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Nest Admissions

Mentorship

Someone who knows your whole story, over the long run.

At selective colleges, good grades and scores get you considered, not admitted. The application has to add up to a picture of a real person: what you care about, what you'd bring to campus, and what you'd do once you got there.

Essays are only one part of that. Activities, letters of recommendation, and the projects you take on matter just as much, and that's the work our mentors are trained to help with.

Because a mentor works with you for months, they actually get to know you: what you're good at, what you're curious about, and where you want to go. That's what lets them help the whole application hang together.

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Two 60-minute sessions a month

$300per month

$1,080 prepaid for four months, which works out to $270 a month

Both tracks include:

Written notes and a deliverable after every single session.

Your mentor's contact information, so you can ask questions between sessions, as many as you like.

Access to the member library, with our worksheets and guides.

Mentorship runs as a monthly subscription rather than a fixed package. Families' needs change, and we'd rather you keep paying us because it's working rather than because you're locked in.

The first two weeks are a paid evaluation period. You'll be charged normally, but if the pairing isn't working, email us before the two weeks are up and we'll refund up to two sessions in full.

You get matched, not assigned

You answer a few short questions about your interests, goals, and what you're hoping to get out of mentorship, and then our team pairs you with the mentor who fits your background best. This is done by a real person, not an algorithm - and if the pairing turns out to be wrong after the first session, just tell us and we'll switch you at no cost.

The sign-up is at the bottom of this page if you'd rather skip the call and get started.

What you walk away with each time

Every session ends with written notes, next steps, and whichever worksheet fits what you worked on, like a college list tracker, an activity map, or a summer plan.

You can start with a free 20-minute call, and it isn't a pitch. Tell us where things stand and we'll tell you honestly whether we can help, even if the answer is that you don't need us yet.

Things your mentor can help with

  • Figuring out what you actually care about, and turning it into real projects or activities
  • Planning extracurriculars that tell a story instead of just checking a box
  • Finding programs worth your time, not the pay-to-play kind
  • Picking classes, down to how to survive a particular AP
  • Testing: raising your score, deciding whether to submit, and when to stop retaking
  • Putting together a college list that's balanced and honest about where you stand
  • Planning summers that are worth it
  • Making a timeline for your applications, and helping you stick to it
  • The questions about your situation that Google can't answer

What it looks like, year by year

The work looks different depending on where you're starting. Here's roughly what we focus on each year.

Freshman year: Groundwork

Freshman year can feel too early to think about college, and in a lot of ways it is. So we don't push. We focus on discovery: helping you figure out what you're genuinely interested in, so that over the next few years your classes and activities can follow it.

Ready to start?

By email

Send us the details and one of us replies the same day.

The email opens with the questions already in it. Fill them in, hit send, and we'll take it from there.

A real person will match you with a mentor and email you back within 24 hours.

Already done a drop-in session with someone you liked? Ask for them by name. Mentorship is how you keep working with them.