Free for parents + teens

The High School Strategy Guide

Build a college admissions strategy and the high school plan to make it real, around who your teen actually is.

  • What admissions and the job market look like for your teen’s class
  • What to focus on in 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th grade, plus the dates that matter
  • A one-year plan to build together, page by page
Cover of The High School Strategy Guide by Master Plan Academy

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Peek inside

Twelve pages you’ll actually use with your teen

Guide page 3, The Landscape: Stanford and UC Berkeley admission rates and AI's effect on entry-level jobs
The LandscapeAdmissions and the job market your teen’s class is entering
Guide page 4, The 4-Year Arc: focus areas for 9th through 12th grade and key dates for 2026–27
The 4-Year ArcEach year’s focus, plus the key dates
Guide page 5, The Snapshot: rate your teen on strengths, career clarity, and admissions strategy
The SnapshotA 5-part check of where your teen stands today
Guide page 7, The Strategy Builder: big-picture questions and two goals for this school year
The Strategy BuilderQuestions and a one-year plan to fill in together
Pages 5 to 8 are built to fill in with your teen.Get the guide ↑
The 4-Year Arc

Each year of high school has a different job

Wherever your teen is now, the guide starts with this year’s focus.

  1. 9th

    Explore and build foundations

    Try activities with real curiosity, build planning habits, and sketch a first 4-year course plan.

  2. 10th

    Focus and go deeper

    Grades now count toward the UC/CSU GPA. Go deep in one or two activities and research careers with real data.

  3. 11th

    Lead and prove it

    The most important year on the transcript. Lead or build something, draft a college list, and plan a purposeful summer.

  4. 12th

    Tell the story

    Essays draw on everything built in 9th through 11th. Teens who designed their path get to choose which real story to tell.

Also inside: the Snapshot, the Strategy Builder, and the MPA Design Method behind Designing High School.

Neil Dandavati
I built my first life design course as a San Francisco public school teacher. It grew to 15 Bay Area high schools and 2,000+ students a year. This guide is the starting point I wish every family had. Read it with your teen; the questions are the point.

Neil DandavatiFounder, Master Plan Academy

National teaching award2,000+ students a year15 Bay Area high schoolsHarvard Kennedy SchoolUC Berkeley

Start with a clear picture of where your teen stands.

Free · 12 pages · For parents and teens

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