What grade should my child be in to start this process?

There’s no minimum grade — but what the work looks like changes depending on where your student is right now.

For freshmen and sophomores, the work is mentorship: helping your student make thoughtful choices about coursework, extracurriculars, and early profile development. The advantage of starting here is leverage. Nearly every variable is still flexible. A student who begins early isn’t just “ahead” on applications — they’re making better decisions year after year, and that compounds into a much stronger profile by the time applications open.

For juniors, the timing shifts. Early junior year is still mentorship territory, with a natural transition into application strategy by spring. By that point, most engagements move toward profile analysis, school list development, and essay groundwork that positions the student to execute efficiently when senior year begins. For many families, this is the highest-leverage window: early enough to shape strategy, close enough for that strategy to translate directly into action.

For seniors, we’re in application mode. The ideal start is spring or early summer before senior year, though we can still add real value later in a more compressed timeline. The later you begin, the tighter the runway — but “too late” is a much later point than most families assume.

The consultation itself makes sense at any stage. Even if active services are a year or two away, the conversation costs nothing and gives you a realistic sense of the road ahead. Some of our strongest long-term relationships began with a casual call in eighth or ninth grade.