How we keep sessions safe.

Every mentor is reviewed before they appear

Mentors apply with their college, degree, class year and major. They can verify their college email by entering a 6-digit code we send to that address; their profile then shows a blue verified check next to their name and the school’s domain (never the address). Otherwise they tell us another way to confirm they attend: a link to their LinkedIn or college profile, or a student ID with the number covered. We never ask for government ID. The Alongside team reviews each application personally. Mentors whose enrollment we have checked show an “Enrollment verified” badge. If a mentor later changes their college, degree, major, bio or photo, the profile goes back for review before the change shows.

Every mentor also confirms in writing that they have never been convicted of a crime, have no pending criminal charges, and have never been expelled or suspended from a school or college for misconduct. A mentor who answers falsely is removed.

The mentor code of conduct

Every mentor agrees to these rules when they apply:

• Keep all contact on Alongside. Never share or ask for phone numbers, personal email, social media accounts or outside meeting links, never follow, friend or message a student on social media, and never arrange to meet a student in person. A mentor’s profile can link to a few of their public posts as Highlights; Alongside reviews them and can hide any of them.
• No personal recordings. Mentors may not make their own recordings of a session.
• Coach, don’t ghost-write. Feedback and coaching are fine; writing essays or applications for a student is not.
• Respectful and professional. Sessions are one-on-one, and parents are welcome to be nearby or drop in.
• Report concerns. Any safety concern about a student goes to Alongside right away. Suspected abuse or neglect must also be reported to New Jersey’s Division of Child Protection and Permanency at 1-877-652-2873 (call 911 if a child is in danger).

Sessions happen in our private video room

Every session takes place in Alongside’s own video room, opened from the dashboard, not on personal apps. The room opens 5 minutes before the start and nothing needs to be downloaded. Sessions are not recorded at the moment. If Alongside starts recording sessions privately for safety, this page and the Terms will say so before it begins.

Parents stay in the loop

Students under 18 sign up with a parent’s or guardian’s permission and email. That parent is copied on every booking email: confirmations, reminders and the mentor’s notes after a session.

Reviews you can trust

Only a student who completed a session with a mentor on Alongside can leave a review, and each review is labelled “Verified session”. Reviews can be reported, and the team can hide any review that breaks the rules.

Showing up

After every call, the student and the mentor each tell us whether it happened. A missed session or two answers that don’t match go straight to the Alongside team. The full attendance rule is on the For parents page and in the FAQ.

Reporting a problem

Choose “Get help” next to the session on your dashboard within 30 days and tell us what happened. The Alongside team reviews every report, follows up with the mentor, and removes any mentor who breaks the code of conduct. For anything else, email alongside.mentors@gmail.com.

Your information

What we collect and why is set out in the Privacy Policy. Mentors see a booked student’s first name and the answers the student chose to share, not their email or phone number.