This spring, a group of DSST juniors packed their bags, boarded planes, and did something that changed the way they see their futures. Through DSST's Early Exposure Program (DEEP), students traveled to Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles over Spring Break to visit some of the most celebrated college campuses in the country — and came back with a whole new sense of what's possible.
At DSST Public Schools, we believe that college is more than a destination — it's a doorway. Since our founding, 100% of DSST graduates have been admitted to college or a postsecondary program, and our college counseling work begins as early as 9th grade. DEEP is one of the most powerful expressions of that commitment: a program that puts students physically on the campuses they've only ever seen in brochures, and asks them to imagine themselves there.
Participants are selected based on academic performance, extracurricular involvement, and fit for the schools they visited. Based on their preferences, students traveled to one of three cities: Boston, Atlanta, or Los Angeles. What they brought back was far more than souvenirs.
"The experience felt surreal, straight out of a dream."
For many students, the trip marked the first time they had ever traveled far from home — and that fact alone carried enormous weight.
Julian A. (DSST: College View), who visited Boston, described a quiet but powerful moment of realization on the very first night of the trip:
"The first day we went to eat at a ramen place. As weird as it sounds, I realized to myself that I'm hundreds of miles away from home, with new people…The experience felt surreal, straight out of a dream. I was so proud, especially as no one from my family has ever gone to such a city."
That sense of arrival — of being somewhere new and realizing you belong there — echoed across all three cities. Anna B. (DSST: Montview), who traveled to Atlanta, put it simply:
"I felt proud right when I stepped off that plane. I never would've expected myself in that position."
And Alexis B. (DSST: Green Valley Ranch), visiting Los Angeles, described the feeling of stepping onto a campuses like UCLA and USC that she had long dreamed about:
"I felt proud of myself when I was able to step foot on a campus that I dreamed of going to when I was younger."
Seeing MIT, Harvard, Caltech — and Seeing Yourself There
One of DEEP's core goals is expanding the universe of colleges DSST students can imagine attending. For many participants, visiting schools they had only read about — and meeting DSST alumni already thriving there — made the abstract feel real.
Julian described the moment he walked onto MIT's campus:
"Once we were in MIT, I felt more at ease…but I also realized I was in the university which most would call the number 1 college in the country! Stepping into the school, seeing the famous buildings, statues, classrooms, and even having a DSST alumni guide us through the university was an unbelievable experience that I would have never thought of getting into."
Moqadasa H. (DSST: Elevate) shared a similar gratitude about visiting Harvard University — and also noted the lasting impact the trip had on her thinking about college:
"I am very grateful for this experience; it inspired me to look at out-of-state colleges and cleared my doubts about financial aid.”
Alexis, meanwhile, found her perspective expanded by a visit to Caltech, a school she hadn't originally considered:
"I felt pushed out of my comfort zone while touring a college I never thought about going to."
The World Is Bigger Than You Think
DEEP exists because DSST believes every student deserves to see the full range of their possibilities — not just read about them. The Class of 2026 has earned an average of six college admittances per student. DSST graduates attend schools from Harvard to Howard, from Spelman to Cornell. The question was never whether DSST students belong at great colleges. DEEP helps them feel it for themselves.
As Julian put it, the most transformative moment didn't happen inside a lecture hall or on a famous quad. It happened at a ramen restaurant in Boston, hundreds of miles from home, when a first-generation college-bound student looked around and realized:
"I was so extremely proud of how far I have gotten, and what the future had in store for me."
Interested in learning more about DSST's college success programs and how we support students from 9th grade through graduation? Visit dsstpublicschools.org/college-success.