College strategy for every family

A $50 college plan that's better than a $10,000 counselor

A personalized college strategy for your family.
School list, financial plan, honest advice about what's realistic.

Build Your Strategy → See a sample plan →

$50, one time. No subscription. No upsell. Your plan today, not next semester.

The Problem

College strategy quality shouldn't depend on family income

$310K / year
Two-parent household in the suburbs. Both parents are professionals. Sophomore targeting elite schools. They can afford to explore every option.
✓ $10K private counselor, full strategy, every advantage
$48K / year
Single mom in San Antonio. First-gen junior with strong grades. School counselor has 500 students. Mom's Googling "how to pay for college" at midnight.
✗ No counselor, no roadmap, no one explaining CSS waivers or QuestBridge

The information asymmetry is the injustice. Scaffold closes the gap.
Same data. Same rigor. Same honest advice. $50.

A scaffold isn't the building. It's the structure you put up around the building while it's going up. It holds things steady, gives you something to stand on, and comes down when the work is done.

Your student is the building.
This plan is the scaffolding.

Three steps. Twenty minutes of your time. Twenty pages of strategy.

1

Tell us about your family

A guided form covering your student, your schools, your finances, your priorities, and what matters to you. Takes about 20 minutes. No jargon.

2

We build your strategy

Your answers meet a verified database of 1,492 schools: real cost and admissions data, 98 honors programs, and state aid programs for all 50 states. The questions a $10,000 counselor would ask, answered with data. Every number in your plan is grounded in real data, not AI guesswork.

3

Read, share, revisit

Your plan lives at a unique URL. Scroll through it, share it with your co-parent or counselor, and come back to it as things change.

Get Your Plan →

Read a real Scaffold plan. 20+ pages of personalized strategy.

Every plan opens with a three-minute Executive Summary. The other nineteen pages are there when you need them.

Milwaukee, WI. Single mom earning $62K/year. First-gen sophomore with a 4.0, a counselor with 600 students, and no roadmap.

Read Sofia's Plan →
Get a Plan Like This for Your Student →
What You Get

Not generic advice. A plan built for your student.

Every Scaffold plan includes six sections, personalized to your family's specific schools, finances, and priorities.

Developmental Roadmap. Grade-by-grade plan through 12th grade, with course tables and "What Not to Do" at every stage.
College List (8-12 Schools). Reaches, targets, and safeties with honest rationale, built around your finances and geography.
Application Materials. Activities list, honors projections, essay angles by school, rec letter plan, and senior year timeline.
Admissions and Financial Simulation. A 10,000-scenario Monte Carlo model of your student's admission odds and what you'll actually pay, not the sticker price.
Financial Floor. Your cheapest good outcome identified and built up from. The floor is not a consolation prize.
Hidden Scholarships. Named merit awards, honors programs, QuestBridge, National Merit, and state-specific programs for all 50 states. The gap is "I didn't know this existed."

One price. No surprises.

The same strategic rigor that wealthy families get from $10K counselors. For fifty dollars.

$50
One-time. Your plan forever.
Build Your Strategy →

Private college counselors charge $5,000-15,000 for comparable planning. Subscription advice sites charge monthly for generic tips. Scaffold is $50, once, built on your family's actual numbers.

Questions

Is this just ChatGPT?
ChatGPT answers the questions you ask. The trouble is the ones you don't. Most families never hear about QuestBridge until the deadline has passed. They don't know their state might pay full tuition for grades their kid already has, or that the school they wrote off as unaffordable can cost less than the one down the road. You can't ask about what you've never heard of. A $10,000 counselor is paid to know those questions. Scaffold asks all of them, answers with what 1,492 schools actually report, and hands you the plan for $50.
Are the Monte Carlo numbers real?
Yes. Every plan runs an actual Monte Carlo simulation (10,000 scenarios) using published admission rates, institutional financial aid policies, and adjustments for your student's projected profile. The numbers are informed estimates for financial planning, not guarantees.
What if my student's interests change?
They will. The plan is designed as a scaffold, not a script. The academic foundation stays relevant regardless of interests. The extracurricular threads adapt. The financial strategy holds no matter what. When things change, the strategy is built to flex with them.
Does this replace a college counselor?
For most families, it replaces the need for one. For families who do have a counselor, it gives you a strategic framework to make those conversations more productive. The one thing Scaffold can't do is sit across the table from your student and have a conversation. If your student needs that personal touch, a counselor is worth it. But the strategy and data analysis? That's what Scaffold does better and cheaper.
What about financial aid strategy specifically?
Every plan includes FAFSA/CSS Profile guidance, net price estimates at your income level, merit scholarship identification, state-specific programs (like Georgia's Zell Miller or Texas's automatic admission), and a "financial floor" analysis. For divorced or non-custodial parent situations, the plan addresses which forms different schools require and how to handle non-custodial parent waivers.
Can I get a refund?
If you're not satisfied with the quality of your plan, reply to the email that delivered it within 7 days for a full refund. No questions asked.
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Twenty minutes of your time. $50. Your plan today.