Student view
This week
- Due Friday
Revise the second draft of the personal statement
- Done
Ask Ms. Alvarez for a recommendation
- Next check-in
Draft three activity descriptions
Personal college planning for students and families
Clarity for
what comes next.
Understand your options, organize your priorities, and move forward with a thoughtful plan. We help you prepare while keeping your goals and decisions at the center.
Tell us where you are in the process and what you would like help understanding.
How we work, in brief
Built around the student. Their interests, priorities, and circumstances shape the plan.
Every step written down. Each step has an owner, a time window, and a clear finish line.
The student's own work. Students write and submit everything. We coach, ask, and review.
Where families often start
College planning has a lot of moving parts.
Course choices, testing, activities, the college list, essays, recommendations, financial aid forms, and deadlines that differ from one college to the next. Most families meet these requirements for the first time, while the student is still busy being a high school student.
ONE TEN Education Group brings it together. We make the process easier to understand, turn your priorities into clear next steps, and help your student prepare with confidence.
What college planning involves
- Courses and grades
- Testing
- Activities
- The college list
- Essays
- Recommendations
- Financial aid
- Deadlines
One written plan, with a clear next step.
Our mission
Your student's goals shape the plan.
We help students understand their options, make informed decisions, and take purposeful action throughout college planning.
Your student stays at the center. They set the goals, make the decisions, and write and submit their own work. We bring the structure, the knowledge, and steady attention.
Care
We listen before we advise. Your student's interests, circumstances, and pace shape the plan, and every check-in asks about sleep and workload as well as deadlines.
Preparation
Every step is written down with an owner, a time window, and a clear finish line. Work targets are set well ahead of each college's own deadline, which never moves.
Follow-through
You hear from us on a schedule, not only when something is due. Each phase closes with a review, and if something slips, you receive a written catch-up plan with dates.
Giving 110%is our standard of care, preparation, and follow-through. The student does the work and owns the result.
Our approach
How guidance becomes a plan.
Four steps, repeated at every stage of high school. Each one makes clear what we do, what your student owns, and what you'll have at the end.
More about our approachUnderstand the student
We start by listening. Through short questionnaires and a kickoff meeting, we learn your student's interests, record, and circumstances, and what your family most wants to understand.
- Our part
- Read every intake document, ask the questions that shape the plan, and explain how the work will run.
- Your student's part
- Share interests and goals openly, including the ones still taking shape.
- What you'll have
- A written kickoff summary with goals, roles, the check-in schedule, and a plan for the first 90 days.
Set priorities
Together we decide what matters most: academic direction, testing, activities, and the budget your family is comfortable with.
- Our part
- Review the academic record and testing options, and lead an honest conversation about cost and fit.
- Your student's part
- Weigh the options and choose which priorities come first.
- What you'll have
- A baseline review and a testing plan, with the family's budget guidance written down.
Explore options
Students research colleges that fit their interests and priorities. We bring the context and judgment that keep the list balanced.
- Our part
- Explain each college's requirements and selectivity, and place every choice as a reach, match, or likely school.
- Your student's part
- Research, visit where possible, and decide which colleges belong on the list.
- What you'll have
- A balanced college list, with a reason for every school on it.
Prepare and follow through
Applications become a sequence of manageable steps, each with a work target set well ahead of the college's own deadline.
- Our part
- Coach the writing with questions and comments, keep the calendar, and review every application before it goes.
- Your student's part
- Write every essay, complete every form, and click submit.
- What you'll have
- A shared tracker of steps and dates, and a careful review of each application before submission.
College planning
Support that fits your student's stage.
Every family starts somewhere different. Here is how our work typically looks at each stage of high school.
- Grades9–10
Build a strong foundation
For students who want to make thoughtful choices early, without pressure to have everything figured out.
Your student's roleChooses courses and activities, and keeps the commitments they set.
Includes
- A four-year course plan that meets the UC and CSU subject requirements, known as a–g
- An activity map built around genuine interests
- A summer plan that fits the student
- Check-ins and a review after each grading period
- Grade11
Shape the strategy
For students ready to turn interests into direction and to build a college list with care.
Your student's roleResearches colleges, asks teachers for recommendations, and decides what belongs on the list.
Includes
- A review of the academic record, written up as a baseline
- A testing plan
- An open family conversation about budget
- A preliminary college list with reach, match, and likely schools
- Grade12Summer and fall
Apply with care
For students turning a plan into finished applications, one manageable step at a time.
Your student's roleWrites every word, completes every form, and submits each application.
Includes
- Personal statement brainstorming and feedback rounds
- The final list and application rounds
- A supplement map and writing calendar
- A review of each application before the student submits
- Grade12Winter and spring
Decide with confidence
For families weighing results, offers, and aid, and making a final choice together.
Your student's roleReads each decision, weighs the options, and makes the final choice.
Includes
- A plan for early results
- Coaching on deferral and waitlist letters the student writes
- A side-by-side comparison of offers and aid
- A decision meeting before the May 1 deadline
Joining later? Families can begin in any grade, and each plan starts with what matters most right now. Starting in the summer or fall of senior year is possible when we have room to give the work proper attention.
College planning in detailIn practice
What steady progress looks like.
Everyone can see the plan. Students see the steps they own this week. Parents receive a written update on a schedule: what was done, what comes next, what the family needs to do, and the next deadlines.
Illustrative example. The student, steps, and dates are invented for demonstration and do not describe a real family.
Parent view
October update
- Done this month
- Activities list reviewed. Two recommendation requests sent.
- Coming next
- Personal statement final draft and one early supplement, both written by Jordan.
- For the family
- Application fees for two early colleges.
- Next deadlines
- Oct 22 work target · Nov 1 Early Action · Nov 30 UC application
Who you'll work with
Two advisors. Two clear roles.
ONE TEN Education Group is led by its two founders. Each step in your plan names which of us owns it, so you always know whom to ask.
Narrative Lead
Strategy, the college list, essay coaching, interview preparation, and the conversations that matter most.
Operations Lead
The calendar and deadlines, school platforms, recommendation and testing logistics, financial aid forms, and your written updates.
Founder profiles are coming soon.
Founding families
Join our founding group of families.
We're welcoming a small founding group of families this year. Founding families receive a reduced rate that stays with them for their whole engagement, across every year of support.
- The same plan, steps, and written updates every family receives
- A reduced founding rate, kept for every year your student works with us
- Our fee range and the founding rate, explained in the first conversation
Still exploring?
College planning, year by year.
A plain-language overview of what typically happens from ninth grade to the May 1 decision, with the key dates for this year's seniors. Read it online, print it, or save it as a PDF. No email needed.
- Grade 9Start with good habits, not pressure.
- Grade 10Build depth and direction.
- Grade 11Turn interests into a strategy.
- Summer before grade 12Write, refine, and get organized.
Questions
Questions families ask.
Have a question we haven't answered? Include it in your request, and we'll answer it when we talk.
Request a consultation- When should we start?
- Whenever you're ready. Families start with us in every grade from 9 through 12. Starting earlier leaves more room to explore, but every plan begins with what matters most right now. Starting in the summer or fall of senior year is possible when we have room to give the work proper attention.
- Who writes the essays?
- Your student does, every word. We coach with questions, comments, and suggestions about structure, and we never write replacement sentences. Students also enter their own information and click submit. We review with them on a shared screen or from exported copies, and we never ask for their passwords.
- How involved are parents?
- As involved as is helpful. Parents receive a written update on a regular schedule, quarterly at first and monthly from April of junior year, covering what was done, what comes next, what the family needs to do, and the next deadlines. We call at each milestone and whenever there is difficult news. Essay drafts are shared with parents when the student agrees.
- Can you promise admission to particular colleges?
- No. No one can honestly promise an admission decision, and we never will, in our contract, our marketing, or our conversations. What we do promise is our standard of work: careful preparation, clear communication, and steady follow-through.
What happens in the first conversation?
We listen to where your student is and what you'd like help understanding. We explain what we do and what we don't, how the work would run for your student, and our fee range. You'll leave knowing the next step, whether or not you decide to work with us.
How do fees work?
We share the fee range in the first conversation. If you decide to go ahead, we send a written proposal that sets out the stage, the scope of support, and the fee before any work begins.
Do you work with our school counselor?
Yes. School counselors send the school report, transcripts, and counselor letter. We help your student keep those requests organized so they reach the counselor's office once, clearly, and on time. We'll also ask what college guidance your school already provides, so our work adds to it rather than repeating it.
How do you use AI?
Carefully, and never with your student's writing. No AI reads or drafts student essays, and we send no student or family document to an AI service outside our own computers. We may use AI tools to research public information on college websites. We never use AI to predict admission decisions.
Do colleges pay you?
No. We accept nothing from any college or program for sending a student there. If we ever recommend a tutoring or test-prep service with which we have a referral arrangement, we'll tell you in writing first.
Next step
Start with a conversation.
Tell us where you are in the process and what you would like help understanding. We'll explain how we work and talk through whether our support fits your family.
In the first conversation
- What we do, and what we don't
- How the work would run for your student
- Our fee range and the next step
A short form. It takes about two minutes.