Goddard Riverside Community Center - College Counseling

Options College Counseling

Goddard Riverside’s Options Center shows New York City students they can go to college and guides them through the steps to enrollment. Any student with passing grades, a high school diploma or GED, and the desire should have the opportunity to go to college; that is what Options is about.
Students from low-income and working-class backgrounds face significant barriers to achieving a college degree – now considered essential for most career paths. College costs are soaring, aid is decreasing, and counselors at New York City schools frequently have caseloads of 500 or more students.
Students and Parents:
If you need information on college admissions and financial aid, call or email us at (212) 873-6600, ext. 323 or options@goddard.org.
Options makes college more accessible to students through these free services:

• One-to-one educational counseling for 11th and 12th graders;
• Assistance with admissions and financial aid applications, essays, portfolios, and scholarship and internship opportunities;
• A resource center with up-to-date materials and internet access;
• Visits to college campuses and contact with Options Center alumni on campus;
• SAT preparation;
• Workshops on the transition from high school to college;
• Short-term mental health counseling to students, parents and families by a licensed professional on staff at OPTIONS;
• Early Awareness programming for middle and high school students;

Every year Options serves over 1,000 students and their families from all over New York City and sends 200 graduates to college, the majority of whom are the first in their family to attend.
Over 5,000 youth and adults have gone to college with the help of the Options Center. As one program alumni, now a college graduate, recently put it, “Options broadened my sense of what was possible – and even when I thought I couldn’t do it, my counselor helped me every step of the way.”
Through the Options Center, Goddard Riverside is a leader in the college access movement. We offer training and professional development programs for other youth-serving agencies and college counseling professionals.
Useful college links:
College and scholarship searches
New York State Higher Education Services Corporation
Federal financial aid info
College searches, SAT info and more
Contact the Options Center:
Email: options@goddard.org
Phone: (212) 873-6600
Address: 593 Columbus Avenue
New York, NY 10024