The college admissions strategy built around who your teen is -- and where they're headed.
An 8-week program that gives self-driven high schoolers a college admissions strategy, career direction, and execution skills — built around who they actually are, so every application, decision, and opportunity gets their best.
A multi-year plan.
Tools that make it all click.
High school goes fast. The teens who get the most out of it aren't just working hard -- they're building something deliberately: a plan, a direction, and a college admissions strategy that reflects who they actually are.
A college admissions strategy grounded in who you are. A multi-year plan for high school built around your direction. The execution skills and tech tools to make it happen.
The skills that change how you show up -- in every college interview, every application, and every opportunity that matters.
These are the patterns we see most often in capable, motivated high schoolers who haven't had a dedicated space for this work yet.
Capable, motivated teens are often incredible executors. The homework gets done, the activities get attended, the deadlines get met. But in all the busyness, have they really had time to scope out what all these pieces are building toward?
And critically -- do they have a college admissions strategy that reflects who they actually are, not just what they've accomplished?
When teens get strategic clarity on their path and purpose -- and the tools to act on it -- effort gets easier. They start finding flow in their work, discovering energy they didn't know they had, and uncovering talents that were always there but never had a direction to grow into.
It's normal -- and it happens to many of us. But for teens carrying a full academic load, extracurriculars, social life, and family expectations, burnout can sneak up faster and hit harder. The energy that made them capable starts to feel like a resource that's running out.
With the right tools -- a real planning system, stress regulation practices, and a weekly rhythm that actually works -- teens don't just recover their energy. More done. More breathing room. More fun.
California now requires personal finance education starting in 2027-28 -- which tells you how essential it is. But there's a difference between learning to budget and understanding how money, passion, talent, and market demand all connect to the life you're actually building. That intersection -- what the Japanese call Ikigai -- is where the most energizing and rewarding careers tend to live.
In Designing High School, teens tackle these connections directly -- graphing real salary data, modeling financial decisions, and mapping their own Ikigai. The result is more clarity, more confidence, and a real sense of what they're actually building toward.
Most capable teens don't need more pressure. They need a clearer picture, better tools, and a space that's genuinely theirs. -- That's exactly what this program is built to give them.
A teen who knows where they're headed -- and the execution skills to get there.
Live Saturday sessions plus weekly async modules on the MPA learning portal. Rising 11th and 12th graders, Bay Area, Late Summer 2026. Application-based, intimate cohort.
All sessions, Student OS, Strategic 4-year plan, 1 year of learning portal access & 1:1 coaching session
+ Teen mindfulness curriculum included
- 7 live Saturday sessions (75 min each) + 60-min orientation + cohort presentation session
- Weekly async learning modules on the MPA portal -- personal finance, career & major exploration, AI-enhanced research, social confidence
- Strategic 4-year academic & activity plan -- built by your teen
- Student OS Workbook -- weekly execution system built on frameworks used by peak performers, adapted for teens
- Teen mindfulness curriculum -- stress regulation, focus, and the inner practices of high-performers
- Personalized strengths, values & archetype profile
- 1:1 coaching session -- parents welcome
- Personal strategy presentation to cohort -- Week 7
time TBD for 9th, 10th cohort
Built by a Practitioner
The students MPA has worked with — and the districts — share a similar challenge: the potential is clear, but the path forward isn't.
Neil Dandavati founded MPA because he'd seen that challenge up close, in a San Francisco classroom. The life design course he developed there won a national teaching award and scaled to 15 Bay Area schools and more than 2,000 students a year through a partnership with the Pearson Foundation.
Since then he's carried the same framework further, advising Alameda County district leadership on long-term planning, and leading strategy and operations at an early-stage AI company. The context changes. The work is the same.
That work is what Master Plan Academy is built on. The students and districts we work with leave with more than just a plan — they leave with the clarity and confidence to act on it.
I especially valued the clear, practical strategies for college admissions and the way you made the activities and digital tools engaging.
— Martin Medeiros, Parent of 10th grader, Alameda, CA
Get the Full Program Info Sheet -- sent to your inbox.
Everything you need to decide if this is the right fit for your teen. No spam. Just the information you need.
Info Sheet
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.