MIT: Independent Activities Period: IAP

IAP 2016



Takeoff Space introduction and discussion

Jonathan Richmond, Takeoff Space Founder

Jan/26 Tue 11:00AM-01:00PM W31-305

Enrollment: Unlimited: No advance sign-up

Kids from lower-income backgrounds have a huge disadvantage in getting to good colleges -- and it can seem almost impossible to get to MIT, however brilliant they may be.


Brilliant students often come from uneducated and unfortunately disrupted familes where there is little or no culture of learning. Instead, they must often work long hours after school to help support their family financially.

Takeoff Space will be a highly selective program available only to academically top-performing high-school juniors from deprived backgrounds. They will visit MIT weekly to be mentored by an MIT student who will not so much advise them as do what professional parents do: lead them through the college and financial aid selection and application process to make sure it is completed correctly and optimally.

The program is planned to launch this spring with approximately a dozen students from Lowell High School. With success, it will spread throughout the Boston region and become a national model. We invite your interest.

This IAP activity will present Takeoff Space and will give MIT students a chance to get involved.

Contact: Jonathan Richmond, richmond@alum.mit.edu