Your teen knows who they are. Now let's put it on the page.
True North students arrive at their essays with something most applicants don't have: a clear sense of who they are, what they've built, and why it matters. The program's exercises are specifically designed to surface that picture -- connecting strengths, experiences, and direction into an authentic story that's genuinely theirs to tell. This is 1:1 essay coaching built around genuine self-knowledge.
True North is designed for Designing High School alumni -- and selectively opens to motivated 11th and rising 12th graders ready to do the same deep work. Book a call and let's find out if it's the right fit.
the underlying advantage
Most students arrive at the essay with nothing to say.
They sit down in August and stare at a blank page.
They try to reverse-engineer who they are from a list of prompts. The result is generic -- or a resume dressed as self-reflection.
Standard essay coaching tries to patch this. But, it doesn't solve it.
Your student already solved this problem.
In Designing High School, they did the self-knowledge work that most applicants never do. They don't have to use the essay to try to discover who they are -- that work is done.
The essay isn't the time for your student to discover who she is. That work is already done. The essay's job is to say it well.
This is not run-of-the-mill essay coaching. There are no cold prompts, no generic feedback, and no starting from zero. Every session builds on the self-knowledge your students developed in Designing High School.
WHAT THEY BUILT IN DESIGNING HIGH SCHOOL -- AND WHAT IT MEANS FOR THE ESSAYS
A KEY ARTIFACT EVERY TRUE NORTH STUDENT BUILDS BEFORE THE ESSAY WORK BEGINS
The self-knowledge that makes an authentic essay possible -- documented, structured, and ready.
The essays that matter most
Three essay types. Eighty to ninety percent of any school's list.
Most college applications require variations of the same three supplemental types -- including every UC Personal Insight Question. Mastering these three unlocks the vast majority of what a typical 8-12 school list demands. Life Design alumni arrive with the raw material for all three already documented.
the process
Designed around the real deadline calendar.
Both tiers are structured to finish well ahead of EA / ED deadlines -- with no scrambling and no August panic.
Choose your program
Two tiers. One standard of coaching.
Both tiers cover the supplemental essay types that appear on 80-90% of school lists. Choose based on your school list size and EA / ED targets.
For students who want more.
True North handles the essays. Application Support Coaching handles everything around them -- school list finalization, supplement strategy, application sequencing, deadline management, and the weekly check-ins that keep the whole process moving forward with confidence.
A focused 4-6 week burst during the highest-pressure period. One session per week, structured around what is most urgent -- supplement strategy, school list decisions, activity list, and application sequencing as deadlines approach.
Consistent support across the full application arc. Roughly biweekly, with flexibility to cluster sessions during crunch periods. Covers school list, application strategy, supplement development, and a final submission review.
The full partnership experience. Weekly sessions throughout the entire application season -- from school list and strategy through supplement development, recommendation management, financial aid framing, and final submissions.
- His students have been admitted to schools including UC Berkeley, UCLA, and UC Davis.
- As an applicant himself, Neil was admitted to all 9 UC campuses, including to UCLA as a Regent's Scholar, and to U. Penn, Brown, and Cornell as an undergraduate. For graduate school, he was admitted to Harvard Kennedy School, University of Chicago (full scholarship), and UC Berkeley (Dean's Scholar), and the RAND Institute's graduate school.
- Former SFUSD teacher and Teach For America Corps Member -- built and taught the life design curriculum your student just completed.
- Led Pearson Education curriculum adopted across 15 high schools reaching 2,000+ students annually -- awarded the Symantec Award for Innovation in Education.
As your student's Life Design coach, he already knows their story. The essay coaching picks up exactly where the program left off -- no intake forms, no starting from scratch.