While it's not unusual to see Penn students with LSAT or MCAT books in hand, it is rare to see them carrying SAT prep books.
But that's one of many things a group of students called the West Philly Scholars does each week in an effort to help area high-school students get ready for college.
Laden with pizza, the volunteer group journeys to West Philadelphia High School, located at 48th and Walnut streets, on Monday and Tuesday evenings to work with the students.
The mentors first give lessons on topics such as SAT vocabulary, essay writing or submitting financial aid forms, and then break the class into small groups where they can work individually with the students, often in game-like activities.
"It's learning without a classroom feel," said College senior Rachel Sherman, the group's outgoing president.
Sherman founded the Scholars program a year and a half ago, hoping to help promising West Philadelphia High School students get the preparation for college that they might not otherwise receive.
This semester, there are about 20 to 25 active mentors and 15 proteges. The proteges are juniors and seniors in high school.
"The kids are great -- more than anything, they're really dedicated," said College sophomore Samantha Franks, who is also the group's incoming president. "A lot of them come right from school and sports, but they're always enthusiastic."
Sherman said she saw the need for the program during her first two years at Penn.
"I had done some tutoring in the West Philadelphia area during my freshman and sophomore years," Sherman said. "I saw that there was this great disparity between the education and college preparation that I received and the ones that these kids were getting.
"Penn was this hub of kids who have been successful in the college application process, and I realized that we had this huge supply of mentors," she added.
Sherman said that, according to West Philadelphia High School's guidance department, only 20 percent of students are accepted to and matriculate in college. About half of those students go on to four-year colleges, and not all of them finish their education.
"Many don't graduate from college, and we want to give the kids the ability to do that," Sherman said.
Domenic Johnson, a junior at West Philadelphia High School, is one of the students involved in the program.
"I always wanted to go to college, but I wasn't thinking about the SATs or anything like that until I got" into the program, Johnson said. "They taught me all about it."
To start the program, Sherman enlisted the help of Matt Riggan, who was working at the time for the Center for Community Partnerships. Riggan helped Sherman find funding for the project.
Sherman then went and asked teachers for students who showed promise or interest in college. Those recommendations brought the current group of approximately fifteen juniors and seniors together.
Desmond Monroe, a senior at West Philadelphia High School said he finds the mentors to be very supportive.
The program "is helping me a lot," Monroe said. "They've taught me how to present myself, on my essay, practicing for the SATs and everything. It's going good."
Franks will continue in Sherman's footsteps and said she hopes to strengthen the program in the coming year.
"The goal is to keep the program really small, to keep it personal. We want to be on a one-on-one basis," Franks said.
Sherman added that the personal relationship students forge with the mentors is one of the most beneficial aspects of the program.
"Much of the catalyst for these kids is that there is someone there who wants to talk to them, someone who cares about them, someone that wishes the best... it's an incredible feeling both for the students and the mentors."
Shelby Ahern, a College freshman, has been with the program only since the beginning of the semester, but she said that it's something that she plans on doing throughout her years at Penn.
"I've just been enjoying it so much," Ahern said. "I really like interacting with the kids. We give a little bit of ourselves.
"It's something you don't see a lot at Penn."
