Making you Exceptionally Authentic...
Conventional college portfolios focus narrowly on just grades to "meet application cut-offs". As a result, many students are nudged into "popular" career pathways rather than exploring their true interests and skills that can help them stand out from the crowd and thrive in the real world.
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In response, colleges are increasingly getting selective with their admissions. Good grades, higher level studies, and standardized tests are necessary, but not sufficient. Colleges are today seeking clarification of purpose - why do you want to pursue your subject of study; and depth of intent - have you explored your area of interest and demonstrated intent to pursue your study?
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blenNDO is an AI-in-the-loop academic mentorship partner that prepares young adults for their next big leap in life - college, higher education, and career - with confidence and empathy.
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Build skills that make you exceptional.
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Build resilience to prepare for the rigors of the real world.
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Build a standout portfolio that opens opportunities and doors that matter to you.
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And build these while working on your passion project that clarify interest and intent with blenNDo.
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Backed by alumni of UC Berkeley, IIT Madras,
Azim Premji University, and NSRCEL IIM Bangalore.
blenNDO is founded by alumni of Berkeley Haas, University of California; IIT Madras; Azim Premji University; and NSRCEL, IIM Bangalore. Our passionate team brings over 40 years of cumulative experience across industries and domains. Unlike standardized tutoring or passive job shadowing, our inclusive mentorship supports thematic career exploration, academic skills development, and student wellbeing. Our project-based guidance guarantees active learner participation and demonstrable outcomes.
Our projects are inclusive by design and support learner variability. Our neurodiversity affirming focus on inclusion, learner autonomy, universal design, and responsible use of AI allows us to uniquely connect with and deliver value to young adults with varied skills.
Explore our Projects
Brain's CEO :
Skilling Project
Academic Resilience :
Skilling Project
Blend Inclusion :
Research Project
Build-a-Business :
Research Project
Beat Anxiety:
Wellbeing Project
Beat Stress Headaches:
Wellbeing Project
FAQs
Does a research project help with college admission?
Passion projects - in the form of research or hands-on outcome-oriented projects - demonstrate self-directed exploration of your area of interest. College admission officers attach significant weightage to such efforts.
Who are the students who enrol for blenNDo projects?
Purpose-driven young adults - in high school or during undergraduate studies - register for our projects for two key reasons: to explore interests in depth and make better informed choices of college courses; and to make their college portfolio stand out from the crowd. Our mentee profile is diverse and cuts across academic grades, subjects, interests, curriculum, and college destinations.
Do I need a project portfolio to apply to Indian colleges or only to universities abroad?
Selection into universities in the USA, UK, Europe, Singapore, Australia, etc., is significantly determined by a strong college portfolio. Most discerning universities in India are also increasingly weighing in on college portfolios to evaluate candidates beyond standardized test results. Projects are also a great way for students to explore their interests and avoids situations of poor / uninformed course selection.
Internship or project - what do colleges prefer?
Choose an internship if you want to demonstrate the application of existing knowledge in the real world. Choose a mentored project if you want to showcase depth of exploration of an interest with hands-on learning in a practical setting.
Do you provide college and career counselling?
We do not offer college or career counselling services. We mentor students to experientially explore their interests via projects. This helps clarify what study they would want to pursue in college.
How can blenNDo help me choose my subject of interest?
We do not help you choose your interests, courses, or colleges. Our projects, however, are a great way for students to discover real-world application of their preferred subjects and help them make better course and subject selection in college.
Who needs academic skills training and why?
Strong study skills - determined by executive functions - are the foundation of sustained academic success. And yet students are rarely trained on them systematically. Tutors also rarely have the time to help learners identify strategies that are in sync with their unique brains. Our skilling projects help all learners develop self-awareness about their academic strengths and build on emerging skills with strategic practice.
What are learner wellbeing projects?
We're in the midst of a mental health crisis among students. A stressed learner, or a learner in pain, is not in a frame of mind for learning. And inefficient learning is the biggest cause of academic anxiety. Our wellbeing projects help learners break out of this vicious cycle of stress, pain, and low self-confidence with healthy skill building and academic scaffolding.
What makes a mentored project with blenNDo unique?
While every project with blenNDo is unique, what makes us stand out is our philosophy of inclusion. We do not work only with top ranking high-achievers. We do not work with any "type" of student. We work with any student who is determined to explore an idea, interest, or purpose. Students learn to work independently, with autonomy within a reasonable structure, and advocate for their opinion and ideas in a judgement-free environment.
Who are the mentors for projects?
Our mentors come with rich academic background from premier institutes in India and the US and have a cumulative industry experience of over 40 years. Our mentors are also neurodiversity-affirming and follow the principles of universal design for learning to cater to learner variability.