Cohorts is building peer mentorship for Canadian students: students and recent graduates a few steps ahead, helping the ones coming up behind them. Not a careers portal, not a chatbot. Just people who have done it and want to help.
Today, you can already connect and message with students at the schools and programs you are considering. Formal mentorship is launching soon, and we are recruiting our first mentors now.
What is peer mentorship?
A peer mentor is a student who is one or two years ahead of you on the same path. Maybe they are in the program you are considering, at the school you are thinking about, or they just finished the year you are about to start.
That small gap is the point. A peer mentor is close enough to remember what it felt like, and far enough along to know what actually mattered. They can tell you which first year courses are hard, what residence is really like, and what they wish someone had told them before they chose.
Why talk to a student instead of searching online?
You can find a lot of information about any program. What is hard to find is an honest answer from someone who lived it.
- Brochures and websites show the best version of a school. They rarely tell you what a normal Tuesday feels like.
- Guidance counsellors know a lot about applications, but they cannot have been in every program at every school.
- Forums and comment sections have real students, but you never know who you are talking to, and the loudest answers are not always the most useful.
- A peer mentor is a real student in the program you care about, answering your questions directly, with context about where you are.
Questions worth asking a student who has been there
- Is this program as hard as people say? What is the workload really like?
- Which courses should I take in first year, and which should I avoid?
- What is residence like? Is it worth it?
- How did you decide between two schools?
- What do you wish you knew before you started?
- How do you make friends when you do not know anyone?
- Did you ever feel like you picked the wrong program? What did you do?
What you can do on Cohorts today
- Find your schools and programs. Explore more than 21,000 programs across more than 350 Canadian colleges and universities.
- Connect with students. Join the communities for the schools and programs you care about.
- Message other students. Ask your questions directly to students at the schools you are considering.
Private by default
Conversations stay between you and the people you choose to talk to. No leaderboards, no streaks, no metrics.
Coming soon: peer mentorship
We are building a mentorship experience designed around trust and timing:
Matched with intention
Mentors suggested by program, school, and stage, not popularity.
Opt in on both sides
You choose who you talk to, and mentors choose how much time they give.
Two way care
Mentors are supported too. We invest in the people who show up for others.
Become a founding mentor
Are you a current college or university student, or a recent graduate? Remember how much you wished someone had explained things when you started? You can be that person.
Founding mentors are the first mentors on Cohorts. You will:
- Help shape how mentorship works before it launches
- Be among the first mentors students can reach when it goes live
- Help students at your school and in your program on your own schedule