From Giselle:

Hello everyone, I hope you find yourselves well! My name is Giselle a junior in high school, and this year I have been very fortunate to be picked for the Watsonville Ivy League Program, also known as WILP. This is a very prestigious program that only selected students get into. This program allows high-achieving students from Watsonville High School and Pajaro High School to visit the Ivy League schools. Being part of WILP will enable us to grow as leaders and reach our goals to one day be able to attend one of these distinguished schools. It is very exciting and rewarding to be part of a group of students striving to improve their education and reach their full potential. I’m on this page to get financial support from the community to be able to achieve my goal of $3,700. Every little penny is helpful for me to get close to meeting my goal.

About WILP Application Process

Students had to have at least a minimum 3.75 GPA in order to be recruited to apply from 10th to 11th grade. I was one of 15 students from Pajaro High and Watsonville High School, two under-resourced schools, who were selected for this year’s 2025 program. The application was a very hard process, which is similar to applying to college. I had to fill out an application, write a personal essay, obtain a teacher recommendation, and get interviewed.

About WILP’s Success

Of the 164 WILP past participants since 2007, 19 of them are attending or have attended Ivy League schools, which is an 11.59% admit rate (Source: WILP database). By comparison, the overall Ivy League acceptance rates for the Class of 2026 averaged 5.22% ranging from 3.19% to 6.91% (Source:https://www.ivycoach.com/ivy-league-admissions-statistics/). These results suggest WILP participants are earning Ivy League opportunities at more than double the general admit rate, underscoring the program’s impact in helping students reach highly selective universities.

Academic and Extracurricular Activities

I was invited to WILP because of my academic greatness and extracurricular activities. I have a 4.24 weighted GPA and a 4.0 unweighted GPA. I’m a very dedicated student who wants to achieve excellence in the future. I am currently in the Health Academy at my school, which is a doorway for me to enter the health field. I have also won many Honor Roll awards. I was also the only Scholar of the Year in my 8th-grade class. During summer break, I helped out my local health clinic, Salud Para La Gente, to distribute food to those part of the food bank. I am currently on the Teen Board for Salud Para La Gente, where we talk about teen health. This involvement with my community has helped me grow compassion and patience with others.

All of these opportunities have developed my motivation and longing to better myself and my community. These sentiments will benefit my application process to Ivy League universities. Yet, I do need your help to raise the money necessary for this trip. These donations will go to the essentials for this trip, which are the airfare, ground transportation, lodging for 7 days, food for 7 days, and the Broadway show and museums.

If you can’t donate, I fully understand but please do spread the word to others and encourage others to donate. I would really appreciate any type of support. Thank you!

Giselle Guzman