Getting your PhD will change your life.
We know it changed ours.
People don’t work with us just to get their essay “a little” better. They work with us to crush the entire PhD application process.
PhD offers are given to confident people, not necessarily the 4.0 student
Our training and advising programs work together to help you build the skills you need to get accepted with full funding at top PhD programs.
You become the most confident PhD in the room that makes you the natural choice to admit with full funding.
Confidence comes with a price.
The price is work.
By building skills through practice (i.e, not mindlessly consuming content) you will become confident because you’ll know you earned it.
Our process is proven, we’ve helped our clients get in at 350% higher rates than others, and secure over $19M in funding.
We've Helped Our Clients Secure PhD Offers From Top Schools With Full Funding
Sarah used our networking frameworks to get multiple offers and selected her dream fully funded PhD at Carnegie Mellon in computer science
I am so thankful for the push that you gave us to really reach out and the templates of how to have a conversation with them because those conversations directly informed my research proposals and statement of purpose and those pieces were so much stronger because of these discussions I had.
Taylor tapped into the community and went from rejected to their dream fully funded PhD at Columbia Teachers College in psychology
I decided to pursue a PhD again after not getting in the first round. It was really scary and looking back there were lots of things I would have done differently, so I really wanted to set myself up and have as much support as possible in the process for round two. Now, after the program, I mean it's very different in that I have achieved a lifelong goal getting into my PhD, and before the program I was in a state of just feeling really scared about the whole thing. I realized how much I needed a community and people who really knew what they were doing to help me.
How We Work Together Using Our 4-Step System To Engineer PhD Confidence and Create Offers
01
Master Your Candidacy Strategy
A confused mind cannot perform at the highest level. We work with you to assess exactly where you are and develop a customized strategy to ensure you succeed. By removing all “what next?” or “should I do this or that?” questions, you can focus on executing your plan instead of worrying.
What We Build Together:
Customized strategy, gameplan, and schedule so you hit your goals no matter what life throws at you.
The skill to identify your unique selling points and perform a gap analysis to shore up any potential weaknesses.
A strategic program fit equation to find programs who want you the way you are right now, optimizing your success rate.
Develop Your PhD Presence & Networking Skills
Talking with real humans can feel uncomfortable at first, but it is the fastest way to know what is resonating or not, and create PhD offers. Our brains trust other sources more than ourselves, so when this starts clicking and others are nodding along, giving you all the cues that you’re on track, you start to feel more confident.
What We Build Together:
Your battle-ready presence by significantly updating your resume/CV and online profiles.
The analytical skills to determine which faculty are the best fit for your unique experiences and research goals.
Targeted outreach emails to faculty, crafted so they actually respond and want to talk with you.
Simulated real faculty conversations so you can lead these informal interviews like a PhD leader, not a desperate job hunter.
02
03
Nail Your Research Pitch and Market Your Unique Value
Your research ideas are your PhD currency, and they need to hit. We’ll help you develop the skills to articulate your research in a way that resonates, instead of falling flat. It can feel awkward talking about yourself, but with our framework, you’re going to feel powerful and have no problem marketing yourself.
What We Build Together:
Research pitches and proposals using our Research Umbrella 1-2-3 method, so you can quickly generate targeted pitches for each program and faculty.
The expertise to use your limited space to tell the most compelling story of why you are the exact right PhD they have to choose.
Our Brick House method to modularize your strongest assets in your story so you can quickly use these in all of your essays.
The ability to weave your stories together across all of your essays like the: SOP, personal narrative, research statement, extenuating circumstances, and community involvement essays.
Personalized reviews and clear feedback so your work quickly improves without you trying to compare yourself to old SOPs online.
Magnetic Interview Skills
There are no magic “abracadabra” words you can say in a PhD interview to seal the deal. However, your presence or lack therof, is the thing that creates offers or not.
What We Build Together:
We’ll conduct mock interviews with you using real life actual questions used in PhD interviews.
You’ll use our magnetic Interview framework to know exactly what to say so they see you as the ideal PhD candidate.
We won’t hold punches, and our signature PhD approach of poking holes and asking difficult questions will make your real interview feel like a piece of cake.
04
PhD Confidence and Offers: The Natural Byproduct of a Complete Skillset.
If you do the work and build these skills, the confidence—and the offers—will follow.
Biak battled overwhelm and how to narrow her interests so she could get into her ideal fully funded PhD at Johns Hopkins in Public Health
I had a sense I always wanted to have my PHD, but I didn't really know how. The program really systematized the process for me. I wanted a mentor that had time and resources to answer my questions along the way, I think a lot of times mentorship is a one off call and then you can't ask all of your questions, and so I wanted that and also the community. Having a starting point for a lot of the action items so that I could just expedite that process and get over the anxiety really helped me.
Archit increased his email response rate by 800% and built relationships that helped him get into his fully-funded PhD at Purdue in Life Sciences
During my previous experience applying, I sent out 50 or 60 emails and maybe got 3 responses. After this program I maybe sent out 20 emails and received 8 or 9 responses. I spoke with people and decided which program would I would be a fit at.
Cool, cool, cool. I read all that and I'm so ready to 3X my success rate so I can finally start my PhD next year. How can we make this happen?
Choose your path:
Self-paced digital course ($)
Learn to master PhD admissions strategy, so you market yourself so effectively they can't help but give you an offer.
Matthias turned his “no way I can get in there” thinking into understanding strategic program fit and got multiple offers and selected his dream fully funded PhD at the University of Wisconsin in political science
Natalie focuses largely on fit, and goes to the point to make us do research on making sure we're not overlooking things. That was very helpful because I added schools and dropped programs because of it. And I was confident in those choices because I was putting in the legwork. What I used the most was the slack group. Because you see other people, other real people that are in this program that have similar fears and anxieties, some of them asking questions that you would want to ask.
Catherine juggled her final year of undergrad and full schedule to get into her ideal PhD program with full funding at Princeton in microbiology
I didn't want to apply twice because it's a laborious and stressful and expensive process so I kind of felt like it would be saving some of those expenses in the long run. If I know what I want, I want to do it once. And I wanted to know that I did everything I could to get myself where I wanted to be the first time.
FAQ
Do you work with MS as well as PhD applicants?
Yes, we work with motivated master’s students as well as PhD applicants. The process for securing top master’s offers is the same as PhD, and we love helping highly ambitious master’s applicants succeed as well as PhD.
We do not work with law or MBA candidates, as we like to stay in our area of expertise.
When should I start working with you?
The earlier the better. Just like in tutoring or test-prep, the more time we have to work together the stronger your skillset and applications will be. Most folks work with us 4-12 months in advance of typical deadlines in December.
Do I work with someone with my specialty?
To be honest, having the exact domain knowledge (i.e, physics or anthropology) isn’t as critical as having an expert who knows the process and can help you succeed. Dr. Natalie’s background is in engineering, and yet she’s helped folks get into top PhD programs in education, psychology, linguistics, microbiology… you get the picture.
We do have technical staff experts who may work with you and are fantastic at diving deep into technical aspects of your application. We’ll be able to discuss your exact case on your consultation call.
Get In Touch
FAQS
What do financial consultants do?
Financial consultants provide financial advice and guidance to individuals and families. They can help you develop a financial plan, choose investments, save for retirement, and protect your assets.
How do I choose a financial consultant?
When choosing a financial consultant, it is important to consider their experience, qualifications, and fees. You should also make sure that you feel comfortable working with them and that they understand your financial needs and goals.
What is the difference between a financial consultant and a financial planner?
Financial consultants and financial planners are both financial professionals who can help you manage your finances. However, there is a key difference between the two. Financial consultants typically focus on providing advice on specific financial products and services, such as investments, insurance, and retirement planning. Financial planners, on the other hand, take a more holistic approach to financial planning and can help you develop a comprehensive financial plan that covers all areas of your financial life, such as budgeting, debt management, and estate planning.
