Cleveland - Junior Program

Students who successfully complete the Sophomore Program are invited to apply for admission to the Junior Program. The Minds Matter of Cleveland Interview Committee considers each student’s performance in the Sophomore Program and reevaluates academic credentials including performance in Minds Matter courses and summer academic programs, financial need, personal essay statements, guidance counselor and teacher recommendations, and the continuing degree of parental or guardian support as deemed relevant. Once readmitted, the objective remains to assist juniors in gaining admission to competitive summer college preparatory programs as we continue to encourage students to carefully consider their future career goals so that their summer studies as juniors, whether in the United States or abroad, will continue to build their college application portfolios.
 
As in the Sophomore Program, juniors begin Saturday mornings with rigorous academic coursework taking Writing and Critical Thinking (Level 2), Math Matters (Level 2), and another Kaplan administered SAT preparation course designed to raise their scores even more. To build upon the skills identified in our Sophomore Program, these courses target more complex writing and critical thinking subjects seeking to deepen student understanding of core concepts such as intellectual standards of objectivity and the fundamentals of sentence logic. Likewise, our Math Matters program continues to build upon key problem solving skills targeting concepts and question types. All of these skills are imperative for student success on the Ohio Graduation Test (OGT), the SAT, in college coursework, and beyond. Finally, throughout the academic year, students once again participate in debates, public speaking assignments, and group writing projects to hone key skills.
 
After lunch, students continue to work with their assigned pair of mentors who collectively represent many of the most prestigious corporations, organizations, and educational institutions in the Greater Cleveland Area. Our dedicated Mentors work with their students during sessions to select summer programs, prepare applications, revisit personal statements and essays based upon the previous year’s experiences, request letters of recommendation, and complete financial aid paperwork. After a student is admitted to a summer program and awarded a financial aid package, Minds Matter provides as much financial assistance as possible to supplement the school's award.
 
Summer academic programs attended by national Minds Matter juniors include programs at institutions like Brown University, Cornell University, and Harvard University, as well as countries like France, Turkey, and Spain.