Good guidance shouldn’t hinge on what you can pay.
A full Direction Snapshot costs nothing. Premise Plus is $19 a month for a larger monthly allowance. If cost would stop you, apply for a free or reduced-cost Access place.
What private consulting costs.
Some families pay for private admissions consulting. Reported prices, with their sources:
- Private consultant
- The average family who hires a private consultant pays about $6,500, rising to about $15,000 in New York, LA and San Francisco (2025).
Marketplace, Mar 2025 · on Nicole LaPorte’s Town & Country reporting · re-fetched Aug 2026
- One six-year package
- One firm charges $750,000 for a six-year package.
CBS News, Dec 2023 · re-fetched Aug 2026
- Premise Plus
- $19 a month.
Cancel any time.
Private consulting includes time with a human adviser. The plans below are what Premise charges.
Compare the monthly allowances.
Free Starter
$0
resets every month
Best for a first look.
- 1 Direction Snapshot / month
- 30 mentor replies / month
- 1 action experiment / month
- 1 reflection & profile update / month
- Essay Studio & story themes
Premise Plus
$19/ month
cancel any time
Best for staying with it week to week.
- 100 mentor replies / month
- 3 snapshot refreshes / month
- Everything in Free, with more room
- Experiments & profile updates included
Premise is in a small tester phase right now. Plus opens when it ends.
Access Program
$0–5/ month
no documents required
If cost would otherwise stop you.
- 50 mentor replies / month
- 1 snapshot refresh / month
- A short application, no proof of hardship
We read every application ourselves and reply to each one.
More room, the same answers.
- Mentor replies
- Free30 / mo
- Plus100 / mo
- Access50 / mo
- Snapshot refreshes
- Free1 / mo
- Plus3 / mo
- Access1 / mo
Paid plans increase the monthly allowance. The guidance standards stay the same on every plan: none predicts your admissions odds, writes a word of your essay, invents a passion project, or pushes you toward a name.
Cost shouldn’t decide who gets guidance.
Tell us briefly about your situation. We do not ask for documents proving hardship. Asking for support is normal.
No documents
No tax forms, pay stubs, FAFSA, transcripts, or GPA. Just a short form with your situation and a few honest sentences.
Same quality
Access uses the same models and the same monthly meters as Plus, with lower allowances. The guidance standards are the same.
No public label
Your Access status is not shown anywhere public. Ask us when you need it renewed; availability depends on open places.
The rules we hold ourselves to.
Paid plans provide a larger monthly allowance. Everything below is a commitment you can quote back at us.
No pressure to upgrade
We never imply you’ll fall behind by not upgrading. The only reason to pay is wanting more room to keep going.
Access sits next to paid
If cost is a barrier, apply for Access. The guidance standards are the same on every plan.
Clear cancellation
Plus is billed monthly. Cancel any time from your account’s billing page.
No paywalled basics
The free plan needs no payment card. It uses the same guidance standards as Plus, with a monthly allowance.
The free starter is a full first read.
When your invite comes, the first read shows your evidence plainly and ends in one thing to try that week. Free resets every month; upgrade only if you need a larger allowance.