Strides Consulting

08/06/2026

08/04/2026

The Common App opened this week, and I already know some students are racing to fill the whole thing in tonight. Take a breath.

Here’s what families don’t always realize: the app changed since spring. The Activities section looks different, the order of the questions moved, and some of your schools haven’t even posted their supplements yet. If you rush now, you’ll just be redoing it in September.

The students who have the calmest falls aren’t the ones who finished first. They’re the ones who went slowly, read carefully, and didn’t fill in anything that could still change, like their senior classes.

Slow is smart right now. Save this for your senior, and send it to a friend who’s already stressing.

07/29/2026

I get some version of this question every week: what should we be doing right now? So here is the whole year on one map.

The reason I keep it this simple is that senior year does not fall apart from doing the wrong thing. It falls apart from trying to do everything at once in October. One box at a time is the entire strategy.

Right now, as we closeout July, there are only two jobs: a first essay draft and a balanced list. That is it. Everything else has a month, and its month is not yet.

Save this so you can stop wondering if you are behind. When you want a
plan built around your specific kid, I am one message away. DM me or the link in bio.

07/28/2026

Every year around now I watch a wave of panic move through group chats: the Common App opens August 1, are we behind?

Take a breath. August 1 is the day the new form opens, not a day anything is due. I made this so you know the difference between what is genuinely worth doing this month and what can happily wait.

If your senior has a rough essay draft and a working list by the first, they are in a good spot. Truly. Everything else has its own time. Save this for the group chat the next time the panic starts.

And if you want a second set of eyes on where your kid actually stands, send me a message. DM me or the link in bio.

07/07/2026

Every building at Vassar has a piano. There’s a legend about why. Watch to hear it.

I’ve toured a lot of campuses. This is the first time a guide’s aside stuck with me more than the stats did, which might be the whole case for visiting in person.

Here’s what actually shifted how I think about Vassar, and it’s not in this video: they recalculate your GPA during review, and over half the class didn’t submit test scores. That kind of detail changes how a family should build a list, not just how a campus feels on a tour.

Stats tell you about a school. Visits tell you about fit.

DM me if you want the questions I actually ask on these.

07/04/2026

This is my kind of holiday weekend setup.

What are you reading this summer? Drop it in the comments. I’m always looking for my next one.

06/30/2026

06/26/2026

Every student I work with wants to write a great essay. Most of them start by telling me about their biggest accomplishment.

That’s almost never where the best essay lives.

Our essay expert sits down with every student before a single word gets written. Not to talk about what they’ve done, but to figure out who they are. The essay writes itself from there.

Swipe through for the test I use to know when it’s actually done. Save this for your rising senior.

06/23/2026

A summer reading list with something for everyone, including you. No required reading energy, promise.

Swipe for my picks: a few for students, a few for the parents riding shotgun.

And because summer reading is better with a new book in hand: I’m giving away a $25 gift card to . To enter, follow , tag a friend who’d love one of these, and share this post to your story for a bonus entry. Winner announced Friday, July 3rd.

Tell me in the comments: which one are you picking up first?

06/19/2026

The CommonApp opens August 1st, which means the next six weeks matter more than people think.

I’m not talking about rushing. I’m talking about the five things that make August feel calm instead of chaotic: a working list, a started activities draft, a personal statement in progress, recommenders who’ve been asked, and a real conversation about ED and EA.

None of this needs to be finished. It just needs to be started.

Swipe through, save this one, and send it to the rising senior in your life. 🎓