Pros
The kids are so great. I am a former coach and I still miss the kids I coached a lot. CB has set a high bar for my relationship building expectations in future youth based employment roles. The office space is nice and a pretty relaxed environment. Casual wear is acceptable and you can find a couch and work on your laptop from their if you please. Aspect of the office environment make for a community feel, although this is mainly for the benefit of the students, I think staff benefit from it as well. As an organization, their emphasis on innovation and constantly adding to their program offerings is inspiring to watch and be a part of.
Cons
I know it's a volunteer position but the pay/benefits just do not cut it. Coaches work more than someone in a standard 40-45 hour week and the work is demanding. You are given a LOT of responsibility and leadership roles (which can be a pro) but ultimately you end up doing a lot of very valuable work for the organization and getting no compensation for it which is very disheartening and can messes with your psyche. You'll find yourself thinking, "wow, I am a college-educated, intelligent individual successfully taking ownership of a project typically suited for a 1-2 year professional and I am on food stamps." Too make it worse, there is no promise whatsoever of a full-time position after even 3 years of service let alone 1 year. Some AmeriCorps do end up in manager positions but it's really based on what openings they may have at the time. A lot of reviews mention that the CB way is ingrained in you and you're almost brainwashed and this is very true. Whether this is such a terrible thing is to be debated, but there's definitely a sense of a lot of people drinking the College Bound kool-aid which I think can cause people to focus their energy on the wrong things like who can work the most hours and who can be most popular with the kids while also overstating how effectively they are accomplishing the actual goal of getting MOST of the kids to to and through college. A few standout students are meaningless if the majority of students aren't necessarily faring better with regard to college than they would have without college bound.