Most families spend months on applications before they've spent a week on the list. This sprint is for getting the list right first, so every application you write actually makes sense.
"Robert's greatest strength is his knowledge of the process as a whole. My job was to write my essays and activities. Robert handled everything else."
Alexander Chi · Class of 2023, admitted to Dartmouth
I've visited hundreds of campuses and researched thousands more. In my experience, the families who are most anxious about college applications are almost always working from the wrong list. Get the list right and the rest of the process is a different experience entirely.
The Challenge
The college search sounds like it should be easy. There are rankings, there are tour groups, there are cousins who went somewhere and loved it. Families end up with a list before they've ever stopped to ask what actually matters for their specific teen.
The result is applications to schools that looked good on paper but never really fit, a reach-heavy list with no real cushion of likely schools, or schools that a student ends up declining because they never did the research to know whether they'd be happy there.
The college list is a decision that shapes four years of someone's life. It deserves more than a Google search and a conversation with a neighbor.
The College Torch Process
Before Robert looks at a single school, he needs to understand who your teen is, what they're looking for, what kind of environment helps them do their best work, and what the family's real priorities are around cost, location, and program fit, including how financial aid fits into the picture. Most families have never had that conversation in a structured way. The College Explorer Sprint starts there, with a financial questionnaire for parents and a Discovery Session that covers all of it before any school is researched.
One live session with Robert and your teen (parents are encouraged to join this one). Before the session, parents complete a short financial questionnaire so Robert arrives already understanding your family's financial priorities: what you can realistically spend, whether merit aid or need-based aid is more relevant to your situation, and how much weight cost should carry when comparing schools. The session maps what actually matters: academic interests, campus size, geographic range, financial fit, and social environment. Students who arrive thinking they know what they want often leave with a meaningfully clearer, and sometimes different, set of priorities.
This is the work that happens between sessions and that families can't easily replicate on their own. Robert goes school by school, evaluating each against your teen's specific profile. He looks at academic program strength, campus culture and social fit, affordability and merit aid patterns, the LGBTQ+ climate when relevant, and reach, match, and likely-school balance across the full list. Each school gets his written notes.
Session 2 walks through the College Match Guide together. Robert explains every school, and together you agree on a target list size and a structured narrowing assignment for your teen to complete on their own. A few weeks later, Session 3 reviews the narrowed list: your teen brings what they've landed on, Robert responds to it, and you leave with a strong, semi-finalized list your family has thought all the way through. For seniors, that may be very close to the final list. For juniors with more time ahead of them, it is a solid working foundation that will continue to evolve as they visit campuses and learn more.
What Robert Researches
Whether your teen's program of interest is strong, well-funded, and structured in a way that suits how they learn. Class sizes, research opportunities, academic culture, and how much flexibility the school allows in designing a course of study.
Programs · Pedagogy · FlexibilityThe social environment, campus size, urban versus rural setting, student culture, and the kinds of extracurriculars and community involvement your teen would actually find. Whether the campus feels like a place they'd actually want to spend four years.
Size · Culture · Social LifeRobert is one of a small number of college consultants in the country who specializes in LGBTQ+ college counseling. For families where safety and belonging are part of the search, he evaluates campuses using his 5 Ps framework: People, Places, Policies, Personal, and Pride. Schools that don't meet the bar don't make the list.
Safety · Affirmation · SupportEvery family has a different relationship with college costs, and Robert meets each one where they are. Before the sprint begins, parents complete a short financial questionnaire so Robert understands your priorities: what you can realistically spend, whether merit aid or need-based aid is the more relevant lever, and how cost factors into the ranking of schools on the list. He then evaluates each school against that picture, flagging schools where your teen is a strong merit candidate likely to receive competitive scholarships, and being direct when a school's sticker price rarely comes down for families in your situation.
Merit Aid · Need-Based Aid · Net Cost · Financial FitMost self-assembled lists are reach-heavy. Students apply to schools they've heard of, and the matches and safeties end up as afterthoughts. Robert builds a list with intentional balance: genuine reaches your teen has a real shot at, well-researched matches where they'd thrive, and safeties they'd actually be happy to attend.
Balance · Realistic · IntentionalWhat You Receive
At the end of the sprint, your family receives a written document with Robert's research and notes on every school: a school-by-school breakdown of why each school fits, what to know about it financially and academically, what questions to ask on a visit, and what to watch for in the application. Financial fit is built into the report from the beginning, not added as an afterthought.
Each school is presented as an individual profile, covering why it made the list, what it specifically offers this student, program fit, campus culture notes, merit aid candidacy, recommended questions for a campus visit, and any red flags or important caveats.
Each school includes Robert's written notes on fit, program strength, campus climate, and merit aid candidacy. The full report typically covers 8 to 14 schools.
"The most memorable moment was when I was dead set on one path, and Robert's research opened my eyes up to other colleges that would suit my needs much better. I applied to many colleges I would have never considered."
Thomas H. · College Torch Luminary
Your College Researcher
The College Explorer Sprint exists because the college search is time-consuming, nuanced, and easy to get wrong if you don't know what you're looking for. Robert has visited hundreds of campuses, read thousands of Common Data Sets, and developed a specific framework for evaluating schools that goes well beyond what any ranking captures.
He is an IECA member, a NACAC member, and one of a small number of independent college counselors in the country who specializes in LGBTQ+ college counseling. LGBTQ+ families who work with Robert get a college list built by someone who takes safety and belonging as seriously as academics.
The College Explorer Sprint is particularly well-suited for families who are ready to be thoughtful about this decision. Families have different circumstances, priorities, and relationships with college costs, and Robert meets each of them where they are. Part of what makes the sprint useful is that the financial conversation happens at the start, not as a footnote. Robert will be direct about what he finds, including when a school that sounds appealing is unlikely to be financially workable for your family, and when a school you might have overlooked is likely to offer your teen a competitive scholarship.
From the Luminaries
"Robert spent time to get to know my son, to help him understand his strengths, to educate him in identifying the right schools, and to coach him in developing personal statements that highlight his uniqueness. I was very impressed with how Robert guided my son in evaluating a good fit of the colleges for him, not just because the schools are academically strong and reputable, but culturally, how the colleges would provide him with an environment in which he could thrive and grow."
"Robert helped our son find direction both with his intended major and in colleges that would fit his personality, interests, and major. We were so impressed with Robert and his team that our daughter is in the process with Robert now."
"When my admissions result was released, I did not feel much stress or apprehension unlike many of my friends, because Robert had helped me create a list of colleges with safety schools that I also felt comfortable attending."
"The most memorable moment was the beginning of the season when I was dead set on applying to one school, and Robert's research opened my eyes up to other colleges that would suit my needs much better. I applied to many colleges that I would have never considered."
The Sprint
The College Explorer Sprint is a single, focused package: a financial questionnaire, three sessions with Robert, a written College Match Guide, and a structured process that ends with a semi-finalized list your family has thought all the way through.
Not sure if this is the right sprint for your family? Email Robert and he will help you figure out where to start.
When to Start
Starting in junior fall or winter gives your teen the longest runway: time to research carefully, visit campuses while classes are in session, and arrive at application season with a semi-finalized list that has had time to breathe. College visits are meaningfully better when students can actually see the campus alive: sitting in on a class, grabbing lunch in the dining hall, rather than during a quiet summer break.
Junior spring is a solid time to start, and many families do. The one consideration is visits: if the sprint wraps up in late spring, campus tours through the summer will be quieter than ideal. Summer visits are workable, but families who start here should plan to do their key visits in the following fall when school is in session.
The College Explorer Sprint is available for motivated families who want to start early. A sophomore-year list will be revisited and refined as the student's profile develops. Starting early means more visits, more conversations with colleges, and no last-minute scramble when the Common App opens.
Starting in August or early September of senior year is possible, but the Common App opens in August and many Early Action deadlines are November 1st. At this stage, the sprint needs to move quickly. Robert will make it work, but the experience is noticeably calmer when families start sooner.
Common Questions
Enroll
Questions before purchasing? Email Robert and he will help you figure out where to start.
