Your teen needs a plan.
Built together. Used through senior year.
The Master Admissions Plan (MAP) Sprint is three sessions with Robert. Together you plan your teen’s path (coursework, testing, activities, major direction, and a starter college list), and then Robert builds it into your Admissions HQ: a personalized Google Drive home base your family works from all the way through senior year.
5 founding spots · All sessions via Zoom · Open to families anywhere
You’re joining the inaugural run of the MAP Sprint.
We’re keeping this first cohort to five families so every teen gets the most personal version of the process. Founding families also receive two exclusives that won’t be offered again. And the MAP Sprint is complete on its own: You leave with a real plan and a home base, whether or not you continue with College Torch.
The MAP Sprint: Three Sessions, One Home Base
Founding Cohort Exclusives
I built the MAP Sprint because I’ve watched families spend years feeling behind. They were paying attention. They cared deeply. What was missing was someone to sit down with them and build a real plan.
My students don’t get generic timelines. They get a strategy built for where they actually are: their grades, their interests, their goals, their timeline.
The MAP Sprint is how we build it.
Robert Powers (M.A. Johns Hopkins) · College Consultant at College Torch
These questions don’t have easy answers on Google.
Most parents know college is coming. Knowing what to do about it, for their specific teen, is a different problem entirely.
- “Is my teen taking the right classes for where we want to apply?”
- “SAT, ACT, or test-optional: what’s the right call for my teen?”
- “Which activities actually matter to admissions?”
- “How do I build a school list I can feel confident about?”
- “How do I approach major selection without locking anything in?”
- “Is there a real strategy here, or am I just hoping for the best?”
Generic advice online can’t account for where your teen stands right now. The MAP Sprint gives your family a plan built for your teen, not for teens in general.
How does the MAP Sprint work?
Complete the intake questionnaire
You and your teen share goals, academics, interests, activities, and your timeline, so the sessions start with substance from minute one.
30-minute intro call
We get to know your teen: what excites them, what worries them, and where they stand right now.
90-minute strategy session: teen and parents welcome
We work through all six planning areas on Zoom and answer every question your family brings. Teens and parents are both encouraged to attend.
Robert builds your Admissions HQ in Google Drive
After the session, Robert builds your Admissions HQ: six personalized Google Docs plus a session summary, set up in your own Google Drive. It’s the home base your family works from through senior year, yours to keep, edit, and share.
45-minute debrief call
A few weeks later, once your family has lived with the plan, we cover your questions and what to prioritize next.
8 weeks of email support
Eight weeks of direct email access to Robert after your debrief, so questions get answered as they come up.
30-minute follow-up session at 8 weeks
One final call at week eight to review progress and adjust anything that’s shifted.
Six plans, built around your teen.
In the strategy session, we work through the six areas that shape a strong application. Robert then writes each one up as its own personalized Google Doc. Together they form your teen’s Master Admissions Plan.
Four-Year Coursework Plan
- Grade-by-grade course direction aligned to your teen’s goals
- Clear guidance on what to prioritize and why
- Focus on the decisions that matter most approaching junior and senior year
College Major Toolbox
- Best-fit majors to explore based on interests and strengths
- Real-world career and coursework exploration tools
- Activity directions that make your teen’s story coherent over time
Testing Plan
- SAT vs. ACT vs. test-optional direction based on your teen
- A realistic testing timeline, retakes included if needed
- Prep approach recommendation with trusted resources
- Includes access to Test Smart: Your Testing Strategy for College, College Torch’s self-guided online course
Activities Expansion Pack
- What to build, maintain, or step back from based on goals
- Leadership and service directions aligned to your teen’s values
- Summer direction: programs, projects, and experiences that carry weight
College Search Starter Kit
- Best-fit factors specific to your teen
- A starter school list with selectivity context and fit notes
- A research framework for building and refining the list over time
Admissions Strategy Audit
- Clear priorities across academics, testing, activities, and major fit
- Stand-out positioning ideas to shape your teen’s profile early
- “Story Corner” prompts so essay writing is easier when the time comes
Your Admissions HQ: a home base, not a report.
After the strategy session, Robert builds your Admissions HQ, a Google Drive folder that holds your teen’s complete Master Admissions Plan. It isn’t something you read once and file away. It’s where your family comes back every time a decision comes up, from next year’s classes to the final college list. It lives in your own Google Drive, so you can share it, update it as things change, and keep it for good.
How your family uses it through senior year
Each plan is built to be opened again at the moment it matters.
- Every year, before course registration Four-Year Coursework Plan Choose next year’s classes with the plan in front of you.
- Every summer Activities Expansion Pack Pick programs, projects, and experiences that carry weight.
- Junior year Testing Plan Follow the timeline for when to test and whether to retake.
- Summer before senior year Story Corner prompts Start essays with real material instead of a blank page.
- Senior fall College Search Starter Kit Grow the starter list into your final list with the research framework.
Starting as a junior or senior? Your HQ begins wherever your teen is right now.
Hi, I’m Robert Powers.
I’m a college consultant with over ten years in the field. I stay active in it: visiting campuses, maintaining relationships with admissions staff, tracking scholarship opportunities, and following the real changes in how colleges evaluate teens today.
I measure success by the full picture: admissions and scholarships, and also the clarity and confidence teens carry getting there. For parents, it means you get to step back into the parent role instead of becoming a college admissions expert.
Over 300 teens have worked with College Torch to arrive at their best-fit schools. The MAP Sprint brings the same level of expertise to families who want a strong, informed start, without a long-term program commitment.
LGBTQ+ teens
I specialize in the college search for LGBTQ+ teens: finding schools that are genuinely safe, genuinely supportive, and genuinely the right fit. Many colleges market themselves as inclusive; far fewer actually build the culture, policies, and resources to back it up. Every LGBTQ+ student’s search is different, and the MAP Sprint is fully equipped to address what yours specifically needs.
“On the night of the election, I suddenly felt terrified. It was the middle of application season, and I realized feeling safe in college as a gender nonbinary teen wasn’t a guarantee at all. I immediately asked Robert if we could change the college list to make sure I’d be 100% safe and comfortable even if the world got more dangerous from here. Then I took the biggest breath of relief. … Robert told me he had already been thinking about that possibility the entire time, and he knew the schools on my list were still going to be perfect for me. He encouraged me to contact the LGBTQ+ resource centers at each school to learn what was actually there, and I learned he was right: everything I needed was already in place. In the end, I had a lot of great options to choose from, and Robert talked me through the decision from start to finish so I felt confident in my choice. Besides making application season feel almost easy, Robert worked to understand who I was as a person, and he seemed to know what I needed before I even knew. If I hadn’t found Robert, I might not feel as happy and safe on campus as I do now.”
What parents say about working with Robert.
“Robert genuinely cares, not just because he’s a professional, but because he makes real efforts to get things right. He spent time getting to know my son, helping him understand his strengths, and coaching him to develop personal statements that highlighted his uniqueness. I was very impressed with how Robert guided my son in evaluating college fit: not just academically, but culturally, so he’d be in an environment where he could truly thrive and grow. I appreciate his honesty and directness.”
“Robert was fantastic from day one. He has a well-thought-out plan that helps families through the entire process: finding the right colleges, writing essays, managing timelines, financial aid, and making the final decision. Having Robert manage our son’s progress meant far less tension in our family. His service is worth every penny. We were so happy with his work that we came back for our second son.”
The right college list creates real financial opportunities.
Part of building a strong college list is finding schools positioned to offer your teen meaningful merit aid. Here are four examples from the Class of 2023 alone.
The MAP Sprint is where building that kind of list begins.
What founding members get.
The three-session MAP Sprint is the core service. Items marked Founding Exclusive are exclusive to this inaugural run.
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✓Detailed intake questionnaire
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✓30-minute intro call
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✓90-minute one-on-one strategy session (teen and parents welcome)
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✓Master Admissions Plan: six personalized Google Docs
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✓Admissions HQ: built in your Google Drive, your home base through senior year
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✓Test Smart: Your Testing Strategy for College (online course, included)
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✓45-minute debrief call
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✓Full Q&A throughout: bring every question
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✓8 weeks of email support Founding Exclusive
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✓30-minute follow-up session at 8 weeks Founding Exclusive
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✓Option to apply your full MAP Sprint fee toward College Hero (request within 14 days) Founding Exclusive
5 founding spots · Zoom · Open to families anywhere
5 founding spots. $997.
After checkout, you’ll receive an email with the intake questionnaire and instructions for scheduling your sessions. All sessions are via Zoom. The MAP Sprint is open to families anywhere.
Questions before signing up? Email robert@collegetorch.com. Robert responds directly.
Common questions.
Your teen’s plan is waiting.
Five founding spots. Three sessions with Robert. One home base your family uses through senior year.
Reserve Your Founding Spot ($997)