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Waysmith Advisor

Deeply personalized college lists. Your student shares their values and academic history, ranks what matters to them, and works through a guided interview. They end up with balanced lists weighted toward what they care about, with a reason behind every school.

Build a college list

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Fit is the difference between a list that looks good and one that's good for your student.

Most tools rank and filter. Waysmith Advisor works the way I do in 1:1 work. It starts with what your student wants out of their four years, then builds a balanced list of reach, target and likely schools that fit.

Built on my research into 400+ colleges and conversations with admissions colleagues. You don't need to work with me to use it.

APPROACH

How it works

Get interviewed

A conversational Deep Dive draws out who your student is: how they think, what energizes them, what they actually want from college.

Sort what matters

Rank the concrete priorities and the fuzzier values. The list retunes to what your student cares about most.

Get a balanced list

Reach, target and likely schools in the mix you choose. Each comes with a reason it made the cut, and data you won't easily find elsewhere.

Explore each college

Pages rich with detail: who thrives there, cost, location, ease of travel and culture. Enough to get past a first impression.

Adjust and re-run

Change answers, re-weight what matters, and watch the list respond. A living list you keep coming back to, not a one-time export.

what's inside

What's behind each school on your list

A real interview

A conversational interview, values sorting, and fuzzy preferences carefully captured so the list reflects your student in real depth.

What it's really like

Culture and vibe, plus environmental details like walkability, getting home, the political climate. What a school is like to live at.

Reasons you can see

Every school carries a "why it fits," tied back to what your student told us, so you can see the reasoning behind each pick on the list.

Embedded advice

When a tweak makes your list too narrow or cuts otherwise great fits, the app flags it. So you're guided as you adjust and explore.

Costs for your family

Net price for your family's income, need and merit aid, and typical debt. Set a budget and choose whether it guides or filters the list.

What colleges value

What admissions looks for, from the school's published data. Additional hard-to-source details, gathered and sorted in one place.

waysmith advisor app - FAQ

Common questions

Do I have to work with you one-on-one to use Waysmith Advisor?

Not at all. Start with Waysmith Advisor, built to work as a standalone college list-building product. Optionally bring me in whenever you want for a list consult or for full-fledged college admissions counseling.

If I'm a parent or counselor, can I use Waysmith Advisor?

Absolutely! Users select their role when they sign up and can either connect to their student or play the role of a student. This is especially useful if you want to use the tool to generate and suggest lists yourself.

Is it free to use?

It's free to try out. You can complete an intake and generate a list. One college will be randomly unlocked for viewing but in order to see your lists, you'll need to pay. View pricing here.

What types of colleges are covered?

Currently, 400+ 4-year institutions including service academies are covered. Community colleges are excluded. I'm adding dedicated art colleges and music conservatories in 2026, but they are not yet part of the platform.

My student has specific needs. Will this help them or is this more for 'standard' kids?

Mostly, yes, this will help. The point of Waysmith Advisor is that it allows you to get very particular and have your wants and needs taken into account during list generation.