College admissions doesn't have to feel like a language you never learned.
One mentor who explains what's actually happening, helps build a college list that fits your student, and stays with them through every essay and application. We're there from the first "where do we even start?" conversation to the moment they hit submit.
No obligation and no hidden pricing. Every plan includes a dedicated mentor at no extra charge.
The admissions process, without the jargon.
Most families who reach out haven't been through this before, and it's changed a lot since many parents applied themselves. Here's roughly how it works. It's also not just a senior-fall scramble. The same mentor helps with course selection and activity planning well before applications start.
The application, in three parts
What admissions officers actually read, and what preparing each part involves.
Grades, course rigor, and test scores where a school still considers them. This builds up over years, not overnight in senior fall. A plan started junior year can still shift it.
One personal statement, plus a supplement or two for most schools on the list. Admissions readers are listening for voice, not vocabulary.
How a student spent their time, and how two adults who know them describe that time. Both take longer to do well than people expect, and both tend to get left until the last minute.
Application-window and essay-limit details per the Common Application.
Not sure when to start? Sophomores and juniors have the most room to build a thoughtful list and work through essay ideas without a deadline breathing down their neck. If your senior is already mid-application, you still have real options. We meet families wherever they are.
No one can promise you a decision from a school we don't control. What we can do is make sure the list, the essays, and the activities all show the strongest, most honest version of your student's story.
This is a family's process, even though only one name goes on the application.
Grades and test scores matter, but they're not the whole application. A strong one also needs a balanced list, essays that actually sound like the student who wrote them, every deadline tracked, and a household that isn't rehashing the same argument every week.
A list that fits
A mix of reach, target, and likely schools, built around who your student actually is instead of a copy-pasted dream-school list.
An essay that sounds like them
Real brainstorming and real editing, aimed at pulling out a story your student already has. We don't hand back an essay we wrote for them.
Every deadline, tracked
Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision, tracked portal by portal so nothing slips through in the last week.
Fewer arguments at the kitchen table
One point of contact for the whole family, so the same argument doesn't keep coming back up at dinner.
Interviews that feel like conversations
Practice before it counts, so an alumni or admissions interview feels like a conversation instead of a test.
The parts no one explains
Testing-optional policies, demonstrated interest, and what a holistic review actually looks at. Nobody hands you a manual for this part.
Every plan comes with a dedicated mentor already built in.
Most independent counseling programs sell strategy and essay help on their own, and treat the rest of it, the stress, the motivation, the family communication that comes with a hard year, as an expensive add-on, if they offer it at all. We looked, and couldn't find another program that puts a personal mentor into every plan at no extra cost. At SOY it isn't a premium upgrade. Every plan, at every price point, includes a counselor working the application and a mentor working everything around it. That's what education as healthcare means to us in practice: your student's wellbeing is part of what you're paying for, not something we bill separately.
Your counselor
- Builds a balanced college list based on the student's goals, grades, and interests
- Helps choose courses and activities each year that build toward those goals
- Brainstorms, drafts, and edits the personal statement and supplements in the student's own voice
- Preps for interviews and keeps every deadline on a shared calendar
Your mentor
- Helps keep the whole process from overwhelming the family, with realistic pacing and honest expectations along the way
- Handles the executive-functioning side of things: staying organized across several applications and portals at once
- Stays steady with a student through waitlists, deferrals, and decision day
- Handles the parts that have nothing to do with the essay or the transcript: motivation, stress, how the family is talking to each other
The Mentor isn't an add-on and it's never billed separately. It's there from the day your plan starts.
Three plans, published in full. A mentor's already included in each.
Most independent counseling programs don't publish a price at all. You find out after a sales call. Ours are below, and every plan already includes The Mentor at no extra charge, so pick whichever one matches where your student is today.
- 1 strategy session
- Researched list of 15–20 schools
- Activity & course-planning roadmap
- 1 personal essay + up to 8 supplemental essays
- Application review, up to 10 schools
- 2 mock interviews
- Foundation + Application Season Core, combined
- Spans the full multi-year relationship
- One counselor and mentor, start to finish
Pick a plan above, or let the free consult help you choose.
A rising sophomore just getting started looks nothing like a senior finishing supplements in October. We'll help you figure out which plan fits, then get to work.
Free 30-minute consult
We learn about your student's grades, timeline, and goals, and we'll tell you honestly where they stand today.
A plan built around your timeline
We recommend an engagement sized to however many years or months are left before applications are due.
Support straight through submit
List-building, essays, interviews, deadlines. We're in it together until every application is actually submitted.
Prices are published above, so there's no surprise quote waiting at the end. The free consult is there to help you pick the right plan, not to sell you one.
Frequently asked questions
What exactly is "college and academic counseling"?
How much does this cost?
Is The Mentor really free, or an upsell later?
When should we start?
Do you write the essays for my child?
Can you guarantee admission to a specific school?
What if my child already has a counselor at school?
Is this different from your SAT/ACT test prep?
How does this actually work week to week?
Start with a conversation, not a commitment.
Thirty minutes, no charge. We'll talk about where your student stands, what timeline you're working with, and what a plan would realistically look like from here. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you.
Book a free 30-minute consultQuestions first? admin@storyofyoumain.org