I just received an email from Mr. Mark Johnston, who is a Program Manager at Matriculate, saying that “You stellar academic performance has qualified you to receive free college support from one of our phenomenal Advising Fellows”. Then, I am provided the link to a “High School Fellow Pre-Advising Questionnaire” and a “High School Fellow Program Participation Waiver” to complete… In all honesty, the email appears quite shady…
Has anyone participated in this, heard about this, or can verify that this is legit?
How did this person get your email in the first place? Even though I have no experience with this particular website before, I would look at the site and google to see whether it is legit in the mean time.
My academic email is available to most colleges, through Naviance I think, something to do with my counselors,
and well as through scholarship websites… I get a lot of emails regarding scholarship opportunities, college interest, college prep, exam prep, etc., so this isn’t the first. Also…
UPDATE:: I actually received a slightly better looking email from the info@matriculate . org; note that this seems much more like an advertisement and that I received in in the “Promotions” tab of my gmail.
Hey there, I’m a hs senior and got something in the mail from Matriculate when I was a junior. I wasn’t really sure if it was legit, but I met their qualifications, they didn’t ask for any credit card numbers, and I didn’t know where to get college help. Several weeks later, my advising fellow contacted me. He told me that the way the program works is that college students are assigned to hs students to help them with the college application process. There are several colleges that participate in the program (Yale, Howard, Williams, F&M, Columbia, and some others). You periodically video call and they are given specific things to talk about with you (college list, essays, financial aid). It also serves as a way for you to become friendly/friends with your advising fellow.
Fast forward a few months…this program has been SO helpful. My advising fellow helped me make a realistic college list of schools that promise to meet 100% of financial need. He edited my essays and made sure I got my financial aid forms in. If I ever have any college related question, I can text him. And he’s a pretty cool guy 
and fun to talk to.
In fact, recently, the CEO of Matriculate, Madeline Kerner, wanted to speak to me about my experience. One thing we discussed is that they don’t have much name recognition yet. It is something they’re working on.
Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that it’s totally legit and awesome. Feel free to PM me with any questions and good luck!
oh btw, here is the link to their website: http://www.matriculate.org/
That is super promising, thank you so much for the anecdote!!! I will definitely look into the program & apply soon! I am so excited now, because I am super clueless while doing my college searches, ahaha… 
Great, so glad I could help