However much of this you actually need.
Some families want someone alongside them for the entire process. Some want one honest hour. Both are real answers. Part of my job is helping you figure out which one your situation calls for.
Start with where you are
If your student is a sophomore or a young junior, getting started now is most of the value, as you have eighteen months of decisions that lead up to the applications.
If your student is a senior reaching out in October, we'll be honest about timing together. Some of the early-planning options have wrapped up by now, but plenty of meaningful work is still ahead. What's left is focused and strategic, and it can absolutely make a real difference in where they land.
Three groups, five ways to work together
Comprehensive Package
Junior year to the acceptance letter. Building the school list, application strategy and timeline, essay coaching, and financial aid guidance, with parents kept informed on a rhythm we agree at the start. Everything on the month-by-month page, start to finish.
Junior Jumpstart
Sophomore and junior year foundations: figuring out what actually interests your student, a first school list, and a roadmap for the next eighteen months. For families who want to start early and calmly rather than late and fast.
Single Strategy Session
A questionnaire beforehand so I arrive prepared, sixty minutes on your actual situation with student and parent both welcome, and a written page within three business days: what we decided and what to do next, in order, with dates. Fourteen days of follow-up questions by email. If you book a larger package within sixty days, the session fee comes off it.
Essay Coaching
Brainstorming, drafting and revision, by the session or as a package. Your student writes every word; I ask the questions that get them to the true version instead of the impressive one.
School Profile Research
Deep research on specific schools among your student's priorities, delivered in writing. An add-on to any package or standalone piece of work.
What each of these costs depends on where your student is and what they actually need, so I send you a written breakdown after our free conversation. Flat fees, quoted in writing, with no hourly surprises and no percentage of anything.
How I charge
Every fee is flat and written down before you sign a thing, so you'll always know exactly what to expect. No hourly meters ticking away, no surprise charges in the spring, and never a percentage of the scholarships or aid your student earns. That last part matters to me: charging that way would give me a personal stake in where your child applies, and those decisions should always be about your student, never about me. (It's also prohibited by IECA, which I think is exactly right.)
I also want to be upfront about what no fee can buy, at any level: guaranteed admission, a guaranteed scholarship, or a promise about how it'll all turn out. Nobody can truly offer those. What you're really paying for is good judgment, a clear structure, and someone whose job is to hold the whole calendar so your family doesn't have to carry it alone.
And if what you need is something more specific, I'll always tell you. A strategy session isn't a school list, and it isn't essay work. If you're looking for research on specific schools, that's School Profile Research. If it's essay help, that's Essay Coaching. I'd so much rather point you toward the right fit than sell you an hour that was never going to give you what you came for.
Not sure which one?
Most families are not sure on how to proceed, and working it out is a perfectly good reason to book the free conversation. You will leave it knowing which of these you need, including if the answer is none of them yet.