Foundation Package: Build Your Path
The earliest, highest-leverage work in college admissions, long before applications open. This package is a structured, ongoing partnership for 9th and 10th graders (and their families) who understand that strong applications are built years before they're submitted. We begin with a comprehensive intake and goal-setting session with both the student and parents, where we map out a long-term plan tailored to your student's interests, strengths, and ambitions. From there, we meet bi-weekly across 9th and 10th grade for 1-on-1 coaching sessions focused on the work that actually moves the needle in those years: course selection and academic rigor, extracurricular strategy that prioritizes depth over breadth, summer programming decisions (research, internships, and passion projects), and an early roadmap for standardized testing. Throughout the engagement, parents stay informed through quarterly progress reviews, and your student has direct messaging access between sessions for time-sensitive questions: a course selection deadline, a summer program application, an opportunity that comes up unexpectedly. The work is designed to compound: every decision in 9th and 10th grade builds toward a coherent, intentional profile by the time applications open in junior year. When your student transitions into junior year, this package transitions seamlessly into a full application package (Strategy & Execution, Comprehensive Application Support, or All-Inclusive Partnership) - with no restart, no new intake process, and no stranger taking over. You've already got me, and I already know your student.
What's included
This is one of the longest-arc packages I offer, and the work is designed to feel like a real ongoing partnership rather than a transactional series of meetings. We meet live for bi-weekly 1-on-1 video sessions — typically 45–60 minutes — with both student and parent involved at key strategic moments and student-only sessions in between. Between sessions, your student has direct messaging access for time-sensitive questions. My approach across the early years is honest and developmental. I'm not in the business of telling 9th graders to "do more activities." I'm interested in what your student actually cares about, where their real strengths are, and how to build a profile that reflects who they're becoming. The students I work best with in this package are coachable, motivated, and ready to be intentional about how they spend their high school years. Parents stay informed through quarterly written progress reviews and direct check-ins as needed. My goal across the engagement is for your family to feel like every decision, from course selection to summer plans to testing, is being made with a clear long-term strategy, not in reaction to whatever the latest college-admissions article said.
- A multi-year academic plan covering course selection, AP/IB strategy, and academic rigor decisions through senior year
- A clear extracurricular strategy that prioritizes depth, authenticity, and emerging narrative over generic activity collection
- A planned roadmap for summers across 9th, 10th, and 11th grade — research, internships, programs, and personal projects aligned with your student's interests
- A standardized testing plan: SAT vs. ACT decision, prep timing, and target score framing based on school list direction
- An emerging through-line for your student's application narrative — well before junior-year strategy work begins
- Quarterly written progress summaries for parents
- A direct path into junior- and senior-year application work with the same coach
Meet your expert
Simi K.
College Admissions Expert | Columbia MBA | 16+ Yrs of Ivy & Top 25 Admits
I work with students aiming for top outcomes: a 1400+ SAT, a 700+ GMAT, or admission to highly selective colleges and MBA programs. Over 16+ years and 3,000+ students across six continents, I've built a practice around one idea: most students don't need more work, they need the right work, structured the right way. My career started at Prep Zone in Singapore, where I helped expand the company into Shanghai before returning to New York and joining some of the city's top test prep and admissions firms, including Veritas Prep, Bespoke Education, and Advantage Testing. I went on to found my own practice, Global Scholars, where I now work with students across six continents. On the testing side, my students average 200+ point gains on the SAT and 100+ on the GMAT. This is driven by pattern recognition, test strategy, and disciplined execution rather than brute-force practice. On the admissions side, my work is about coherence. Smart students often arrive with strong but scattered pieces: academics, extracurriculars, a story they haven't fully figured out. My job is to help them put it all together: a sharp narrative, a strategic school list, and essays that actually sound like them. 95%+ of my students are admitted to at least one of their top-choice schools, including Harvard, Stanford, Yale, Columbia, MIT, UChicago, NYU, and UCLA. I graduated from NYU and earned my MBA from Columbia Business School, which gives me a current, first-hand perspective on both undergraduate and MBA admissions. If you want a structured, strategic partner, not generic advice, let's talk.
