Are we a good fit?

Mychal and Nina Wynn do not have a sales pitch and are not competing with other college advisers. Mychal Wynn has trained teachers and counselors for over 30 years, and written extensively on college planning, education, and parenting with over 50 published books. During their 19-year tenure as the Education Ministry Leaders at the Turner Chapel AME Church in Marietta, Georgia, the Wynns were nationally recognized for the college and scholarship outcomes of students at their church—the type of college and scholarship outcomes they believed possible whenever the “village” provides the necessary guidance and support.

The Wynns take a holistic approach to college advising viewing the process as a team effort. Mr. Wynn notes, “We ask the student, ‘What are your aspirations after high school?’ We ask the parents, ‘What is your budget for supporting your student’s aspirations after high school?’ Then, working together as a team, we develop a set of strategies from whenever we begin working with a student, whether as a rising sixth grader, rising 9th grader, or rising senior. Whenever we begin the process determines the scope of the plan we are able to develop and defines the range of college and scholarship opportunities for which the student will be a competitive applicant.

If you believe that working with Mychal and Nina Wynn are a good fit for you and your family, choose from the following options:

College Admissions Consultation ($150.00): Most of Mr. and Mrs. Wynn’s clients are from personal referrals. However, families who are not ready to make a commitment, may schedule a 45 min – 1 hour consultation, during which the Wynns will respond to any questions and share their expertise. If you choose to purchase one of the following options following the consultation meeting, you will receive a $150 credit. (Offer valid for 30 days)

1-on-1 Year-to-Year College Advising ($999.95): This option is for students in grades 6 – 11. The Wynns meet with the student and parents to understand the student’s aspirations and type of colleges and scholarships that parents would like the student to become a competitive applicant. They review a student’s body of work (i.e., grades, classes, activities, honors and awards, gifts and talents, etc.) within the context of the student’s current grade level and opportunities in their school or school district. In collaboration with the student and parents, a year-long set of strategies are developed based on the type of year-to-year trajectory that will determine the student’s competitiveness as a college and scholarship applicant.

Strategies are unique to each student based on the type of school they are attending (i.e., public, private, charter, or boarding school), family demographics, community, and socioeconomic background.

College/Scholarship Guidance for High School Seniors ($1,999.95:  By the time a student has reached the end of his or her junior year of high school, parents may have invested thousands of dollars in summer programs, specialized camps, SAT/ACT Prep, tutoring, and even private schools with a goal of their student landing a college scholarship or being offered admission to a top college. However, with the competition for being offered admission to a top college or qualifying for a competitive scholarship at an all-time high, will the investment pay off without the guidance and support to get a student across the finish line? The personalized one-on-one guidance that the Wynns provide is comprehensive and strategic. Rather than viewing college matches as Reach, Match, and Safety Schools, parents and students are guided in engaging in a realistic assessment of the student’s body of work, how the student can be packaged, and how the student aligns with the institutional priorities of their desired colleges and scholarship programs. The approach to the college admissions process occurs strategically across 15 areas, including review/recommending colleges and scholarship programs; selecting essay topics; developing connections between writing prompts; reviewing the Common Application for grammar and language usage; choosing admissions cycles; and reviewing financial aid award letters.

1-on-1 Year-to-Year Advising Deposit ($500): To make our services available to all families, we offer the option of extending your payments for either our 1-on-1 year-to-year advising, or college advising for high school seniors. You may use this link to pay a $500 deposit and authorize an automatic debit for the balance in $500 increments on the first of each month until the balance is paid in full.

Apply for the Jones Scholarship

The Jones Scholarship was established from the generous donation of the parents of these two extraordinary young women with whom we were able to provide guidance and support along their journey into their top college choices—Harvard and Duke. The scholarship covers all fees and materials to participate in our program for students from any racial group or cultural background who demonstrate both exceptional financial need and exceptional academic achievement.

Eligibility to Apply

  • Grade Level: Open to any student attending school in the United States in grades 6 – 12 (public school, private school, charter school, or home-schooled).
  • Income: Applicants must demonstrate proof that they qualify for free- or reduced-lunch.
  • Academics: Applicants must demonstrate proof that they are straight-A students from the 6th grade through the time of application. Students must be enrolled in rigorous academic coursework (i.e., honors, AP, IB, DE, or middle school classes for high school credit).
  • Leadership: Applicants must be serving as an officer in a club/organization or captain/co-captain of a team.
  • Community Service: Applicants must be engaged in community service through advocacy, a passionate area of interest, or through a gift or talent.
  • Recommendation: Applicants must provide a recommendation from a coach, teacher, counselor, faculty advisor, or clergy attesting to their grit, character, integrity, mindset, and potential to benefit from our program.
  • Personal Statement: Applicants must provide a 500-word personal statement in response to the question, “My aspirations after high school.” The statement must include desired college, career, and scholarship pathways to which they are committed to pursuing with the guidance and assistance of our foundation.
  • How to Apply: Upload all required materials into a Google Drive Folder with name Jones Application. Upload each of your documents into the folder and clearly name each document, e.g., yourname_transcript, yourname_résumé, yourname_recommendation, etc.). Share your document to cpc@collegeplanningcohort.com.

Only students who meet the eligibility criteria should apply as only complete and verifiable packages will be accepted and reviewed. Once accepted, all fees to participate in our program will be fully-funded as long as the student is in good standing. The number of scholarships awarded is limited to available funding and scholarships will be issued on a first come first served basis.

Listen to Their Stories…

Through our guidance, and her hard work, Jayla went on to be selected as a Yale Young Global Scholar and QuestBridge College Scholar. She was invited to all-expenses paid fly-in programs to Amherst College, Carlton College, Middlebury College, and Williams College. Jayla was only the second student in the history of her South Carolina school district (the other student was also a participant in our program) to be offered admission to Williams College, ranked as the top liberal arts college in the United States. Jayla received a full scholarship from Williams College covering her the full cost of attendance, valued at nearly $400,00 over 4 years. Since entering Williams, Jayla has had fully-funded travel to attend conferences in the United States, and fully-funded study abroad programs in Brazil and Denmark.

Jayla’s journey is reflective of the respective journeys of students from diverse backgrounds and communities as recounted through their experiences working 1-on-1 with Mr. and Mrs. Wynn or through their participation in their school-district sponsored cohort.

Arshia is a graduate of Palm Harbor University High School in Pinellas County Schools (FL) who joined our program as a rising 7th grader when he affirmed MIT as his dream college. Working through our curriculum, accompanied by our 1-on-1 advising, resulted in his receiving a full scholarship to MIT. Like Jayla, Arshia recounts the sense of community during which he engaged with students from diverse backgrounds from throughout the United States. 
Josiah is a graduate of Boca Ciega High School in Pinellas County Schools (FL) who joined our program as a rising 8th grader. He recounts his journey through our program, which ultimately resulted in 4 full scholarship opportunities (Boston University, Macalester College, Washington & Lee University, and Williams College (where he has enrolled).

Sydney is a graduate of the St. Petersburg High School IB Program in Pinellas County Schools (FL) who has received a BS in Neuroscience from The University of Chicago and is now applying to medical school. Sydney has poured as much into our program as we have poured into her. Her story is in our curriculum, she has served as a summer intern for our foundation, as a guest speaker at our cohort meetings, and has inspired our students, several of whom have also received full scholarships to The University of Chicago.

What makes our advising unique

Our approach to college advising is based on the concept of “Backwards Mapping,” which begins with each student’s aspirations after high school and develops a debt-free pathway to pursuing the student’s aspirations. Consequently, the plan developed by an 8th grader is likely to differ from a plan developed by a high school senior, as the 8th grader has 4 years to plan their course taking, activities, developing their gifts and talents, and building the brand that they would like to present to college and scholarship providers. You may learn even more from our students by visiting our College Cohort YouTube Channel.

We not only use the testimonials of students as inspiration, they are also part of our instructional approach of using the stories, essays, financial aid award letters, colleges, and programs that made up the body of work that resulted in the college and scholarship outcomes of our students to demystify the college admissions process. Whether a student is from a family of college graduates, first generation immigrants, or the first in their family to attend college, our goal is to expand the college knowledge of all students and families with whom we work.

We believe in building family legacies. One of our current high school seniors from North Carolina was recently offered admission to Swarthmore, together with a full scholarship. His younger sister, an 8th grader during our recent mid-year assessment noted:

By completing these assessments, I have gained a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. It was a lot easier to see what I accomplished and what I could improve. For example, I managed to be on a school sports team, get high As, and start a club. However, I didn’t do any community service activities and I also didn’t get many awards. This upcoming semester, I’m going to focus more on honors and awards, as well as leadership opportunities.

If you require further convincing that our program is a good fit, consider Kimberly’s story, a student with whom we began college planning in the third grade who went on to being offered 6 full undergraduate scholarships to Amherst, Duke, Princeton, Vanderbilt, Washington & Lee, and Williams. After accepting the full scholarship to Williams College, Kimberly went on to receive a BA in Math and Chemistry and was offered 6 full scholarships and a full fellowship to graduate school where she is now in the final year of receiving her PhD in Math.

Consider joining our college advising family. For more insight into our program, we encourage you to read our newsletters: