Connect: Take stock — STAR it
List the clubs, service, sports, and projects you already did. Then turn each one into a STAR story: Situation, Task, Action, Result. Nothing gets lost, and every old activity becomes application-ready language.
High School Cohort · Ideal for juniors and seniors
Design and run a real project that becomes your application proof.
For juniors and seniors. Juniors turn existing activities into proof and finish a real project before application season. Seniors get a head start on the personal brand strategy they'll use in college.
Beta is live: about 70 students are running the curriculum this year through an honors program partnership, plus a smaller private cohort.
No school group needed. Members under 18 enroll through a parent or guardian.
Deliverables
What you walk away with
Each item below is a piece of application material you can use again: on the Common App, in scholarship applications, in interview prep, or in recommendation packets.
- Experience inventory
- Draft resume block
- Signed project brief
- Work log
- Evidence folder
- Live profile or portfolio doc
- Public project post
- Named reference
- Application-ready packet
What you actually build
Project → Proof → Reference → Application Packet → Momentum
We start with what you've already done, turning each activity into a STAR story so nothing gets lost. Then you design and run one new project, capture the evidence, and turn all of it into proof someone else can actually see.
Design it
Pick a real organization and write a project brief small enough to finish. The work creates application proof and gives you concrete examples of leadership, communication, initiative, problem-solving, teamwork, and resilience.
Run it
Coordinate, persuade, and follow through. You build the evidence while the work is happening.
Capture it
Photos, numbers, quotes, and a work log. Proof that the project was real and you did it.
Publish it
A public project post and a named reference. You become the student who actually did the thing.
Free tools for the design step
Choose what you want your application proof to demonstrate and get project ideas sized for a high school schedule, then write the one-page brief an adult can say yes to.
Case study
When the project falls apart and the story gets better
Three rising seniors needed an in-depth service project for their honors program. What they planned never happened. What they walked away with was stronger than the original plan.
- 01 · The plan
They wanted to run character-building enrichment activities for foster children. After weeks of emails, calls, and research, the logistics wouldn't work. A city mission fell through too. Summer started and they still had nothing, with application season closing in.
- 02 · The pivot
Their GradPlanHQ mentor pointed them to a federally funded summer meal program run by their school district and hosted at the public library. It ran over the summer, served kids in their own community, would finish before applications, and the library covered every supply, so there was no fundraising to slow them down.
- 03 · The reality
The kids were younger than expected, so activities had to change on the spot. One day they had to leave right as lunch started. Another day, severe weather kept families home. They spent part of the week cleaning the children's area and shelving books. By Friday they were wondering if their effort had any real impact.
- 04 · The reflection
In the debrief, their mentor pushed them past the plan and onto what they'd actually learned. They had researched multiple opportunities, navigated setbacks, built relationships with community organizations, identified barriers the next volunteers would hit, and learned how to adapt when a project goes sideways.
- 05 · The pivot to proof
So they stopped defining the project by the activities they ran and started defining it by the value they created. They wrote a volunteer opportunity guide for future honors students, covering the benefits, the obstacles, tips for real impact, and how to start fast. Then they designed a recruitment flyer the district and its partners could use.
- 06 · The people
The public librarian and the district's summer meal program manager both verified the work. Two named adults who can speak to what they actually did.
Framework applied · Design Thinking
The reframe is the design thinking move. They stopped measuring the week by what they delivered to the children and started measuring it by how much better they could make the experience for future volunteers in their honors program — and how they could help the library recruit volunteers to offer enrichment activities for kids coming to the free meal service.
The resume line
Applied design thinking to a stalled summer service project; reframed the outcome around improving the volunteer experience, produced a guide for future honors students, and designed recruitment materials the school district and public library could use.
What it proved
- Adaptability
- Problem-solving
- Critical thinking
- Initiative
- Resilience
- Community engagement
- Leadership through reflection
Volunteer experiences don't have to be perfect to be powerful. Their plan never fully materialized, but reflection and honest storytelling turned a frustrating week into the kind of growth story that carries a college essay, a scholarship application, and a resume.
Read the Case Study →The 9-month curriculum, with summer support included
One live session a month, one assignment before the next, one artifact you keep. By month nine you have intentionally designed and executed a real project and packaged it as college and scholarship proof. And summer? Office hours and email check-ins are already included if you want to keep going.
- 1
Why this matters
Experience inventoryThe evidence gap: an activities list says you were there, proof says what you did. What a personal brand actually is, and why it is not self-promotion. It is what shows up when someone looks you up.
Between sessionsInventory every activity, job, service hour, club role, and project from the last two years. Nothing is too small.
- 2
Connect: take stock
Draft resume blockNothing you already did gets left behind. How to see the real value in work that felt ordinary, and how to describe it without inflating it.
Between sessionsWrite one paragraph of proof language for your three strongest items. What you did, who it helped, what changed.
- 3
Build: design the project
Signed project briefChoosing a project that creates real evidence, a real story, and a real reference while helping a real organization. Scoping it down to something you will actually finish.
Between sessionsWrite a one-page project brief and get a sponsor at the organization to say yes to it.
Summer support included
Summer can be a powerful time to get ahead.
The 9-month curriculum runs during the school year, but summer often gives students more time to finish a project, build experience, and create proof for fall applications. Video office hours and email check-ins are already included in the program for students who want to keep moving. Summer participation is always optional, with no additional fee and no required assignments.
“No single type of experience or role is likely to meet all of your goals.” Princeton tells students to think beyond internships and count research, jobs, and intentionally designed projects as real summer experience.
- Princeton Career DevelopmentCount research, jobs, and intentionally designed projects as real summer experience.
- MIT Career AdvisingThe value comes from preparation and reflection, not the title on the offer letter.
- Oxford University Careers ServiceRecruiters want evidence of real work, so build something rather than wait for a posting.
What you get
One dedicated monthly video meetup
A session just for high school students, on its own time slot. Private cohorts get their own slot and their own group.
A 9-month curriculum
One live session, one assignment between sessions, one artifact you keep. Nine months, nine pieces of proof.
Summer office hours, included
The 9-month curriculum runs during the school year. If you want to keep a project moving over the summer, drop-in video hours and email check-ins are included in your annual fee — no extra cost, no required assignments.
Existing work + one new project
Capture value from what you've already done, then design and run one new project so your packet has both evidence and a fresh win.
What is not included, on purpose
- The community app: that's built for the college membership
- Action & Momentum Meetups: high school runs on one monthly session
- Open peer collaboration outside your cohort
That's why high school costs less than the college membership. Fewer moving parts, one clear track, and a price that stays easy to say yes to.
Pricing
Priced to sit under what families already spend on band, club dues, or a season of sport.
Private cohort · start with a group you already trust
Many private cohorts begin when one parent invites students they already know through scouts, 4-H, honor societies, youth sports, church groups, homeschool communities, service organizations, or academic programs.
Familiar peers often mean stronger attendance, more participation, better accountability, and more follow-through. Families get one invoice, a dedicated monthly video session, summer support included, and a shared experience they move through together.
- Up to 15 students
- $1,200/ year · $80 per student
- Up to 30 students
- $2,000/ year · $67 per student
Founding cohorts: $750 for up to 15 students
The first 5 cohort organizers lock that rate for two years, in exchange for a testimonial and permission to name the group or organization.
Individual student seat
No group at your school yet? That's fine — join an open monthly cohort on your own. Same curriculum, same summer mentor access at no extra cost, same people cheering you on.
$99/ year
Or $12 a month for the nine program months. Full refund within 30 days of your first session.
College students and recent graduates can currently apply to the free Founding 100 Beta Cohort. High school is priced separately because it's one meetup a month and no community app.
When you graduate, it carries over
Any cohort student who enrolls in college gets the first three months of the college membership free, and the annual fee credited if they join within 90 days of graduation.
Members under 18 enroll through a parent or guardian.
Applications first, profiles second
You design and run the project first, then turn the evidence into the application packet and public post. Here is how we treat the profile side.
Applications first, profiles second
The main goal is the application packet: a clear story, a real project, and a named reference for college and scholarship materials. The public profile and project post are what admissions officers, scholarship committees, and future mentors see when they look you up afterward.
Safety settings before anything else
Session six starts with privacy controls, who can message you, and what stays visible. The profile is built once you have proof to put on it.
LinkedIn requires you to be 16
If you're under 16, you build exactly the same content as a portfolio document and move it over on your birthday. Nobody sits a month out.
Publishing beats lurking
The strongest thing a student can do on LinkedIn is post about work they actually did. That's month seven, and it's the whole point.
We won't oversell it
Admissions and scholarship readers are not systematically reading LinkedIn, and we don't claim a profile gets you in or wins an award. What it does is make you reachable, connected, and already real by the time internships and first jobs show up.
Optional free starting point
Not sure what your next move should be?
Start by identifying the assets you already have. Most high school students discover they have more people, experiences, and community connections to work with than they realized.
Takes about 3 minutes. No account required.