Build a High School Record Worth Talking About
Course selection, AP strategy, extracurricular planning, and summer programs, aligned with where your student wants to go. We start the work long before any application is due.
Most families realize too late that 8th and 9th grade matter.
By the time a student is filling out college applications, the course record is already written. The APs they took. Or didn’t. The summer they spent wisely, or didn’t. That record was built, year by year, starting in middle school.
"We didn't know she should be taking Pre-Calculus in 9th grade if she wanted to reach AP Calculus BC before graduation. Nobody told us."
— Parent of a 10th grader, Westport CT
That's exactly the kind of thing ConnectPrep is here to prevent. We map out the full high school trajectory: courses, testing, activities, and summers, so nothing important gets missed.
Everything that shapes the record, years before applications open.
Academic advising covers course selection, AP strategy, extracurriculars, and summer programs in grades 8–11. Available online nationwide and in-person across many markets. 500+ students served.
Course Selection Strategy
A personalized 4-year sequence covering Honors, AP, and elective choices, built around your student’s strengths, interests, and target schools. Never a generic checklist.
AP & Honors Planning
We advise which APs are worth taking and which aren’t, based on interests, target schools, and GPA trajectory. Never a formula; always specific to your student.
Extracurricular Development
From scattered activities to a focused, coherent narrative: leadership positions, community initiatives, and passion projects that reflect who your student actually is.
Summer Program Planning
Selective programs at MIT, Johns Hopkins, and Michigan through to local internships and research opportunities. We match the program to the student, not the other way around.
Testing Roadmap
PSAT, SAT, ACT, and APs, sequenced around the academic plan so test prep never crowds out schoolwork. We build the right testing calendar for each student’s grade and goals.
Annual Check-ins & Adjustments
Plans aren’t set-and-forget. We revisit each year to keep everything aligned as your student evolves.
Where Academic Advising Ends and Admissions Counseling Begins
This service covers grades 8 through early 11th. Once a student enters late junior year, the focus shifts to college lists, essays, and applications. That’s our College Admissions Counseling program. Many families work with us through both phases, often starting here and continuing through acceptance.
Portfolio tracks for students with a specific path in mind
Not every student is on the same road. For students pursuing performing arts, music, engineering, computer science, or visual arts, college admissions looks fundamentally different: portfolios, auditions, maker supplements, and discipline-specific deadlines that most counselors have never navigated.
We work alongside these students starting in 8th grade to build the body of work that moves the needle, not just grades and test scores, but the project record, the recorded pieces, the GitHub profile, or the audition reel that specialized programs actually require.
Talk About Your Student’s Track
Performing Arts
Theatre, dance, and musical theatre students face auditions, prescreens, and program-specific video requirements. We help build the reel, resume, and academic narrative that BFA programs at Tisch, CMU, and Northwestern are actually evaluating.
Music
Conservatory applicants (Juilliard, Berklee, Eastman) and music programs within universities follow entirely different timelines. We guide students through recorded submission requirements, live audition strategy, and building a theory and performance record that stands out.
Engineering & Computer Science
MIT, CMU, and Georgia Tech expect applicants to show what they’ve built. We help students develop a maker portfolio: documented projects, GitHub presence, and competition entries that bring their technical passion to life on paper.
Visual Arts & Design
RISD, Parsons, MICA, and design programs at selective universities require 12–20 portfolio pieces that demonstrate technical range, creative voice, and process documentation. We work with students years before SlideRoom opens.
Creative Writing & Film
Writing supplements to programs like Columbia, Barnard, and Sarah Lawrence, plus film portfolios for NYU Tisch and Chapman, require a coherent body of original work built over years, not assembled in senior fall.
Research & STEM Projects
Science fair projects, published research, and Regeneron ISEF entries require years of development. We help students identify research mentors, structure experiments, and present their work in a way that resonates with university admissions committees.
Portfolio building begins in 8th grade. Students pursuing specialized programs often discover this too late. We map the full 4-year arc, the coursework, experiences, and documented work product so the portfolio tells a compelling story by the time it matters. Talk to us early.
Year by year, here's how the work unfolds.
Every student's path is different, but here's what thoughtful academic positioning typically looks like across the high school years.
The Starting Audit
We assess current academic standing, identify any course sequencing decisions to make before high school begins, and flag potential opportunities, like 9th grade math placement, that have long-term implications. This is the best time to catch issues before they become problems.
Building the Foundation Right
Freshman year grades matter more than most students realize. We help students understand that, while also beginning to think about the 4-year arc: which AP sequences make sense, and what activities to pursue with real investment (not just resume-padding).
Calibrating & Accelerating
By sophomore year, we have real data to work with. We review how 9th grade went, make adjustments to the course plan, and begin thinking seriously about summer: pre-college programs, research experiences, or meaningful local initiatives. PSAT scores in fall provide early testing signals.
Positioning for the Transition
Early junior year is the last window of the academic advising phase. We finalize the senior year course plan, review the extracurricular narrative for coherence, and crucially, transition students into the admissions counseling process right as application season starts to take shape.
Not sure where your student stands?
We'll tell you honestly, and for free, in a 30-minute consultation.
Passion Projects That Open Doors
Every project below was conceived, built, and led by a ConnectPrep student, guided by our advisors from idea through execution. Scroll through, filter by category, and click any card for the full story.
Real placements. Real research.
Not resume lines.
Over 12 years we’ve helped students land experiences at some of the most competitive programs in the country. Below is a sample of internships, research placements, and select program admissions our students have earned.
BS/MD & Accelerated Medical
Top-Ranked STEM Programs
Selective Business Schools
Fine & Performing Arts Programs
Highly Selective Liberal Arts
Law, Policy & Global Affairs
What separates thoughtful advising from generic advice.
There’s no shortage of resources telling families what a “strong applicant” looks like. We help your student actually become one.
We know what top colleges actually want. We’ve watched hundreds of students get in.
With a 97% top-choice acceptance rate across our admissions counseling clients, we see the outcomes. We work backwards from what works and apply those insights to every academic plan we build.
Every recommendation is made for your specific student, not a template.
A student aiming for engineering at Georgia Tech needs a different 4-year plan than one aiming for liberal arts at Williams. We don’t give the same advice twice, because no two students are the same.
We’re honest, even when it’s not what families want to hear.
If a student’s current course load is too light for their stated goals, we say so and explain how to fix it. Families come back to us year after year because we give them the truth, not just reassurance.
Family-owned and relationship-driven, in business for over 12 years.
We’re based in Westport, CT, and we serve students nationwide online and in-person across many markets. Many of our clients start in 8th grade and stay through college acceptance. We’re invested in the long game, not a quick transaction.
500+ Five‑Star Reviews
and Counting.
“ConnectPrep has been incredible! I raised my SAT score to a 1580. Bethany showed me how to deconstruct each section of the test. Their resource guides go far beyond anything I received from school. I feel confident as I prepare to apply to UNC, Northwestern, Michigan, Cornell, Columbia, Yale, and Wake Forest.”
“Elena was outstanding, honest, encouraging, and knew exactly how to push my son. He was admitted to Michigan’s Ross School of Business, his first choice, along with UVA, WashU, and NYU Stern. ConnectPrep helped him gain confidence, clarity, and a much better sense of where he belonged.”
“Elena didn’t just teach formulas. She taught me how to think. That’s how I achieved a 730 on the GMAT. Jeremy helped me craft a compelling narrative. Results: Columbia, NYU Stern, Duke Fuqua, Cornell Johnson, and Georgetown McDonough, with scholarships from two of them.”
500+
Five-Star Reviews & Counting
“ConnectPrep did much more than help with applications. They helped my son gain confidence, clarity, and a much better sense of where he belonged.”
— Rajiv N., Ross School of Business (Michigan)
5.0 ★
Thumbtack
Top Pro
Care.com
5.0 ★
Things parents ask us first.
Honest answers — no sales pitch.
When should we start academic advising?
The honest answer: 8th grade is ideal, 9th grade is great, and 10th grade is still very effective. Starting in 11th grade is where you begin to run out of runway for course sequence changes or extracurricular development. The earlier you start, the more options your student has, but we can work meaningfully with students at any stage before late 11th grade.
How is this different from the guidance counselor at school?
School counselors are often managing caseloads of 300–500 students and do a genuinely difficult job. But they can't do the deeply personalized, multi-year planning that an independent advisor can. We know your student individually: their strengths, their goals, their personality. We build a strategy specifically for them. We also stay current on what selective colleges are actually responding to, because we track outcomes across many students every cycle.
My child doesn't know what they want to study yet. Is it still worth starting?
Absolutely — and honestly, this is a perfectly normal place for an 8th or 9th grader to be. Part of what we do is help students explore their interests through coursework, extracurriculars, and summer experiences in a structured way. Most students discover what matters to them through doing, not thinking. A well-built academic plan leaves room for that discovery while still making smart choices in the meantime.
How many APs should my child take?
There’s no single right number. It depends on your student’s school, their academic strengths, and their targets. A student who takes 8 APs but earns Bs in them is not better positioned than a student who takes 5 and earns As. Colleges want to see that students challenged themselves in context of what their school offers, not that they took the most APs possible. We'll look at your student's specific situation and make a recommendation that makes sense for them.
Do you work with students applying to private and boarding schools, or just college?
Both. ConnectPrep offers private and boarding school advising separately, including SSAT prep and application strategy for families considering schools like Exeter, Andover, Choate, and others in the Northeast. If you're deciding between staying in public school vs. applying to a private or boarding school, we can walk through both paths and help you think through the decision clearly.
What's the difference between academic advising and college admissions counseling?
Academic advising focuses on building the record: the courses, activities, and experiences that shape who your student is and how they look on paper, in 8th through early 11th grade. College admissions counseling focuses on presenting that record effectively: choosing the right schools, crafting compelling essays, and navigating applications in late 11th and 12th grade. Many of our families work with us through both phases, which creates a meaningful continuity of support from start to finish.
The best time to build a strong high school record is right now.
Whether your student is in 8th grade or halfway through 10th, we can help. Schedule a free 30-minute consultation and we'll tell you honestly where things stand and what we'd recommend.
Free consultation. No obligation. Online nationwide and in-person across many markets.