Every sprint covers one part of the college process, led personally by Robert. Fixed scope, clear pricing, and a named deliverable your family keeps. Find your situation below and go straight to your sprint.
If you're not sure which sprint you need, this is the one. From a 90-minute strategy session, Robert produces six personalized planning documents covering coursework, testing, activities, major direction, college search, and admission strategy. Two additional sessions make sure the plan is informed, personalized, and completely right for your teen.
Many families find the MAP Sprint gives them everything they need to move forward confidently on their own. Others use it as the starting point for whichever sprint comes next. Either way, you leave with a real plan built specifically for your teen.
See MAP Sprint details →For students in 9th through 11th grade who want to build a stronger foundation before applications open. A real plan, a deliberate activities profile, and a clear sense of where your teen is headed.
Most families start with the MAP Sprint. It works as the starting point before any other sprint on this page, at any grade. See the MAP Sprint above.
Most students arrive at junior year with a gut feeling that their activities section could be stronger. Often they're right. This sprint gives that feeling a clear answer. Robert takes a full look at everything your teen is doing and builds a specific written plan for what to add, pursue more seriously, or reframe before applications open. You leave with a real playbook, not just a conversation.
Before building the college list, there's a question most families skip: What is your teen actually chasing? The North Star Sprint creates the space to figure that out. Robert works one-on-one with your teen to explore two to four genuine academic directions, explain what programs to look at, flag any impacted-major considerations, and give your teen a clear way to talk about their interests in essays. It makes everything that comes after easier.
The families who arrive at summer with a real plan move faster and stress less. This sprint builds that plan. Robert researches programs and opportunities at every selectivity level, maps out test prep timing, identifies project and coursework directions, and delivers a week-by-week Summer Roadmap. The Application Track tier adds essay support for up to four selective program applications. Most selective summer program deadlines fall November through March, making September through January the ideal booking window.
One sprint, built around finding the right colleges for your specific teen. Researched by Robert personally, written up in detail, and balanced across reach, match, and safety.
Building a real college list takes more research than most families have time for. Robert does that research. He starts with a Discovery Session to understand what actually matters to your teen, from the real financial floor and ceiling to the kind of campus where your teen will thrive. Every school in your College Match Guide has been looked at personally by Robert, with written notes explaining why it belongs and what your family should know before visiting. For LGBTQ+ students, Robert evaluates every campus using his 5 Ps framework and excludes any school that doesn't meet his standard for safety and affirmation.
Sprints for the application season covering activities, essays, a final expert review before you submit, and interview preparation. Pick what your teen needs, and everything can be combined.
Every student has more to show than their Activities section usually reveals. Most students describe what they did instead of what they actually made happen. This sprint changes that. Robert works through every activity, job, sport, honor, and project your teen has, and together you build a profile that presents all of it at its best. The Spotlight tier adds the UC Application sections for families applying to California schools. Both tiers include the Dazzling Activities course to set up the work.
Every essay sprint follows the same path: Brainstorm wide, find the right story, get specific, and draft until the essay sounds the way your teen actually talks and thinks. Robert leads every session himself. There are three essay types: the Common App personal statement, the UC essays, and the school-specific supplements. Spark covers one type. Ember covers two. Flame covers all three, with up to ten supplement essays included. Starting in summer gives everyone more time and less pressure. Fall-start pricing is a bit higher because the compressed timeline genuinely requires more intensive work in a shorter window.
Before your teen submits, have Robert read the entire application. He reviews every section, produces a written assessment, and holds a 60-minute debrief with your family. The written notes arrive two to three days before the call so you can come in informed and ready to decide what, if anything, needs to change before the deadline.
Whether it's a college alumni interview, a scholarship finalist conversation, a boarding school admissions meeting, or a selective summer program, your teen's best interview isn't the most rehearsed one. It's the one where they sound like themselves, on purpose. Robert prepares your teen to walk in grounded, specific, and genuinely ready. Poised and Polished adds a second session and includes parent prep for boarding and private school families.
If your teen is applying to private day schools or boarding schools, the Poised and Polished Sprint and the Spark Sprint work together for both interview preparation and application essays. Email Robert to discuss the right combination for your family's specific situation.
Sprints for December deferrals, spring waitlists, and final enrollment decisions. These are the most time-sensitive sprints in the portfolio, and most can be completed in a week when needed.
Getting deferred or waitlisted feels like a closed door. It isn't. Both decisions keep the possibility alive, and a well-written letter of continued interest can genuinely make a difference. Robert works on it personally with your teen, and what comes out the other side sounds like them at their very best. If your family is navigating both the December deferral window and the March/April waitlist season, the Full Season tier covers both without starting over.
Choosing between offers means weighing two things at once: which school is genuinely the right fit, and what it will actually cost. Robert works through both in one session. On the fit side, that's program strength, campus culture, and how well each school supports your teen's professional goals, whether that's a pre-med track, a specific graduate path, or something still taking shape. On the cost side, he translates every award letter into a real net cost and compares the schools side by side. He also coaches families on merit reconsideration: which of your schools will revisit a merit award, which competing offer to share, and who to ask. When need-based aid falls short, he can also help review a financial aid appeal letter. You leave with a clear recommendation and the real numbers behind it.
For college students who are ready to find a better fit. The transfer process has different rules, different essays, and a tighter timeline than first-year admissions, and most students navigate it without any expert guidance at all.
Transferring is a full application process, and it's a different one than first-year admission. The transfer essays carry a specific weight: They have to explain why you're making this move without making it sound like your first choice was a mistake. Robert knows how to tell that story. He builds your transfer strategy, your college list, and your essays together with you, and the whole package ends up feeling like a student moving toward something they've chosen. For California community college students, Robert brings specific knowledge of UC transfer pathways, TAG agreements, Cal State ADTs, and ASSIST.org. Both tiers include the Dazzling Activities and Effortless UC Essays courses to set up the work.
Tell Robert where you are in the process and he'll point you in the right direction. Share your teen's grade, what you're working on, and what feels most urgent. He'll tell you what makes sense, even if the answer is "you don't need a sprint yet."
Email Robert · robert@collegetorch.comOr start with the MAP Sprint, which is designed to answer exactly this in a structured, comprehensive way.
