Updated August, 2025

Prospective Applicant FAQs

Curious about becoming a mentor? Here are answers to the questions we hear most often: from compensation to what you’ll actually gain from the experience.

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Let’s be real here. K–12 education is broken. Students spend years memorizing and regurgitating, while curiosity and purpose slip away. Alec and Audrey, the co-founders of Curious Cardinals, saw this problem firsthand and launched this platform to flip the script:

The result? Five years later, after working with thousands of students around the world, Curious Cardinals mentorship has rekindled a love of learning. With the support of their mentors, students rediscover curiosity, build confidence, and connect their studies to real-world purpose!

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Our mentors lead two types of experiences:

• Passion Projects (PP): Help students bring big visions to life! It requires mentors with strong project and people management skills to enable a kid to achieve outcomes. Examples:
  • 💎With Phoebe’s guidance, Rose turned her love for making jewelry into a profitable business
  • 📚Abigail helped Mila write her first fiction novel
  • 🫀Olympia created a website to educate families about congenital heart defects with Mentor Ellie
  • 📱Kaitlyn supported Drew in building an award-winning app
  • 🎲Skye transformed Drake from player to builder, by helping him build his own board game
  • 🔭 Sloane presented her research with Adeline at the American Astronomical Society conference
• Academic Mentorship (AM): Like tutoring - but more holistic. Yes, it’s about helping students get better grades, understand concepts and build skills. But more than that: it’s about helping them see why this subject matters, how it affects the real world they live in and - hopefully - replaces fear and disengagement them excitement and curiosity. Often it’s also about helping students who historically might have struggled with time-management or discipline to build those habits!
  • Discover the transformation Gabby experienced through mentorship here.
  • Listen to CC mom Desiree (Global Marketing VP at Shopify) talk about the magical match between her son & his math mentor

Prospective Applicant FAQs

How much are mentors paid?

What do mentors gain from the experience?

What ages do you serve?

Do I have to mentor both Passion Projects and Academic Mentorship?

What does the application process entail?

What do you look for in applicants?

For whom may Curious Cardinals not be a good fit?

Once you’re accepted as a mentor, what happens next?

What does equity and access look like at Curious Cardinals?

Do you do classes / workshops, or is it all 1:1?

Can international students join CC?