Dr. Nathan Hurwitz ◊ College Admissions Consulting
Strategic college admissions guidance for ambitious applicants
This three-year engagement with a tenured professor and four-time author helps students and families map every academic and narrative decision from 10th-grade spring through senior April. Limited to twelve families per admissions cycle. By application only.
Most admissions consulting is junior-year triage.
By the time a family hires a consultant in 11th grade, the academic record is largely written. Course choices are made. Standardized testing windows are narrow. The activities profile is going to be whatever it is. There is real work still to do — list-building, essays, supplements, interviews — but the fundamental shape of the application is fixed.
Families who begin in 10th grade get to do something different. They can shape the academic profile. They can build a coherent activities portfolio rather than retroactively making sense of a scattered one. They can sequence testing around realistic prep cycles. And critically, they can develop the narrative — the through-line that makes the application read as a person, not a résumé.
The Founders' Engagement is built for this work. It is the most comprehensive engagement Hurwitz Admissions offers. Twelve families per cycle. Sophomore start. End-to-end through senior April.
What this is not
It is not a checklist program, a pre-packaged curriculum, or a tutoring service. It is not a guarantee of any specific admissions outcome — no honest consultant offers that, and any consultant who does is selling you a story.
What it is: thoughtful, patient, three-year strategic partnership with a tenured professor and published author who has done this work for high-performing students through the most consequential admissions years of their lives.
Few admissions consultants have any one of the following credentials. None has all three.
What we do together over three years.
YEAR 1 — 10th-grade spring through 11th-grade summer: the foundation year
Monthly working sessions with the family. Quarterly with the student. Academic course planning for 11th and 12th grade. Activities-portfolio audit and refinement. Summer planning (programs, research, work, travel, the use of unstructured time). Initial standardized testing strategy and timeline. The early narrative work — what is this student actually about, and how does that show up coherently across what they choose to do.
YEAR 2 — 11th grade: the strategic year
Continued monthly sessions. Refined college-list construction — starting broad in fall, narrowed to 8–12 schools by July. Visits planned and prepped (with the campus-visit playbook integrated into how we evaluate each school). Standardized testing executed and re-evaluated. Recommendation-letter strategy. Personal statement first draft by August. Real summer activities that become real application material rather than retroactive padding.
YEAR 3 — 12th grade: the application year
Bi-weekly sessions through the application window. Every essay, every supplement, every interview. Strategic decisions on early action, early decision, single-choice early action — the calibrated version, not the generic version. Decision-day conversations as offers come back. The post-acceptance conversations: scholarship negotiation, deferral decisions, Plan B's executed gracefully if needed. Through May 1 of senior year.
Investment
The Founders' Engagement is $28,000 to $36,000, depending on start date and scope. Paid in installments across the engagement, not upfront.
What that buys: roughly 80–120 hours of direct work with me across three years, plus all preparation, materials review, and decision-tree calibration that happens between sessions. Per hour, it is meaningfully less expensive than the hourly Strategy Consultation tier. It is the most comprehensive structure in the practice, and it is priced as such.
How families think about the math.
It is, mechanically, less than one semester of tuition at the schools most Founders' families are aiming at. Frame it that way to yourself or do not, but the order-of-magnitude comparison is honest.
Who this is right for
Sophomore-year (rising or current) families with academically strong, ambitious students aiming at highly selective outcomes. Families who want one thoughtful person guiding the process from end to end rather than a series of one-off advisors.
Families for whom $28K–$36K is a real number that requires consideration but is not a stretch beyond what they would otherwise allocate to the college process.
Who this is NOT right for
Families seeking support for a junior or senior — they should look at Premier Concierge or Comprehensive Strategy.
Families who want a guarantee of admission to a particular school. No ethical consultant offers this. The work I do increases the probability of strong outcomes; it does not promise particular schools.
Families looking for a checklist, a curriculum, or a Disney-grade fantasy of the process. The Founders' Engagement is custom, judgment-driven work — not a templated program.
Families for whom the cost is a meaningful financial stretch. There are excellent free resources, the lower-tier engagements in this practice, and excellent independent counselors at lower price points. I will, in our exploratory conversation, tell you honestly if I think one of those is the better fit.
How the application works
Twelve Founders' Engagement slots open each cycle. Slots fill on a rolling basis, starting in February for the following sophomore-year cohort. The application is short and free.
Step 1. Submit the short application.
Five questions, ten minutes. We collect basic information about your student, your timeline, and what you are hoping the engagement does for the family.
Step 2. Free 30-minute exploratory call.
If your application looks like a structural fit, I'll reach out within 48 hours to schedule a free 30-minute call. We talk about the student, the family, the years ahead. I tell you honestly whether the engagement is the right level. If it isn't, I tell you what is.
Step 3. Mutual decision and engagement letter.
If we both want to move forward, I send a structured engagement letter detailing scope, timing, payment schedule, and the specific deliverables. Family signs and returns. First-installment invoice goes out.
Step 4. Kickoff session and three-year work begins.
Within two weeks of signing, we schedule a 90-minute kickoff session with the full family. From that point on, the engagement runs through senior April.
What Families Say
When we started, our son had no clear idea about who he was as a student. Dr. Hurwitz helped him see how his interests in economics, debate, and community service actually connected. His guidance on both strategy and essays transformed the entire process. Our son was ultimately admitted to Georgetown, where he is now enrolled. We are deeply grateful for the calm, thoughtful guidance throughout what could have been a very stressful year.
Stella C., Georgetown University, 2025
Early decisions came out before Christmas, and A. was accepted to MIT!! You gave her focus and pulled everything together. The interview prep made all the difference in the world. We are all thrilled.
Matt B., MIT, 2026
What impressed us most was how seriously Dr. Hurwitz took the responsibility of guiding our daughter through this process. He didn't simply edit essays or suggest colleges. He helped her think more deeply about her academic interests and long-term goals. The structure he provided kept everything organized and manageable for our entire family
Abby G. Tulane, 2026
FAQs
If this is the engagement you have been looking for.
The application is short. The exploratory call is free. Slots fill in order.