The earliest (and best) time to enroll your child is after 8th-grade graduation (June), so they have the whole summer to prepare for high school. It's important to start off on the right foot. When it comes to service academies, ROTC scholarships, and highly-selective colleges, preparation starts early. These programs are competitive, and waiting until mid-junior year is the kiss of death. I've seen it hundreds of times. By the time most students begin to engage in the process, it's too late. They can't go back in time to take different classes, attend Boys/Girls State, take leadership roles, and make the most of their summers. "Early and often" are the keys to building a competitive profile. If your child is already in 9th, 10th, or 11th grade, they should still enroll. It just means they may have some catching up to do.

(1) the cost of college has spiraled out of control. Most private, highly-selective, 4-yr colleges now cost over $400K and public colleges close to $200K.

(2) traditional colleges have adopted ideological agendas that don't resonate with large swaths of the country. Many students are seeking educational experiences devoid of political tension, censoring of speech, and riotous protests. 

(3) students (and their parents) are no longer interested in taking out $150K - 200K in student loan debt to attend college, particularly if they graduate with non-commercially viable majors like Spanish Literature, Ethnic Studies, or Philosophy.

(4) the benefits of service academies and ROTC programs cannot be denied: (e.g. free (or near-free) leadership training, STEM-focus, guaranteed job for 5 years, international travel, real-world experience, less political tension and turmoil). 

(5) the ability to get into highly-selective colleges (e.g. Ivies) increases for students who are interested in the college's ROTC program

Phil Black is—in my humble opinion—the smartest, most innovative, and most inspiring college consultant in the world. Phil’s superior results speak for themselves. Who else in this field has demonstrated the ability & know-how to gain acceptance into the most exclusive universities (Yale, HBS), competitive professions (Goldman), elite military ranks (Navy Seal) & premier entrepreneurial showcases 2x (Shark Tank) WHILE guiding his own sons to open doors at Yale, US Naval Academy, Harvard, Stanford..? Phil’s insights were invaluable in my daughter gaining early athletes admission to her top choice Stanford. Phil has this unrivaled success because he is constantly & successfully thinking outside the fish bowl (with an ocean of ingenious insight), which is essential in such a hyper-competitive landscape, while providing uncommon wisdom in a kind, compassionate and often witty, down-to-earth way. Through his podcasts, weekly pep talks & consulting time, Phil has motivated all three of my children and me into lifestyle choices that have significantly enhanced our lives far beyond the college prep process. He inspires a zest and joy in the pursuit of our best selves.

- Mary N.

Over the past 12 years, I have helped hundreds of students get accepted to service academies, ROTC programs, and highly-selective colleges. Some students I know via my online program and others I know more closely because they have requested 1-on-1 consultations with me or have been part of my private client option. I have helped students get into every service academy (e.g. USNA, USMA, USAFA, USCGA, USMMA) as well as ROTC programs (all branches) at schools like Princeton, MIT, Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke, UPENN Berkeley, and many others. I have also helped my sons get opportunities to attend Princeton, Yale, Harvard, Berkeley, Stanford, UCLA, USNA, USAFA, and others.

It's very common for teenagers to be unsure about their future - especially with something as unconventional as military service academies or even ROTC experiences. If there is a spark of interest, I highly recommend supporting them with a membership. Starting in 9th grade, the weekly videos slowly introduce members to the concepts of military service, service academies, ROTC, pros/cons, benefits, etc. If the spark doesn't take hold, no harm no foul. If the spark turns into a flame, then they are off to the races with a big head start.

Today, starting early is critical whether you are applying to service academies, ROTC programs, or highly-selective colleges. Ask any senior (or parent of a senior) who has just been through the admissions process. It will be their number one piece of advice.

Because of the competitive nature of these programs, students need to get there ducks in a row early.

Remember, applications are submitted at the beginning of senior year. If you wait to start thinking about your future until the middle of your junior year (as most do), you will only have 4-6 months left before your applications are due. 75% of your body of work will have already been spoken for. This is where most students go wrong. They wait too long.

Freshman year matters. Your classes, grades, extracurricular activities, summer experiences, leadership opportunities - they all matter.

Sophomore year matters even more. By the time sophomore year is over, 66% of your high school career is complete (as it relates to the applications).

The most successful students lay out a 3-year plan (fresh, soph, junior years) and then execute the plan. ServeWell Academy gives you all of the support, milestones, tips, tricks, and long-term vision to make it happen. 

One of my specialties is understanding what it takes to succeed in highly competitive programs. I have deep personal experience in this regard (e.g. Yale, Harvard, Goldman Sachs, Navy SEAL, Shark Tank 2X, etc.), and have built a platform that helps motivated teenagers find similar success. I know what these programs are looking for, I know how to prepare students for the journey, and I have a proven track record that it works. A lot of the success hinges on whether a student begins the process early enough.  

I was first introduced to PrepWell Academy by a fellow mom who was listening to the free podcast that Phil releases each week. It wasn’t long before I recognized that the college landscape had changed tremendously since my husband and I went through the college application process. My husband and I agreed that we wanted our daughter to sign up for PrepWell Academy the summer of her freshman year so that she could be purposeful about the courses and extracurricular activities she chose.

In the freshman year, I found it instrumental to know that the body of work that our daughter would be presenting to colleges started here. Also, with respect to extracurricular activities, I appreciated Phil’s wisdom about connecting these activities to tell a story about our daughter’s interests and strengths rather than collecting or dabbling in random activities.

As our daughter listened to Phil‘s podcast each week, she was intrigued by Phil‘s presentation of military scholarships. She liked the idea of a free world-class college education and a job waiting for her upon graduation. When we toured a campus and she saw (handsome) ROTC cadets in uniform, she said, “Oh mom, that’s what I want to do!“

My husband and I knew nothing about military scholarships. So that was when we decided to engage Phil for private college counseling because he had personal success with military scholarships both for himself and for his sons. However, Phil did not have experience with anyone with ADHD applying, as this is a disqualifying medical condition. We appreciated that Phil was open-minded about this limitation and supported our daughter’s service aspirations.

There is a surprising amount of work that goes into applying for colleges, but even more so for military scholarships. We were so thankful that it was Phil who was setting deadlines and holding our daughter’s feet to the fire through the process rather than us.

Phil played a large role in coaching our daughter through her essays. In my opinion, college app essays are harder for students to write compared to a history paper, for example, because there is so much riding on them, and students have to sell themselves in a unique and memorable way. It was torturous for our daughter; nevertheless, Phil had a consistent and persistent way of keeping her on task and pushing her to express herself better. She definitely became a stronger writer because of Phil’s editorial feedback.

If you only take one thing from this review, be sure to take Phil’s advice to take the SAT in the fall of junior year. The summer before junior year is the perfect time to study for it, also our daughter was optimally prepared to take the PSAT that qualified her for National Merit recognition that occurs the fall of junior year. We could feel the angst of students who were still trying to improve their score in the fall of their senior year while also writing their college application essays. Don’t be that family!

Phil met multiple times with our daughter to go over the timeline and the tasks. He also met with her several times to help her succeed in the fitness tests required for military scholarships - for example, showing her techniques for throwing the basketball and strengthening her pull-ups.

As parents, we highly valued that Phil was the one who was nagging our daughter to get her tasks done for college applications. This preserved the quality of our relationship with our daughter through this stressful process. When we experienced setbacks, we appreciated his reassurance, particularly because he had been through the process several times. Having Phil as a counselor provided us with peace of mind which can be hard to come by through the college admission process.

And, finally, we were overjoyed with the outcome! Our daughter was accepted to Duke, which had a 5.1% acceptance rate this year. Thank you so much, Phil!!

- Stacy W.

I am available if you'd like to connect. 

Basic members can always schedule 1-on-1 sessions with me at any time ($300/hr).

VIP members can also schedule 1-on-1 sessions with me for a discounted consulting fee of $150/hr. There are no "packages" that require a predetermined (or minimum) number of consulting hours. Some families connect with me quarterly, others monthly, and some weekly during peak admissions periods. It's completely up to you.

VIP members have the opportunity to chat with me on our monthly coaching calls.

Both. Ideally, your child is fully-engaged with the weekly videos, journal, quizzes, and to-dos. Hopefully, they are mature and disciplined enough to follow the plan. However, many (many) parents follow along to make sure that their kids are tracking. Parents don't normally watch every video or complete every task, but they keep a high-level awareness about the timeline and milestones. I update VIP parents about what they need to know in our monthly calls.  In my experience, the most successful results come from a collaborative effort that involves child, parents, ServeWell videos, and me.  

I would say the best ratio of engagement would be 70% child and 30% parent. The process can be so overwhelming, that it's hard to expect a teenager to handle all of it without some parental support.

With $500,000 on the line, most parents are willing to pay attention to the process, and bring me in when necessary.

It depends on the student, parents, time of year, and other circumstances.

I've worked with motivated students with engaged parents who have only booked private consultations with me 4X over their 3 years in the program. 

Other families have booked 30+ hours of private consultation with me over 18 months.

It depends on: (1) when you start, (2) your budget, (3) parents' time, willingness, or ability to help, (4) student's ability to follow directions and execute plan, (5) how close you are to winning a $500K scholarship, (6) my availability.

Some students follow the video lessons, journal, and quizzes closely and just need a little tune-up here and there to stay on track. Others prefer my help on nearly everything (e.g. extracurricular activities, course selection, interview prep, essay brainstorming/editing, athletic recruiting, highlight videos, scholarship negotiations, project management, building a college list, how to maximize fitness test, how to appeal a negative medical result from DoDMERB, etc.)

The preparation for service academy and ROTC programs are quite similar. There may be a few lessons that are specific to service academies as there will be lessons quite specific for ROTC. There are also many lessons that compare/contrast the two. This is definitely the course for your if you are considering ROTC (even if service academies are off the table). I spend inordinate time on the strategies and tactics to help you maximize your chances of landing ROTC scholarships at your top choice colleges.

Remember, earning an ROTC scholarship is just the beginning. Students also need to get into a college that has an ROTC program and that meets their academic, social, and cultural goals. My 12 years of experience as a college admissions counselor helps tremendously in this regard.

I've been in the business long enough to know that if you give a student (or parent) a list of 100 tasks to accomplish over a 6-12 month period, they will have a hard time keeping up. It's too much information at one time -- just too much to digest. This huge data dump leaves families feeling energized for a few days, until they have to figure out when and how to actually get these jobs done. They lose their long list, forget to schedule tasks, lose track of what needs to get done when, and miss major milestones. I find it much better to deliver exactly what the students needs to know, at just the right time. Not too early, not too late.

Solution? Weekly check-ins with perfectly-timed tasks. This makes the process far more manageable and less stressful.

I bring a wide range of experiences that cover nearly every facet of this process: (a) three children recently going through service academy / ROTC / highly-selective college process, and one student going through the process currently (high school), (b) 12 years of college admissions experience, (c) military experience (Navy SEAL Officer), (4) track record of students admitted to all service academies and dozens of highly-selective colleges, (5) personal track record of high performance.

Flexibility. We meet you where you are -- at an appropriate time, at an affordable price, and with the amount of support that you deem necessary. Most families enroll as VIPs in 9th or 10th grade, and then request 1-on-1 sessions (as needed) whenever they need the extra support.

At the extremes, we have members who enroll as juniors at the "Basic Level" and never use any other services (their investment is $20/month for two years). On the other end of the spectrum, we have students who have followed us since 7th grade, enrolls as VIPs in 9th grade, and become private clients in 10th grade (their investment over 4 years can be over $15,000). Either way, no forced contracts or mandatory hours.

Enroll. Click on this enroll link and decide which program suits you best. Once you register yourself (parent), and your child, you will each get an email with log-in credentials. Log-in to the portal to find your Library of weekly videos. Go back and review some older videos (time permitting) or start right where you are. If you are a VIP, you'll soon receive a journal with which your child can follow along with the weekly videos. As a VIP, you also can join me every month for our group coaching call. And, of course, if you want any 1-on-1 advice, feel free to sign up for a consulting session.

Not quite. Starting in junior year is not ideal, but I've worked with plenty of motivated juniors who have recovered quickly. It will take a lot of effort, but by no means is it too late. Enroll in one of our programs and get on track right away. You might also benefit from a few 1-on-1 sessions to make sure you are focusing on the right things.

Of course. I've been helping with students' traditional college applications (Common App) for 12 years. Remember, an ROTC scholarship is only as good as the college you attend. This college search and application process is a beast unto itself.  The ROTC scholarship is but a small piece of the bigger process of finding the right "fit" college and understanding where you will be most competitive. If ROTC is one of your primary options (which it should be), you would probably benefit from expert advice in this arena. 

The Basic and VIP plans are pay-as-you-go monthly subscriptions. Cancel at any time. 

1-on-1 consulting is also pay-as-you-go on a per-session basis.

Private program is paid in two installments.

Everything your child will need to know to navigate this process. We start early with building strong study habits, creating extracurricular activity strategies, and getting the most from summer jobs. We build up to writing essays, completing applications, and preparing for mock interviews. I used real-world examples of successful applications to top colleges, ROTC programs, and service academies. Your child will see actual winning applications, essays, and resumes.

I use many personal stories, experiences, and anecdotes from my own life as a college athlete, Yale student, Goldman Sachs Investment Banker, Harvard Business School student, Navy SEAL, firefighter, entrepreneur, Shark Tank contestant, father, coach, and husband. I also include stories about my sons' journeys on their way to Yale (ROTC) and the Naval Academy (recruited athlete).

The Journal is a tangible accountability tool. Instead of students simply listening to the weekly video lessons passively, the Journal encourages them to engage with the content, answer a few questions, and make some decisions. It helps turn the general into the specific. And, of course, the act of writing things down further imprints aids in the learning process.

The monthly quiz is our way of holding students accountable for a baseline level of understanding of the material. With no check in place, it's easy for students to simply go through the motions and not really pay attention to the messages in the video. A short, lightweight quiz at the end of the month keeps everyone honest. The quizzes are short (10 questions) and test basic concepts that the student should know at any given point in the process.

VIP students who score at least 80% on 12 consecutive quizzes earn a complimentary consulting session with me.