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For parents/guardians

Straight answers about what your student is signing up for.

No hype. No fine print. Here's what Best Seeds is, how the cohort works, how students are kept safe, and how they're paid.

Read the FAQ Talk to the team
FAQ

The questions parents and guardians actually ask

What your student is signing up for

The five-step path from interest to onboarding.

Every step is time-boxed so you know when to expect the next one.

  1. 1

    Submit the interest form

    ~3 min

    Short form on the Cohort page. A parent or guardian can start it too.

  2. 2

    Meet with our team

    book it now

    We'll learn about your goals, answer questions, and make sure the cohort is a good fit.

    Meet with our team
  3. 3

    Complete the application

    ~10 min

    We email a short supplemental app after the call.

  4. 4

    Receive acceptance email

    within 1 week

    Clarity, either way.

  5. 5

    Start building.

    cohort starts

    Meet your cohort. Meet your mentor. Start building.

Cost & compensation

Students are paid a stipend to participate. We're built for economic mobility — your student's time matters, and compensation reflects that. This is a choice, not a perk: we think unpaid "opportunity" is one of the reasons the job market stays broken for young people.

Safety & mentorship

  • • Background-checked mentors — every mentor clears a formal background check before working with students.
  • • Vetted mentors with real work experience.
  • • Small cohorts so students are seen, not lost in a crowd.
  • • Clear communication channels and a published code of conduct.
  • • Regular updates so parents and guardians know what their student is working on.

How to help without hovering

Your involvement matters. It also has a shape that works — and a shape that backfires. A quick field guide.

Do
  • — Ask what they're working on this week, not how it's going.
  • — Let them own the calendar and the follow-through.
  • — Celebrate the artifact, not the grade.
  • — Trust the mentor before you second-guess the mentor.
Don't
  • — Rewrite their resume for them.
  • — Email us before they've tried to email us.
  • — Pitch them a career path in the car ride home.
  • — Compare their week to another student's week.

Share the one-pager

A single-page PDF with everything on this page — great for a partner, counselor, or grandparent who prefers to read on paper.

Download parent/guardian one-pager (PDF)

A parent and guardian's guide to the modern job market

What's changed since you graduated — and how to help without hovering. A longer read from our team, written for parents and guardians.

Read it on the blog

Talk to the team

Real questions get real answers from a real person on our team — usually within a few business days.

Prefer to share this with someone else first? Download the one-pager.

We'll only use your email to reply. No lists, no spam.

Can't enroll a student right now but still want to help? A gift keeps a seat open for a family who needs one.

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Apply for Fall 2026 Cohort