How it works
Five steps, start to finish.
Here is the whole of it, from the first call to the last session. If something below is not what you were told on the phone, hold us to this page.
On this page
Step 1.A call with your counselor’s assistant
Forty-five minutes on the phone with the assistant who works for the counselor you picked. What you write when you book is what we read before we call, so write it the way you would say it out loud. The counselor reads it too.
Then the ordinary business. What year your student is in, what the list looks like so far, what has already been decided, and what you are actually worried about. By the end of the call you have the package, what it covers, what it does not, and the price.
We take seniors through November 1, and several counselors here run compressed engagements inside that window. If your student is a senior enrolling after November 1 we will not sell you the package, and we will spend the call on what is still worth doing and who we would point you to.
Step 2.You enroll, and the scope is written down
You sign the agreement, not your student. The scope is in it: the number of applications, the essay allowance and how it is counted, the weekly submission limit, response times, and the price. You get a three-business-day right to cancel, in writing, in the agreement.
Work does not start inside that window. We would rather begin on day four than have you feel committed on day one.
Step 3.You get the counselor you chose
You picked a person off their own page, and that is who you work with. If that ever has to change, you hear it from us first and you are the one who agrees to it.
The roster is small on purpose. Everyone on it is an undergraduate at a university our families are applying to, or a recent graduate of one, and we confirm that against documents before the page goes live, an offer letter or a registrar’s letter rather than a LinkedIn profile. Anyone employed by a college admissions office is not eligible. That is a conflict, and it is the one thing in this industry nobody should go near.
If the fit is wrong, say so on the call or after it, and we will move you to anyone else on the roster. Once you have signed, moving you does not change what you pay. The number on your agreement is fixed the day you sign it.
Step 4.The cycle runs, and you can see it
Sessions happen on the schedule in your agreement. After each one your counselor writes up what they covered, what your student owes next, and by when. You see it in your parent account without having to ask.
Between sessions, an AI agent answers the mechanical questions at any hour. What is on your student’s list this week, what their counselor wrote down last time, whether their counselor is away. It carries no school data, so it will not tell your student a deadline or a testing policy for a named college. Those go to the counselor in your student’s own words.
Essay reviews come back within three business days, and written questions to your counselor within two. Business hours are Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Pacific, and the agent above covers the hours in between.
Step 5.The engagement ends on a stated date
The senior package ends February 15. The annual package ends twelve months from enrollment. Both end with a session that says what happens next and what is not included, such as waitlist letters, aid appeals and choosing between offers. Those are available as add-ons at prices we state before you agree to them, never added at checkout.
Nothing renews automatically. If you want another year, you buy it.
Start at step one.
Forty-five minutes on the call, and you will know the price and the scope by the end of it.