In your second year or later at a college in India? You know what it is really like.
Get paid to tell what college is really like.
Every year, Class 10–12 students and their parents choose a college from brochures, rankings and campus tours. Before You Pick puts them on a video call with a senior who studies at the exact college they are considering, so they can ask about the hostel, the teachers, the placements, the city and what a month really costs.
That senior could be you. Applicants get the real-life view they cannot find anywhere else, from someone living it, before they lock in four years.
You probably remember this.
A made-up scene, but a very common one. This is where the applicants on your call are right now.
I got into a college in Pune. Everyone says it is great. But everyone says that about every college.
The fees run into lakhs. The website looks lovely, but is the hostel safe? Do the placements actually happen?
The only people who really know are the seniors who study there. I just do not know any of them.
That is the gap we fill. We find a senior from that exact college and put the applicants on a video call with them, before they pick.
What this is, in plain words.
It is a group video call.
A small group of applicants in one meeting, with one mentor answering. Not a one-on-one consultation.
Everyone wants the same college.
We build each session around one university, so nothing said in that hour is generic advice. It is all about the place the applicants are actually considering.
The person answering studies there.
Not alumni from six years ago, not a counsellor who has read the brochure. A student in their second year or later, on that campus, this semester. That is the mentor.
Right now, applicants are choosing blind.
Two people are making this decision together, and neither of them has spent an ordinary day on that campus. You have spent a year or more of them.
They will pick a place they have never really seen.
A website built to sell them a seat. A campus tour written by the admissions office. Maybe a cousin who went somewhere else entirely. Then they move in and find out what the classes, the hostel and the city are actually like, with four years already locked in.
They are approving lakhs off a ranking table.
Fees, hostel, city, four years of their child's life. The counsellor advising them has usually never set foot on that campus and is comparing cutoffs, not daily life. One honest hour with a current student tells them more than any of it.
The brochure, and a student.
Both can be true. Only one of them is useful to an applicant, and it is the kind of thing you already know about your own college.
Vibrant, inclusive campus life.
It is vibrant if you join a society in your first month. Miss that window and it gets quiet fast. Nobody tells you the window exists.
Written examples of the kind of answer applicants get from a mentor, not quotes from a real college or student.
Be the senior they wish they knew.
Tell us where you study and we will get in touch when we open your college.
Get paid to say the honest thing.
If you are in your second year or later at an Indian university, you already know things that would have changed your own decision two years ago. An hour of that is worth paying for.
What you actually do.
Show up for one call.
A 60 to 90 minute video call with a small group of applicants. No preparation, no deck, no script to follow.
Answer straight.
Hostels, food, money, teaching, placements, the city, what you would change. Give them a balanced picture, including what could be better.
Get paid per session.
You are paid for every session you run, and we confirm the rate with you before your first one. You choose how many sessions you take.
What we check before you join.
Four things, so applicants can trust what you tell them.
- You study there right nowChecked with a student ID and a college email address. We do not take alumni, because a campus changes faster than people remember.
- Your grades hold upThere is an academic requirement, and we share the details when we contact you. Someone struggling to keep up cannot tell an applicant much about what the course really demands.
- You actually do things on campusA society, a team, a fest, a lab. A student who only attends class knows their own timetable and very little else.
- You give an honest, balanced pictureChecked in a short trial call. A mentor who only praises their college is doing free marketing, which is the exact opposite of the point.
Why bother?
Three honest reasons.
- It pays, for an hour of talking about something you already know inside out.
- It is a real thing to put on a CV — you were vetted, selected and paid to advise applicants.
- Somebody made this decision badly because nobody told them the truth. You get to be the person who tells them.
You are never asked to promote your college, and we will never send you a script. If we did, the whole thing would be worthless.
Already at a university?
Tell us where you study and we will get in touch when we open your college.
Apply to be a mentor.
Already studying at a college in India? Read the requirements below, then leave your details.
Before you apply, read this
These are the requirements for every mentor. If they fit you, sign up below.
- You study there right nowSecond year or later, at an Indian college. We verify with your student ID and college email. We do not take alumni.
- You give an honest, balanced pictureApplicants are deciding where to spend four years. Share what works well and what could be better, in your own words. You will never be asked to promote your college.
- You know more than your timetableA society, a team, a fest, a lab. You can talk about life on campus, not only your classes.
- You meet our academic requirementsWe look for students who are doing well in their course. We share the exact criteria when we contact you.
- You can give 60 to 90 focused minutesA video call with a group of applicants, from a quiet place with a steady connection.
Pay, perks and everything else are shared by email when we contact you.
What happens next: this form is the first step. Once you send it, we will contact you by email and phone with an update and the further steps to sign up.
Thanks, we have your details.
We will contact you by email and phone with an update and the further steps to sign up.
What we do with your details.
The short version: we use them to contact you about Before You Pick, and for nothing unrelated to it.
Last updated: 7 November 2026
Who we are
Before You Pick is run by a small founding team. We are not a registered company yet. For anything on this page, write to beforeyoupick.byp@gmail.com.
What we collect
Only what you type into our mentor sign-up form. There are no accounts.
- Mentor signup: name, phone number, email, college and year.
Why we collect it
To contact you about Before You Pick sessions, and to send occasional Before You Pick updates. Nothing unrelated to Before You Pick. You can ask us to stop the updates at any time by email.
Who sees it
Only the Before You Pick team. Applicants' details are not shared with mentors before a call. We never sell your details or give them to colleges, coaching institutes or anyone else.
Where it is stored
With Netlify, which hosts this site and stores form entries (its servers may be outside India), and in spreadsheets in the team's Google account that we use to keep track of signups.
The calls
Sessions run on Google Meet or Zoom, which encrypt calls in transit.
Recordings
Calls are recorded, and everyone on the call is told at the start that it is being recorded. We use recordings to write the summary of the session we send to students afterwards, and to train our mentors. Nothing else. We do not use recordings to train AI.
Recordings are seen only by the Before You Pick team. They are never posted publicly and never shared with colleges or anyone else. We delete recordings within 90 days of the call. Written summaries are kept with your details, for up to 12 months.
How long we keep it
Up to 12 months, then we delete it. Sooner if you ask.
Applicants under 18
This site's sign-up is for mentors, who are college students. The applicants on our calls are different: most of them are in Class 10 to 12 and under 18, and a parent or guardian agrees when an applicant signs up for a session. Their parents can ask to see or delete their child's details.
If you mentor with us, you should know that the people on your calls include minors, and that every call is recorded as described above.
Your choices
Email us to see, correct or delete your details, or to withdraw your agreement.
Cookies
This site sets no cookies and has no trackers or analytics. It only remembers whether you switched click sounds on or off, and that stays on your own device. Fonts load from Google Fonts and animation code from public code libraries (CDNs), which see your device's IP address, as with any website.
Changes
If this changes, we will update this page and the date at the top.