Project Success

Program Overview

Project Success is a four-year program created to help you gain skills and experiences necessary for your dream job after college. If you qualify you are automatically enrolled in Project Success. Keep an eye on your sycamore email for additional information about the optional bridge week program.

What can you expect from the program?

  • Take specialized classes focused on leadership, career readiness, and being a complete professional after graduation.

  • Work with peer mentors, success coaches, and alumni mentors who answer your questions, give suggestions for success, and provide opportunities unique to Project Success students.

  • Participate in exclusive service opportunities, networking events, domestic or international cross-cultural experiences, and internships and job shadowing opportunities.

  • Receive dedicated career counseling and preparation to help you make good choices, build your resume, and get the skills you need for your dream job.

  • Access scholarship opportunities other students do not get, including study-abroad scholarships and 10 scholarships that will cover tuition costs for both your junior and senior year

An optional part of Project Success you can choose to participate in is Bridge Week – a 5-day workshop before the start of the semester to learn your way around campus, make friends, and meet faculty and staff. You’ll get to live with other Project Success students, take classes together, develop study groups, and get help when you need it.

Mentoring

Project Success students will have a Residential Peer Mentor/Project Success Peer Mentor and an Alumni Mentor who will support them all four years to assist in their transitions and college life adjustments.  

Benefits of Mentoring

  • Gain practical advice, encouragement, and support.

  • Learn from the experiences of others.

  • Increase social and academic confidence.

  • Become more empowered to make decisions.

  • Develop communication, study, and personal skills.

  • Develop strategies for dealing with both personal and academic issues.

Career Readiness

The primary focus of Project Success is to help students graduate in 4 years and gain rewarding employment post-graduation.  Career readiness is essential. In this process, we will partner closely with the ISU Career Center all four years to help Project Success students develop skills and prepare for their internships and future careers.

Participants will engage comprehensive career readiness practices that will include, but not be limited to job shadowing, internships, career exploration through FOCUS 2 career development program, and coursework dedicated to professional presence, networking, and skills articulation. Professional skills will be supplemented with career readiness software, alumni mentoring and student employment opportunities related to their career field.  Additionally, participants will engage in career counseling in conjunction with coursework.

Scholarship Eligibility

Students who participate in Project Success are eligible for the following scholarship opportunities:

Study Abroad/Undergraduate Research Scholarships: Each year, students can apply for scholarships to participate in either a study abroad or academic research experience. 

$1,000 Bridge the Gap: These are retention scholarships given to academically eligible students to continue their education but have a financial hold on their record, restricting them from registering for classes.

Summer Housing Scholarship: These are scholarships awarded to participants who cannot return to their home city/town for summer 2022 who wish to take summer classes on campus. 

Junior/Senior Tuition Scholarships: These are scholarships awarded based upon demonstrated academic excellence, leadership, and community engagement.

More information on the Optional Bridge Week Experience

Project Success participants may choose to engage in a 5-day workshop before the start of the semester (August 7th – 12th) to help them acclimate to campus, start building social and academic networks, learn about resources, and meet people who can help them on their academic journey.

Students who participate in Bridge Week will:

  • build a supportive peer network, through participation in a Living Learning Community

  • establish relationships with ISU faculty and staff,

  • learn about campus resources and utilize them when necessary,

  • understand academic expectations and cultural differences between high school and college, and

  • develop skills that will transfer to their other courses and beyond.

Space is limited to the first 200 students who apply, so reserve your spot today. The deadline is July 1, 2022.

Living-Learning Community

Bridge Week students will be in a living-learning community where students will live on the same floor within a residence hall and be paired with another Project Success student. The floor will be staffed by both a Residential Peer Mentor and a Resident Assistant to provide peer support during your first year inside and outside the classroom. Students will live in this community for the entirety of their first year.

The benefits of participating in the Bridge Week living-learning community are: 

  • enhanced academic and social opportunities,

  • improved GPA,

  • improved connection to faculty,

  • greater involvement in learning,

  • increased satisfaction with the ISU experience, and

  • increased persistence to graduation.

Housing and Dining

Bridge Week students who will live on campus, housed on floors together in our recently renovated residence halls. All rooms are double-occupancy and the building has laundry and kitchen facilities on the mezzanine, as well as study and social lounges on every floor. Please complete the housing contract, choose the Project Success learning community, submit the payment of $20 application fee, and pay your enrollment deposit of $100. 

We will automatically pair students with another Project Success student.

Prior to the program, students will receive communication from Residential Life with details and instructions regarding housing.

Note: During Bridge Week, students will have access to ISU facilities, including Hulman Memorial Student Union, the Cunningham Memorial Library, and the Student Recreation Center, which features a lap pool, leisure pool, 22-person spa, cardio and strength conditioning equipment, and a three-court gymnasium.

Move-In Information

  • Check-In: August 7, 2022. Specific details will be provided in July.

A student qualifies for Project Success and Bridge Week with 2.4 - 3.0 High School GPA.

Student Feedback on Project Success

What was your favorite part of Project Success overall? 

  • I liked that I came to college a week earlier

  • My favorite part was making new friends and during the first week getting to go to all the different activities.

  • I liked the fact that we were able to get on campus early and experience everything ourselves first before the first week.

  • I loved how I was able to get ahead of the game. 

What was your least favorite part of Project Success?

  • For the first week I only knew one person and I was afraid to make new friends.

  • Nothing. I loved everything about it. It was well work the money and time.

  • I don’t think I have a least favorite part of the program.

Would you recommend Project Success to incoming students? Why?

  • Yes, because the course helped see the world a little different and it helped me get ready for the next 4 years.

  • Yes, Project Success has helped me overcome and learn a lot. It has helped me study and prepare for my classes more and be more social.

  • Yes.  It allows an early look at what college is like and gives you what strategies for different things that students have used in the past and gotten success from.

  • Yes, I think it’s a great opportunity for freshmen.

  • I would. It definitely gave me a jump on things such as time management and ability to make friends.

Project Success Register

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