Monmouth College

What Is the Bridge to Success?
(For a full explanation, please read our Bridge to Success PDF)

 

College is a great learning environment – but it can also be a hard one.  Monmouth College’s Bridge to Success is a summer college-preparedness program which helps invited students transition to college-level learning by taking advantage of all a residential liberal-arts college offers.  

For thirteen intense days in August, students focus on developing their learning and college success skills through a fun but demanding course, workshops, self-reflections, and one-on-one advising with faculty, staff, and peer mentors. The course itself helps students improve their communication, reading, mathematics, and critical thinking skills.  The workshops address common issues in making the transition to college, such as homesickness, self-motivation, team-building, navigating academic and social support resources, how best to seek help, and how to get involved in the life of the college.

Who Participates in the Bridge?

At Monmouth, we recognize that every student possesses remarkable individual strengths.  Sometimes those strengths are in the classroom, but just as often they’re in the gym, on the field, in the band, or leading an organization.  In fact, what we’ve found is that sometimes the desire to succeed in the challenging environment at Monmouth isn’t matched by the academic preparation needed to succeed.  This is exactly why we developed the Bridge.  

By reviewing each student’s information – ACT scores, high school grades, and whether students are the first ones in their families to attend college, among other factors —our Admissions staff is able to see which students might benefit from the intense, supportive work of the Bridge to Success.  About thirty-five of those students who have a high desire to succeed but whose remarkable strengths may not yet be in the classroom will be invited to the program by the Office of Admissions.