NYU CALI: Here’s the Scoop

At the beginning of his junior year, Dario started exploring different college programs. He’s always had an interest in NYU, so when he heard about NYU CALI, he was excited to apply. It also didn’t hurt that CALI’s mission perfectly aligns with the start-up he cofounded called Pupil.

“Pupil is a free app designed for underrepresented youth, or more generally, any high schooler who’s looking for a mentor,” says Dario. “It’ll match you with a mentor depending on the school you want to attend, the subject you want to study, and the career you’d like to explore. It’s based around the concept of accessible mentorship and college access, so it totally mirrors what CALI does: allowing underrepresented youth to understand how the college process works. That immediately attracted me to the program, and that’s really what prompted me to apply.”

Due to COVID-19, Dario participated in NYU CALI virtually this past summer. He attended lectures and workshops on different topics like being LGBTQIA in college, being a person of Latinx descent in college, and being a first-generation college student. He also attended an interactive seminar where he and his peers got to pose as admissions officers. In small teams, they reviewed fake applications to determine which candidates should be admitted into their school.

“It was really exciting to see how different folks picked certain people, and why,” Dario says. “In the end, we all concluded that it’s not always the people with the highest GPAs or the best scores who should be admitted, but rather the people who have genuine passion for what they’re doing and who have a trajectory ahead of them.”

In addition to the enriching curriculum and relatable staff, Dario says his favorite part of the program took place outside the classroom when he and his peers would hop on video calls. “Every night during the program and throughout most of the summer, a majority of our cohort would meet up online,” says Dario. “We’d be up until three or four in the morning talking about politics, sharing jokes, or brainstorming ideas. The time didn’t matter to us. It was the energy that was keeping us up.”

When students complete the NYU CALI program, they become certified ambassadors who can serve as mentors for their peers and even conduct their own workshops. Dario hasn’t been able to host a full-blown event yet, largely because of COVID, but he has started helping some of his peers create their own college lists and draft their personal essays. When he’s able to host events in-person, Dario hopes to be able to collaborate with the admissions team from NYU.