Frequently Asked Questions

How do you handle the essay writing process?

Our essay process is broken into two phases: planning and writing.

In the planning phase, we guide students through prewriting and brainstorming exercises designed to surface their strongest ideas, experiences, and personal narratives. These structured worksheets help students move past the blank page and identify topics that are genuinely compelling and authentic to who they are.

Once a student has a direction, they write the first draft themselves. From there, we review the essay in detail, providing comments and feedback focused on college fit, proper verbiage, and overall quality. Our goal is to ensure every essay is effective toward what admissions officers are actually looking for, while keeping the student's voice front and center. We go through as many rounds of revision as needed until the essay is polished and ready to submit.

Why would we pick recent graduates over tenured college advisors?

The college admissions landscape has changed dramatically in recent years. Competition is fiercer, expectations are higher, and the strategies that worked a decade ago do not necessarily work today. As recent admits, we have survived the most challenging version of this process, and we bring that firsthand, up-to-date knowledge to every student we work with.

Beyond that, our smaller group of students means we provide truly tailored care toward each individual. We prioritize dedication and personal attention for every client, rather than managing classes of 50 to even 100+ students as you would see at bigger college advising companies. Your student is not a number to us. They are someone we genuinely invest in.

What is your admissions strategy?

Our strategy centers on making sure every part of a student's application tells a cohesive story. We work to optimize activity lists and essays so that they fit not only the student's personal narrative but also what they want to pursue in the future. Admissions officers are looking for students with clear direction and authentic passion, and we help our clients present exactly that.

How do you build a student's college list?

We build college lists around a core framework: 2 safety schools, 3 to 4 target schools, and the rest being reaches. This structure ensures every student has a strong foundation of schools where they are very likely to be admitted, while still aiming high.

Beyond that foundation, our goal is to encourage students to apply to as many colleges as possible once the safeties and targets are covered. More applications mean more opportunities and more options when decision day comes. Of course, student preference and values are always taken into account when curating the list. We want every school on it to be somewhere your student would genuinely be excited to attend.