Every student has a story worth telling. We help your family find the colleges that fit, and help your student build a real application file, one season at a time. We work with students in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida and any school system, including internationally.
Wherever your student is today, we start with who they are.
Which program fits?
Not sure which fits? Start Your College Plan with Waypoint and see a suggestion in about 8 minutes.
Before we build a school list or talk strategy, we walk the student through what college admissions is built around, and what today’s choices mean for freshman year of college, three or four years from now.
When: 9th or 10th grade, or any time before ongoing consulting begins
Deliverable: A personalized starting map across all six parts of the application file
Timeline: 4–6 weeks
It doesn’t decide who your child will become. It makes them an informed participant in their own college admissions build.
Ten sessions with a writing specialist to develop a personal statement and supplemental essays, in your student’s own voice.
When: 11th & 12th grade
Deliverable: Developed essays and application supplements
Timeline: Booked 10 sessions at a time, from 11th grade through May of 12th grade
Book a session whenever your student needs one. Your consultant keeps the six-part plan moving, one season at a time.
When: 9th through 11th grade
Deliverable: Steady progress on your student’s six-part plan
Timeline: As needed, one session at a time
Your student applies with a team beside them, from the first list to May 1. Families join in the winter or spring of junior year. The package includes 40 sessions: up to 15 with your college consultant and up to 25 with a writing specialist. Most students complete applications to up to 20 colleges within these sessions.
Between sessions, your student can call or text their consultant. Questions come up all year, and we answer them as they do.
We also work alongside your student’s school counselor. We help your student make the most of every resource their school offers, so every piece of the application moves forward together.
When: Winter or spring of junior year through May 1 of senior year
Deliverable: A balanced list and finished applications to up to 20 colleges
Includes: 40 sessions, call and text access, and partnership with your school counselor
The application file informs your student’s criteria, the criteria anchor the list, and the list shows which parts of the file to develop next. Each stage ends with something you can hold.
1. Best-fit placement starts with criteria.
We begin by getting to know your student. Intake conversations, assessments such as MindPrint, Career Lift Off and 16 Personalities, and a close review of the six parts of their application file show us who they are and where they are headed. From there, we develop three sets of criteria together: what your student needs, what your family values, and what each college looks for. Every school on the list is anchored in those criteria.
You receive: a starting map of where your student stands today in all six parts, with first steps for each.
2. The six parts, developed with purpose.
Starting in 9th grade, we help each student develop all six parts of the application file. The criteria and the list show which parts to build next, so each step has a reason behind it.
You receive: a six-part plan with goals for each part, reviewed with you as your student grows, and developed essays, a personal statement and supplements written in your student’s own voice.
3. A list and a strategy that grow over time.
As the file develops, we revisit the criteria and refine the list. With both in view, we build the strategy: which colleges, in what order, in which decision round (Early Decision, Early Action, or Regular Decision), and what to strengthen before each deadline.
You receive: a balanced college list of likely, target, and reach schools, each with a clear reason it fits your student, and finished applications to up to 20 colleges, submitted on time, with a strategy for each decision round.
You will always know what we are working on, what has changed since we last met, and what comes next.
Every family in our College Starter Series completes all three. We help you decide which fits. We read the results with you so the data turns into a plan.
A neuroscience-based assessment of memory, attention, processing speed, reasoning, and executive functioning. We use it to predict ACT vs. SAT fit, surface hidden learning strengths, and design a study plan that matches how your child actually thinks.
An interest and aptitude inventory that maps a student to specific majors, career paths, and the college environments that support them. Especially useful when “I don’t know what I want to study” is getting in the way of building a real list.
A personality inventory that describes how a student takes in information, makes decisions, and works with others. Especially useful when a student wants words to describe themselves in an essay or interview and isn’t sure where to start.
With a background in assessment and education, and a deep curiosity about each student’s possibilities, Mary helps each student understand their application file and how to strengthen it for the college experience they want. She and her team help students and parents stay organized, confident, and clear about what comes next. She leads the college practice from list strategy through applications, and she works directly with most of our college families.
Her work with students, neurotypical and neurodivergent, sits where it should: somewhere between coach and counselor, with a steady hand on the calendar and a real eye on the child behind the application. Start Your College Plan with Mary
A program for rising college freshmen to start strong with executive functioning, preparedness, and systems.
Strategy and timing for recruited athletes and boarding school candidates.
Long-arc support that doesn’t end at enrollment.
A four-week field guide to starting college well, by Mary Miele. Twenty strategies, four systems, designed to last four years. Getting in takes strategy. Thriving takes support.
A clear plan, started early, gives your student time to build every part of the application, steps to strengthen each one and a year-by-year high school timeline.
Many families start in 9th or 10th grade with the College Starter Series. That leaves time to build each part of the application file. Families who start later can join the Full College Consulting Package in the winter or spring of junior year, and we welcome seniors too.
It depends on the student. We build a balanced list of likely, target, and reach schools. Our Full College Consulting Package supports up to 20 colleges.
The Common Data Set is a report many colleges publish each year. Section C7 shows how much weight a college gives to factors such as course rigor, grades, essays, recommendations, and activities. We use it to understand what each college values.
We work with neurotypical and neurodivergent students. We plan for accommodations, testing and support programs when they matter to your student.
Any student in grades 9 to 12 can start with Waypoint. Students in grades 9 to 11 can also use Your Best Summer to plan their summer. Many families use both.
A step-by-step framework for moving past rankings: how to weigh fit, finances, academic match, and follow-through, with worksheets your student can fill out.
