Initial Consultation

Our initial consultation refers to the first session we spend with any family. The purpose varies according to a family's needs. For example, families in our Wealth of Knowledge™ program use their initial consultation for goal setting and FAFSA prep whereas families simply booking an independent initial consultation will utilize the time to answer questions, clarify their process, and create action steps. Initial consultations tend to run between 45 to 75 minutes.

Application Reviews

This refers specifically to students' college applications. Both our App-Sharp™ and Educated Education™ packages offer unlimited application reviews to our students. This means one of our college strategists will go through a student's app in the same way an admissions officer would. Our corrections could be as simple as catching a misspelling or unchecked box, or as critical as noticing an absent signature or key requirement.

SAT/ACT ePrep

The premiere testing study software, ePrep provides students with tools equal to a private tutor at a fraction of the cost. You can learn more about them on their site. If you find yourself on their "Buy Now" page, note we offer the Premium Annual Pass for the price of the Standard one. To take advantage of this $200 discount, email us to enroll.

College Essay Editing

Our team reviews all college and scholarship essay. We work alongside our students to check spelling, grammar, syntax, formatting, and more. We proofread and edit with an admission officer's eye. This ensures our students make the most of their first impression. Essay review is included in all our packages and as a standalone service. Our team requires essays be submitted a minimum five (5) days before they are due. For essays longer than those noted, contact us for pricing.

Social Media Coaching

College admissions review prospective students' social media, a process that often has direct implications on their acceptance and even their merit aid. Simply deleting one's entire social media footprint is no solution, as the absence of any digital presence is unrealistic. Our team works with students to comb through any social media accounts a university may find. We coach our students on the most effective ways to organize their profiles and leverage communication with universities to make our connected world work for them.

FAFSA Review

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a required form for any family who wishes to receive any type of financial aid. Schools use the numbers you report here to scale the aid they offer. Filling out the FAFSA correctly and early is one of the most important steps in securing your student's financial aid. We walk through your FAFSA together, ensuring you've filed it out completely and correctly to maximize your aid package.

CSS Profile

The College Scholarship Service Profile is an application distributed by College Board members for determining college financial aid. It is much more detailed than the FAFSA. Generally speaking, most private institutions use the CSS Profile. whereas public and state universities do not We'll make certain your CSS Profile and FAFSA match, which is critical to avoid verification (the financial aid equivalent of getting audited).

Institutional Forms

Universities often require additional forms beyond what is normally required. Part of our role is helping you understand what else, if anything, is required by the school and subsequently working together to fill it out and submit it on time.

EFC Reduction

This is the expected family contribution, essentially what a college believes you should pay out of pocket to them. We analyze your current financial situation to help you understand how your numbers look from a college's perspective. From there, we'll make recommendations on to best position yourself to lower this number.

Award Letter Appeal

When a student is accepted to a college, they'll receive a letter breaking down the offer a college is making them. You may be surprised to learn the first offer is almost never their best. Colleges use a detailed formula to calculate the lowest possible offer they can use to entice a student to attend. We'll work with you on a response supported with relevant numbers, reasons, or competing offers to get this number higher.

Asset Analysis

Building on our EFC calculations, we'll teach you how a financial aid office will view and calculate your assets like retirement accounts and income properties. We'll work with you to develop a strategy to protect those assets and seek out potential alternatives to minimize your exposure and maximize your student's financial aid package.

Engus™ Profile

Our proprietary financial aid analysis software guides you through the most appropriately matched schools based on your student's academic performance and your family's most likely need & merit aid. By creating a profile in the system, you'll be able to review a color-coded list of schools that readily tells you at a glance which ones are the best fit.

Student Positioning

A brief call with our students designed to guide them out of the "I don't know" rut. We work with our students to grow their understanding of their goals and interests. For those students with a solid direction, this call will fine-tune their direction and sharpen their focus on the next steps.

Deadline Checklist

We provide families with a critical steps checklist to ensure nobody falls behind.

One-on-One Coaching

We guide you every step of the way, simple as that. One of our team members is dedicated to your family to ensure you've got a professional ready to answer any questions about the process, your financial aid, our system, or anything else. Best of all, whoever is assigned to you will guide you for the entirety of your process to maintain continuity and progress.

Progress Calls

Your coach will schedule periodic updates as needed to ensure everyone's on the same page. "Calls" here means communication, as most students today talk with their thumbs. We'll call, text, chat, Skype, or smoke signal your way through this process. This also means you can request a call with your coach and they'll set one up within two business days.