SupportED · Advisor Operating System

The Advisor Playbook.

The path to college admissions — freshman year through submission — with our three offer stacks mapped to the point where a family joins. Every offer, every discovery question, every objection response is in one place, grounded in Dr. Joe's training sessions and tested on real calls.

The path to college admissions

Seven stages, three entry points, one Why.

The journey to a competitive college starts with the why — career exploration, activity alignment, college search, and then the application. The three AcceptED stacks are mapped to where the family actually joins: Complete Pathway for a freshman or sophomore start, College Coaching for a junior start, and the Senior Sprint for rising seniors stepping straight into the engine.

01
Career exploration
Start with the 'why.'
● entry
02
Academics
Build academic rigor on purpose
● entry
03
Activities
Go deep on activities that match the why
04
College search
Build the list from the why outward
● entry
05
Personal story
Surface the personal story
06
Applications
Run the senior engine
● entry
07
Submission + decisions
Submit on a calendar. Decide on the math

Stage 01 · Career exploration

ENTRY POINT

9th grade · Foundation

Start with the 'why.'

Before a college list, before a rigor plan, before a single essay — the student has to be able to say why college matters and what they are building toward. This is where the whole journey is earned.

Why

Coach moves

·Career exploration: map interests, strengths, and curiosity windows.
·Introduce the three pillars (academics, activities, personal story) and how they compound.
·Set a 12-month rhythm: monthly 1:1s with the coach, quarterly parent check-ins.

Artifacts

→Why-statement draft (1–2 sentences the student can say out loud)
→Initial career-field shortlist
→Gameplan v1: 9th → 12th one-page roadmap

Families joining here → Complete Pathway

AcceptED Complete Pathway

$18,997PIF · 2+ years

A freshman start gets the full 9th → 12th arc: 12 sessions per underclassman year plus the 18-session Senior Sprint. The 'why' is the foundation every other pillar is built on — nothing compounds more.

Stage 02 · Academics

ENTRY POINT

10th grade · Rigor & alignment

Build academic rigor on purpose.

Rigor is not a prize — it is a signal. The student's course plan, AP sequence, and testing calendar get reverse-engineered from the factor weights of the tier of schools they want to be competitive for.

AcademicsWhy

Coach moves

·Map the 3-year course plan against target-tier CDS factor weights.
·Design the AP sequence and testing calendar (SAT/ACT/AP).
·Tie every rigor decision back to the student's why.

Artifacts

→3-year course ladder with AP & honors targets
→Testing calendar (SAT/ACT/AP dates) through 11th spring
→Updated Gameplan v2 with rigor gaps explicitly flagged

Sophomores joining here → Complete Pathway

AcceptED Complete Pathway

$18,997PIF · 2+ years

Two full underclassman years plus the Senior Sprint (12 + 12 + 18 coach sessions, plus 12 essay sessions) is exactly the window where rigor, activity spikes, and the personal story can all be engineered in sequence.

Stage 03 · Activities

Summer of 10th → 11th grade

Go deep on activities that match the why.

Breadth loses. Depth + alignment wins. The summer before junior year is the first real chance to design activity spikes — research, internships, competitions, leadership moves — that compound the student's why into verifiable evidence.

ActivitiesWhy

Coach moves

·Map current activities against the why and eliminate what does not compound.
·Design summer plan: internship, research, competition, or self-initiated project.
·Open the leadership lane — editor, captain, founder, organizer — in at least one activity.

Artifacts

→Activity plan (10 slots, ranked by spike potential)
→Summer placement or project brief
→Leadership-move checklist for junior year

Stage 04 · College search

ENTRY POINT

11th grade · College search

Build the list from the why outward.

Junior year is where the college list stops being a wishlist and becomes a strategy. Reach / target / safety gets built from the student's factor fit — not school rankings — and the list is sized for deliberate narrowing in senior summer.

WhyAcademicsActivities

Coach moves

·Reach / target / safety classification grounded in CDS factor weights.
·Visit strategy and demonstrated-interest plan per school.
·Teacher-recommender selection and brag-sheet prep.

Artifacts

→Working list of 15–20 schools with reach/target/safety tiers
→Visit + demonstrated-interest calendar
→Recommender shortlist and brag-sheet outline

Juniors joining here → College Coaching

AcceptED College Coaching

$9,997PIF · 12 months

A junior start gets 12 monthly strategy sessions through May of junior year and then flows into the Senior Sprint. This is where profile development, list building, and recommender strategy are engineered before the summer engine kicks on.

Stage 05 · Personal story

Spring of 11th → Summer of rising senior

Surface the personal story.

Every competitive application has the same three ingredients — academics, activities, personal story. The personal story is the one that cannot be bought. We mine the student's life, not a prompt, for the narrative that makes the application unmistakably theirs.

Personal storyWhy

Coach moves

·Story-mining interviews — pull 10–15 candidate anecdotes.
·Narrow to a single personal-statement spine and supplemental angles.
·Draft personal-statement v1 before June 1 of rising-senior year.

Artifacts

→Anecdote bank (10–15 raw stories)
→Personal-statement spine + angle map
→Draft v1 of the personal statement

Stage 06 · Applications

ENTRY POINT

Summer of rising senior · June → September

Run the senior engine.

The engine is where the program earns its keep. The list is finalized, the Common App and UC App are opened, every ED/REA supplement is drafted by September 15, and the recommender packet is out the door. Weekly with the coach, biweekly with the essay coach.

ApplicationsPersonal story

Coach moves

·Finalize list to 8–12 schools with deadlines matrix.
·Open Common App + UC App, run section-by-section walkthroughs.
·Make the ED/REA decision with the family.
·Draft every ED/REA supplement by September 15.

Artifacts

→Finalized 8–12 school list + deadlines matrix
→Personal statement v3 by Labor Day
→Every ED/REA supplement drafted by September 15
→Recommender packet (bragsheet, stamps, deadlines) sent by September

Rising seniors joining here → Senior Sprint

AcceptED Senior Sprint

$6,997PIF · 11 months

18 coaching sessions plus 12 essay-coach sessions, June through December. This is the engine on its own — no underclassman coverage, just focused, fast application support for the cycle that is already in motion.

Stage 07 · Submission + decisions

Senior fall → May · Submission & decisions

Submit on a calendar. Decide on the math.

Staggered submission, interview prep on demand, FAFSA/CSS filed, then financial-fit comparison when offers land. The goal is zero surprises in December and a defensible choice in April — the ROI Report is walked through line by line with the family.

ApplicationsDecisions

Coach moves

·ED/REA submitted by October 15, EA by November 1, RD by December 20.
·Interview prep decks per school that offers interviews.
·File FAFSA + CSS, track merit and need-based offers.
·Walk the family through the ROI Report when decisions land.

Artifacts

→Submitted-applications tracker
→Interview prep decks per school
→Side-by-side financial-fit ROI Report
→Final-choice decision brief

Next for the advisor

Open the full offer stacks

The awareness funnel

Why AP pitches die and college pitches convert — same rep, different buyer state.

Map the family to their layer before you talk. The mistake is treating every conversation like the family is at the top of the funnel. College families start closer to the bottom; AP families almost never do.

Unaware

They don't know Top-25 admissions has fundamentally changed.

AP + College

Problem-Aware · AP Family

They feel the pain (falling AP score, stalled GPA) but don't yet see a system.

AP family

Solution-Aware · College Family

They know systems exist — IvyWise, Command Education, Crimson. They're comparing.

College family

Product-Aware

They're on the site. They've read the methodology. They've seen the artifact.

AP + College

Most-Aware · Ready to buy

They understand the offer and are choosing a payment option.

AP + College

AP funnel bandCollege funnel band

Rep moves at each layer

Unaware

Content marketing. Tweetstorms. Free CDS lookup tool.

Problem-Aware · AP Family

Reframe the pain. Show the four-artifact map so the puzzle clicks. Objection handler: 'I have a tutor already.'

Solution-Aware · College Family

Lead with differentiation: CDS grounding, the living brain, merit engine, insider hooks. Show the Gameplan PDF.

Product-Aware

Discovery script. Recommended offer on the call. Walk the intake wizard live.

Most-Aware · Ready to buy

Close with the specific offer, frame the pathway math (12/12/12+18), confirm kickoff.

The parent question

"How often do you meet with my kid and what happens when you do?"

The 10-word answer

12 coach sessions per underclassman year, then the 18-session Senior Sprint in senior year — with 12 Essay Coach sessions in the engine.

30-second version

Your student gets paired with a college coach for a monthly 1:1 strategy session — 12 sessions per underclassman year — from the day we start until June 1 of their rising-senior year. At that point we switch into the engine — a weekly call with their coach plus a biweekly call with a dedicated essay coach — and that runs June through December of senior year. That is 12 coaching sessions and 12 essay sessions in the six months that actually decide admissions. After submission, we go back to monthly through May to help with decisions, merit appeals, and the final choice. Every session produces notes, action items, and a preview of what's next — so you, as a parent, never have to guess what's happening.

90-second version

There are four phases and they run in order. Phase one is the Diagnostic & College Positioning Map — we build a personalized gameplan on the intake call so you leave with a visible plan. Phase two is Profile Development — this is where we deepen activities, design the summer, and reverse-engineer the student's 'why' from career exploration. Phase three is Execution & Accountability — action items session to session, monthly until rising-senior June 1. Phase four is Applications & Essays — that is when we ramp to weekly with the coach plus biweekly with an essay coach, 12 and 12 sessions, June through December. Kickoff calls in May walk everyone through the Common App and the UC App. Summer Monday office hours at 8 pm Eastern are open to the whole family. Every step produces artifacts — notes, the gameplan, the deadline matrix, parent-facing previews — so there are never any surprises.

Dr. Roz's bottled line

"After intake, your student is paired with a college coach. You meet monthly on topics that match their grade — college knowledge, college search, academics, activities, the personal story. Every session produces action items the student completes between meetings, a follow-up summary you and your child both receive, and a preview of what the next meeting covers. It's structured enough that you always know what's happening, and personal enough that it actually fits your child."

The cadence

Five phases. Same framework. Different intensity.

Phase 1

Week 1

One intake call (60 min) — student + parent together

Diagnostic & College Positioning Map. Review academics, activities, hooks, and the family's 'why.' The coach builds a first-pass custom Gameplan on the call so the family leaves with a visible plan — Reach/Target/Safety classification, rigor gaps, activity spikes to develop, and the 12-month calendar.

Artifacts the family gets

Custom Roadmap Gameplan (printable)
College Positioning Map with Reach/Target/Safety tiers
Parent One-Pager: 'What we're working on and why'

Parent visibility

Automated post-session summary email within 24 hours. Typeform-driven notes with bullets, action items, and next session topics.

Phase 2

Sophomore & Junior year — through May of junior year

Monthly 1:1 strategy session with college coach (60 min) — 12 sessions per underclassman year

Profile Development & Execution. Four-phase framework cycle: (1) Diagnostic & College Positioning Map refresh, (2) Profile Development — activity depth, leadership moves, summer plans, (3) Execution & Accountability — action items tracked session to session, (4) Applications & Essays — staged deliverables as the student approaches senior year. Complete Pathway compounds across years: 12 sessions as a freshman, 12 as a sophomore, 12 as a junior.

Artifacts the family gets

Session notes with explicit 'what we covered' and 'what you will do before next session'
Updated Gameplan showing which recommendations moved from planned → done
Forward-looking preview: 'Here is what we will cover next month'

Parent visibility

Parents can sit in on the first 1–3 sessions to see the coaching style, then typically step back. Coach Seema / Dr. Ros / Coach Zac all open with the same framework so parents experience consistency.

Phase 3

June 1 of rising-senior year → September 1

Weekly coach call + biweekly essay coach call (summer engine)

The engine. College list is finalized, Common App and UC App are opened, supplemental essays are drafted, brag sheets go to recommenders, and the ED/REA decision is made. Two live group kickoff calls — one Common App walkthrough, one UC App walkthrough — bookend the summer. Rikki hosts weekly summer group office hours Mondays 8–9 pm ET (June–August).

Artifacts the family gets

Finalized college list with deadlines matrix
Personal statement v3 by Labor Day
Every ED/REA supplement drafted by September 15
Recommender packet (bragsheet, stamps, deadlines) sent by September

Parent visibility

Weekly summaries while the engine is running. Parents attend the kickoff calls and the weekly group office hours if they want to.

Phase 4

September 1 → December 31 of senior year

Biweekly coach call + biweekly essay coach call (12 + 12 sessions total, June–December)

Submission season. Supplemental essays are polished, applications are submitted on a staggered calendar (ED/REA → EA → RD), FAFSA/CSS is filed, interview prep runs on demand. Goal: every ED/REA submitted by October 15, every EA submitted by November 1, every RD submitted by December 20.

Artifacts the family gets

Submitted applications tracker
Interview prep decks for each school that offers one
Financial aid and merit scholarship filings complete

Parent visibility

Weekly parent dashboard: what is submitted, what is pending, what is blocking. No surprises in December.

Phase 5

January → May of senior year

Monthly 1:1 + ad-hoc as decisions land

Decision navigation and financial-fit comparison. Merit appeals, waitlist strategy, final choice, and enrollment.

Artifacts the family gets

Side-by-side financial-fit comparison (net price, merit, aid, ROI)
Waitlist & appeal letter drafts where relevant
Final-choice decision brief for the family

Parent visibility

Monthly decision check-ins. Parents are fully looped in during financial-fit analysis — this is the call where the ROI Report is walked through line by line.

Live group events

What families can count on in the calendar.

Live group call

Senior Kickoff Call

rising seniors

Week after May 15

Dr. Joe + college coaches

Official launch of the senior engine. Framework review, what's due by July 1, and what's due by Labor Day. Two sessions scheduled — one weekday, one weekend — so every family can attend.

Live group call

Common App Walkthrough

rising seniors

Late May / early June

Dr. Joe

Section-by-section walkthrough of the Common App. Activities list formatting, Additional Info section strategy, the five essay prompts, recommender setup.

Live group call

UC Application Walkthrough

rising seniors

Late May / early June

Dr. Joe

The UC Personal Insight Questions, activities/awards rubric, and the key differences between the UC app and the Common App.

Weekly group office hours

Summer Group Coaching Office Hours

rising seniors

Mondays 8–9 pm ET, June → August

Rikki (with college coach rotation)

Weekly drop-in for rising seniors and parents. Bring a question, a draft, or a stuck point — leave with an answer. Recorded for families who can't attend live.

Live group call

Junior Kickoff Call

rising juniors

Mid-June

Dr. Joe + college coaches

Framework overview, the junior-year rhythm, testing calendar, and how to use summer for profile-development artifacts.

Live group call

Sophomore Kickoff Call

rising sophomores

Late June

Dr. Joe + college coaches

Foundational mindset. Career exploration, activity-alignment thinking, and why starting early beats starting urgent.

Objections in disguise

The six parent questions that decide the sale.

How often will my child meet with a coach?

12 monthly 1:1 sessions per underclassman year until June 1 of rising-senior year. Then the 18-session Senior Sprint kicks in — weekly with the coach plus biweekly with an essay coach from June through December, then monthly January through May of senior year.

What happens in each session?

Every session follows the same four-phase rhythm — Diagnostic, Profile Development, Execution & Accountability, Applications & Essays — and ends with explicit action items and a preview of what the next session will cover.

How do I know what my child is doing between sessions?

You receive an automated post-session summary within 24 hours — what we covered, what your student committed to, and what's next. Plus a forward-looking monthly parent view.

Can I sit in on calls?

Yes — families typically sit in on the first one to three sessions to see how the coach works. After trust is built, most parents prefer to step back and let the student own the relationship. You're always welcome at any session.

What if my child is already a rising senior and we're starting late?

That's exactly what the Senior Sprint is designed for. We start with two sessions per month in the summer to catch up on list, essays, and the Common App, then shift to weekly through December. 12 coaching sessions plus 12 essay sessions get every application submitted on time.

Is this customized or cookie-cutter?

The framework is the same for every family because it works — four phases, CDS-grounded gameplan, accountability artifacts. What changes is the content inside each phase: your child's activities, your child's target list, your child's essays. Nothing is templated.