What College Access Looks Like Beyond an Acceptance Letter
Through Birmingham Merit Scholars, CAMP and the Rotary Club of Birmingham help students build the knowledge, skills, relationships, and confidence to make informed decisions about college, careers, and what comes next.
The mock interview was supposed to be practice. For two Birmingham Merit Scholars, it led to something more.
During a mock interview experience with members of the Rotary Club of Birmingham, students sat across from local professionals, answered interview questions, and got feedback on how they presented themselves. Rotary has made the exercise a recurring part of its partnership with CAMP.
Cole Walker, CAMP’s College, Career & Community Specialist, said two connections made through the experience led directly to internship opportunities: one with the District Attorney’s Office and another with the Mayor’s Office.
“That experience showed students that the skills they were developing through Merit weren’t just preparing them for college—they were opening real doors to professional opportunities in their own community,” Cole said.
Academic Readiness Is Only Part of the Process
There is an easy assumption to make about a student who has strong grades and big plans: they already know what to do next.
“Being a high-achieving student does not automatically mean you know how to navigate the college process,” he said. “Students can still feel overwhelmed by decisions about where to apply, how to stand out, financial aid, scholarships, interviews, and ultimately choosing the right path for themselves.”
A student may be academically ready for college and still be figuring out how to build a college list, complete the FAFSA, compare financial-aid options, write an application essay, search for scholarships, or decide whether a particular path actually fits. There can also be pressure attached to being the student everyone expects to already have the answers.
“There can be a lot of pressure that comes with being seen as the student who ‘has it all together,’” Cole said. “Sometimes these students need just as much encouragement and reassurance as anyone else. They need someone to say, ‘You are capable of this, and here’s how we are going to get there.’”
Birmingham Merit Scholars gives students a place to work through those decisions with guidance instead of having to figure out each step on their own.
A Year, Not a Single Application
Birmingham Merit Scholars is not built around one workshop or one college application. It runs for a full year, with regular in-person and virtual sessions that move students through different parts of college and career preparation. Across that year, students practice interviews, research scholarships, prepare for financial aid, work on applications, build resumes, explore careers, and visit campuses, including Auburn University at Montgomery, Tuskegee University, and Alabama State University.
Rather than handing students all of that at once, Cole said the program breaks the process into manageable pieces: a student works through part of an application with guidance, gets feedback on an essay, or uses a checklist to understand what the FAFSA actually requires and why.
“The goal is for students to leave knowing how to do these things independently, not simply having someone do them for them,” Cole said. For students, that means learning to gather information, ask the right questions, and work through a process: skills that carry forward long after one form is submitted.
What Access Actually Means
Ask Cole what “access” means in Birmingham Merit Scholars, and he does not start with an acceptance letter. “To me, access means much more than simply being admitted to a college,” he said. “Access means having the information, preparation, resources, relationships, and confidence to make an informed decision.”
A college application may be available online. That does not mean every student approaches it with the same information, guidance, financial knowledge, or network of people to ask for help. Birmingham Merit Scholars works on that directly: building a resume, practicing an interview, researching scholarships, and visiting a campus instead of only seeing it online.
“We aren’t simply checking boxes or helping students meet deadlines,” Cole said. “We are building relationships with them and helping them develop skills they will carry with them beyond high school.”
When Relationships Become Part of Access
Some parts of the process can be taught with instructions. Relationships add something different: professionals who can share their own experience, give feedback, answer questions, and connect students to parts of the professional world they may not have encountered yet.
“Rotary members provide real-world mentorship, encouragement, networking, and career exposure,” Cole said, and that partnership reaches beyond interview day: the Rotary Club of Birmingham Foundation also provides grant support for CAMP’s ACT preparation work.
The mock interviews show what some of that support looks like. A student can enter the room nervous and unsure of how to talk about themselves, sit across from a professional, answer questions, and hear constructive feedback. “That personal interaction is what makes the Rotary partnership so valuable,” Cole said.
An internship isn’t the only way those relationships matter. A student might meet someone working in a career they are considering, learn how to introduce themselves in a professional setting, or simply know an adult who can say, as Cole put it, “I’ve been through this, let me help you.” Those relationships give students more people they can learn from, ask questions of, and turn to when they encounter something unfamiliar.
“At the end of the day, we don’t want a student’s future to be limited by what they have or haven’t been exposed to,” Cole said. “If a student has the ability and the ambition, we want to make sure they have the support and access to go after it.”
The Choice Is the Point
CAMP’s mission is “Empowering students with the essential tools they need to gain access to the college, university, or career of their choice.” Some of those tools are concrete: an ACT strategy, a stronger essay, a FAFSA checklist, or a resume. Others come through experience: practicing an interview, walking a college campus, or having a professional available to answer a question.
The word choice matters just as much. Choice requires knowing what a school will actually cost, seeing more than the one or two colleges a family already knows well, and understanding what a career might actually involve before choosing a path toward it. Birmingham Merit Scholars is built around getting students enough of that information and exposure that a decision, when it comes, is genuinely theirs to make.
The support is designed to change over time, too. Students begin with people helping them work through unfamiliar processes, but the goal is greater independence: knowing what questions to ask, where to find information, and how to make the next decision for themselves.
That year-long support also reflects the CAMP Way in practice. Students are not handed a checklist and sent off to complete it alone. The team follows up across the year, adjusts support as students encounter different questions, keeps looking for opportunities, and gives students time to prepare before important decisions and deadlines arrive. In CAMP’s language, that means being Consistent, Agile, Motivated, and Prepared.
“I want them to know how to advocate for themselves, seek out opportunities, and never be afraid to ask questions,” Cole said.
Cole puts it simply:
“Birmingham Merit Scholars matters because every student deserves the opportunity to see what is possible for their future—and the support, relationships, and confidence to go after it.”
With Thanks To
Cole Walker, College, Career & Community Specialist, CAMP (College Admissions Made Possible)
Rotary Club of Birmingham, Birmingham Merit Scholars partner
Learn More
CAMP: Learn more about CAMP’s programs and approach to college and career access. Visit CAMP
Rotary Club of Birmingham: Read about Birmingham Merit Scholars students participating in mock interviews with Rotary members. Read the Rotary story
Comments