The most expensive decision you will makewith limited information.
At the median American college, nearly half the students who start
there have not graduated from it within six years. Even at the most selective
schools, about one in six does not finish on time. A fifth
year is another year of tuition.
What families miss, and our sources
Families make this call on a ranking, a campus tour and a feeling. We are the
diligence nobody does: how big the classes really are, who does the teaching, how
many students finish in four years rather than five, whether the institution itself
is financially sound, and where your student would actually sit in the admitted
class.
Completion figures are federal data (IPEDS), across 1,995 colleges.
On-time rates are the typical of nine entering classes, 2007–2015: the most recent whose four years finished before the pandemic, since later classes’ rates are distorted by COVID leaves and gap years.
Finding and evaluating your schools is free.
So is finding your story: the activities list with Mr. Lambert’s coaching, and your personal narrative.
Your first school’s essay hooks are free too.
The paid tiers give you the start-to-finish drafting tools to craft your applications with consistency and confidence.
Find your fit
$0No card to start.
Free to start
15 fit reads and 10 questions for Mr. Lambert
Your list, your activities and your story, all free
A student view and a parent view: the student works in their own space, and a parent gets their own login with a read-only dashboard and private notes
15 fit reads in Mr. Lambert’s voice, about five in each of the stretch, target and likely tiers — plus 5 reads of the parent’s own
10 questions for Mr. Lambert, about your list or any one school — and 3 of the parent’s own
The full catalog, fit-ranked for you
Institutional health and admit analytics
Build your activities list in the real Common App shape — with Mr. Lambert’s coaching on every entry
Craft your Personal Narrative: a short interview with Mr. Lambert finds the through-line of your application
A sample turn of Mr. Lambert’s comments on one essay
Essay hooks for one school of your choice: where you connect to it, drawn from your own activities
Log your campus visits, and what you noticed on each one
Essay hooks for every school on your list: where you connect to each one, drawn from your own activities
One essay of your choice (Common App or supplement), coached from first draft to done
Every planning tool: the work plan and your deadlines, essay hooks for every school, Connect the Dots, the essay checklist and Early Submission Strategy
Unlimited school reads and questions while it runs
Every essay on your list, not just one: the personal statement and every supplement
Every planning tool: the work plan and your deadlines, essay hooks for every school, Connect the Dots, the essay checklist and Early Submission Strategy
$149
One payment, or $50 more if you have Early Round.
One student · to Jan 15
+ Everything in Early
Every essay on your list, through January 15, the regular deadlines included
The work plan and every other planning tool
Every essay on your list, coached through the regular deadlines
Every planning tool: the work plan and your deadlines, essay hooks for every school, Connect the Dots, the essay checklist and Early Submission Strategy
The pass attaches to one student’s account. A second child needs a second pass: their work, their essays, their list.
Parents can buy it
A parent can buy for their student, or a student can buy it themselves. Either way the access lands on the student’s account.
Nothing auto-renews
Every pass is one payment that runs to a date — the Season pass to May 1, the rounds to their deadlines. No card on file, no renewal, no surprise charge next year.
When it ends, you keep your work
Your essays, drafts, activities list and notes stay yours to read and export. The workshop stops writing new feedback; it never takes anything away.
Your data stays yours
Transcripts are encrypted at rest, we don’t sell anything to anyone, and you can delete the account whenever you like. See the privacy policy.
Not sure yet?
Do the whole free side first. Build the list, read the fits, load your activities — then decide.
Refunds
Changed your mind? Email hello@lambertsgrove.com within 7 days and we’ll refund you in full, as long as Mr. Lambert hasn’t reviewed an essay since your purchase. Once he’s given feedback on your writing under the new pass, that work is done and the pass is non-refundable. Either way your drafts are yours: Export essays in the Application Workshop gives you a copy to keep. And if something has gone wrong, tell us anyway — we’d rather fix it than keep money from a family we’ve let down.
What it compares to
An independent counselor runs $200–300 an hour, and a full package averages around $6,500. The season pass is about one hour, for the whole season.
Limits on the free side
A student’s free account includes 15 fit reads, roughly five in each of the stretch, target and likely tiers, and 10 questions. A parent’s own login carries a separate 5 reads and 3 questions, so a parent never spends the student’s. Re-reading something you’ve already opened never counts again, and everything you’ve entered stays yours either way.