree at your dream university. Alongside the mentorship, you will join an awesome community of applicants from around the world and get access to the best content and webinars that are out there.

+ How does the Project Access Program work?

To join our program as a mentee and get a mentor, you first need to click on the respective on our webpage.

To apply to become a mentor, sign up here.

To apply to become a mentee, sign up here.

Then, the next steps are:

1) You fill out the application form, and we check if you are eligible to our program.

2) We send you an E-Mail with our response. We aim to do this within 1 week.

3) Complete the necessary next steps to join the Project Access program as a mentee or mentor

For Mentees: Once you receive your acceptance email, please a) book an 'Kick-Off Call' and b) fill in your Project Access mentee profile.

Your 'Kick-Off Call' is an introductory call where you get to meet fellow mentees and meet your Project Access program team. Attendance is mandatory for you to fully join the program. In the email confirming your acceptance onto the Project Access program, please book a call for your program at the next available time that works for you. Calls take place every 4 weeks, and we try to always have at least 2 future call slots available to accomodate you :)

We can only find a mentor for you once you fill in your Project Access profile with your details (e.g. the universities and subjects you want to apply for, and which year you want to start university). To fill in your Project Access profile, register for and log in to your Project Access account.

For Mentors: Please complete the next steps outlined in the email you receive confiriming your acceptance as a Project Access mentor.

For Mentors AND Mentees: if you have any questions, contact us on mentorship@projectaccess.org and we can help!

+ When and how will I get a mentor?

Once you've applied to our program via our website, we aim to make a decision on your application within 1 week.

Once accepted, and after you've booked your introductory call and filled out your profile, we aim to find a mentor for you within 2 weeks.

Note that if you're a mentee on our US Program, expect to wait a little longer to be matched with a mentor (currently 4-8 weeks).

Once you're matched with a mentor, you'll receive an email confirming this and providing you with their details. They should then email you to set up a first mentorship call.

If your mentor doesn't contact you within 1 week of being matched, contact us on mentorship@projectaccess.org and we'll try to contact them on your behalf.

+ Which universities does Project Access cover?

For undergraduate and graduate mentorship, we cover the following universities per region.

Potential Mentees - you can apply as long as you would like to study at a minimum of 2 universities from the below list.

Potential Mentors - you can apply as long as you currently study, or have studied, for an undergraduate or graduate degree at a minimum of 1 of the universities from the below list.

UK - Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial College London, UCL, LSE, King’s College London, Warwick, Durham, Manchester, Edinburgh, Bristol, Leeds

US - Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Yale, Columbia, UPenn, Brown, NYU, Princeton, Dartmouth, UCLA, UC Berkeley

EU - Trinity College Dublin, Sciences Po, ETH Zurich, Bocconi, Copenhagen Business School, University of Amsterdam

Dach-Region - WHU

+ Can I still participate as a mentee in the mentorship programme if my dream university is not on Project Access's list?

No - if you're a mentee who doesn't want to apply to at least 2 of the universities on our list, or if you're a mentor that doesn't study/hasn't studied an undergraduate or graduate degree at at least 1 of our universities, you won't be accepted onto our program. This is because we wouldn't be able to find mentors/mentees for you to engage in mentorship with, as we don't cover those universities.

Regardless, if you're thinking of applying to university, feel free to use the free resources on our website!

+ What are the other criteria to join the Project Access Program as a mentee?

Our program is entirely free for students, thanks to our donors and partners. In turn, we promise to offer our program to the students who need it. You are deemed eligible for our program if you can prove that you are facing barriers in at least one of the following four categories:

Socio-economics: e.g. if you’re the first in your family to go to university or come from a low-income family

Demographics: e.g. if you come from a small city or from an immigrant community

Geography: e.g. if you come from a region where few students go abroad to study at top universities

Information and support: e.g. if your school does not offer a lot of support

Finally, seeing our focus on top universities, we have a minimum grade threshold that you need to fulfil. Don’t worry too much about the eligibility screening - we consider all applicants fairly and individually, and if you think we make the wrong decision, you can easily appeal.

+ What does joining the Project Access Program cost?

It is 100% free.

+ How does the pairing work?

We match mentors and mentees based on university and subject.

+ Can I sign up as both a mentee and a mentor?

Yes – You can apply to be a mentor as long as you have already enrolled at the university you want to mentor for. If you want to sign up as a e.g. Graduate / Postgraduate mentee just sign up as a mentee via our webpage and we will find you our best matching mentor.

+ Can I change or update my application after I've sent it?

No, that is not possible. Nevertheless, if you have any questions about your application, you can contact the team on support@projectaccess.org.

However, if you're accepted as a mentor or mentee, you can update your Project Access profile whenever you like (and we encourage you to do so if your university or subject changes so that we can find the best mentor or mentee for you and provide you with the best possible support).

+ My mentor/mentee is not answering my emails. What should I do?

Mentors have the responsibility to initiate contact after the initial pairing but feel free to email your mentor first if you are a mentee. Please understand that our mentors and mentees lead busy lives and might need time to respond to your emails. If you have sent out multiple emails but your mentor/mentee is still not responding, please email us at mentorship@projectaccess.org.

+ I have registered as a mentee but have not heard back. What should I do?

Reach out to the team on mentorship@projectaccess.org.

+ I want to apply for a graduate degree, can I get a mentor?

Yes, we do provide mentorship for students applying to taught graduate degrees. You can apply anytime and we will try to match you with a mentor as soon as possible.

Please note that we don't offer mentorship to mentees applying for a research Master's, or a PhD.

If you're a mentor studying for a research Master's or PhD, you can still apply to be a mentor providing that you previously studied for a undergraduate and/or taught Master's degree at one of our Active Universities (see list above).

+ I cannot log into my account. What should I do?

For all technical queries, contact the Tech team on support@projectaccess.org.

+ How do I find a link to an online conference/webinar?

All of the links to online conferences/webinars are here: https://projectaccess.org/access-academy. If a link is not available yet, please check the page again closer to the date of the conference/webinar. Some of our past conferences/webinars are also recorded –– they could also be found on the same webpage.