The College Crash Course

What you get

Every part of the application. Covered.

Chapters 01 & 05

Build the right school list, the first time

Learn how to use the Net Price Calculator before you fall in love with a school your family can’t afford. Understand what selectivity means for your profile and build a list you can actually execute on.

Chapters 03 & 04

Raise your SAT score, and your ACT score

3,000+ real-test-style questions sorted by section, topic, question type, and difficulty. Drill exactly what you’re weak at, with every answer explained, including why the wrong choices are wrong. The same prep works for the ACT.

Chapter 08

Write an essay that actually sounds like you

A real brainstorm framework, a worked example from one of our founders, and the craft principles that separate essays that work from essays that don’t. No filler, no generic tips, no “show don’t tell.”

Chapters 06 & 07

Decode the Common App, section by section

Every field explained: what the question is actually asking, what admissions officers are reading for, and where most students leave points on the table without realizing it.

Chapter 09

Build an activities section that works

Even without national awards or elite credentials. Learn how to frame your real experiences so an admissions officer stops and pays attention. This is where most students undersell themselves most.

Chapters 10 & 11

Lock in rec letters, supplements & every deadline

Who to ask, how to ask, and what to give them. How to write supplements that add something instead of restating your essay. Plus a wall-poster timeline so nothing falls through the cracks senior year.

Also included

4 fillable worksheets: School List Builder, Common App Essay Brainstorm, Activities Planner, and a full Application Timeline. Print them, fill them in, keep them next to your laptop all year.

SAT Practice Tool

Stop practicing “math.”
Practice what you miss.

3,000+ real-test-style questions, every one tagged by section, topic, question type, and difficulty. Don’t grind generic problem sets. Drill Hard quadratics, Medium transitions, whatever keeps costing you points. And every answer is broken down, including exactly why the wrong choices are wrong.

Filter by section, topic, question type, and difficulty to hit your exact weak spot
Questions that look and read exactly like the real SAT
Every wrong answer decoded, not just marked incorrect
Math and Reading & Writing, fully covered
Doubles as ACT prep: same skills, same content

Already have access? Open the practice tool →

Section 2, Module 1: Math 12 of 22

Algebra · Medium

In a geometric sequence, the first term is 4 and the common ratio is 3. What is the sum of the first five terms?

A 364

B 484

C 324

D 244

✓ Correct. Sum = 4(3⁵−1)/(3−1) = 4(242)/2 = 484. The formula is a(rⁿ−1)/(r−1).

Why this exists

Most students figure this out alone. Yours doesn’t have to.

The students who get into competitive schools don’t just work harder. They know things most people don’t: what the Common Data Set is, how to use the Net Price Calculator before falling in love with a school their family can’t afford, how admissions offices actually read a file from a high school they’ve never heard of. That information is out there. It’s just scattered across private counselors who charge $200 an hour, Reddit threads full of contradictory advice, and YouTube channels made by people who got into Harvard and assume you have a lot in common with them.

We didn’t have any of that. We had the internet, some library books, and a lot of figuring it out. We got into Emory, UVA, and Penn State, from a town most admissions officers had never heard of, at a high school most of them had never seen. Nobody was pushing us to think bigger. We did it ourselves.

This guide is what we wish we’d had. Not generic advice. What we actually did, what we actually learned, and, critically, what we’d do differently if we had to start over.

The math

Cheaper than a counselor. Sharper than a prep book.

What students typically pay

Private college counselor (10–20 hrs) $1,500–$6,000

SAT prep course $500–$2,000

Generic prep book $20–$40

College Crash Course: guide + SAT tool + worksheets $49

Written by people from your situation. Not people who got lucky at private school.

A private counselor runs into the thousands. A generic prep book costs less, but it’s written by so-called experts who last applied to college decades ago and have no idea what your situation looks like. We’re the option in between that should already exist: priced like a book, but written by three students who just did this, from exactly where you’re starting. More specific than any off-the-shelf guide, and a fraction of the cost of everything above it. Chapter one to the final deadline, for $49.

Get the Guide — $49 →

What students say

Students we built it for.

The value this course gave me genuinely rivaled my $2,500 tutor.

Instead of being overwhelmed, I actually have a plan and know what I need to do next.

The application process doesn’t seem nearly as intimidating anymore.

From early readers of the guide. Some are friends of the founders or received free access in exchange for honest feedback.

Pricing

Simple. No subscription. No upsells.

Three people from rural Pennsylvania who figured out how to get in.

We’ll be straight with you: we don’t think a transcript is what gets you in. This whole guide is the argument for why it isn’t. But you’re trusting three people you’ve never met with the most important application of your life, so here’s who we are on paper, too.

New Castle, PA → Atlanta, GA

Grayson Feury

Emory University

Emory · #24 in the nation

Went through the whole admissions process from a high school most admissions officers had never seen, and spent it learning how admissions offices actually read an application, then wrote this guide so you don’t have to start from zero.

New Castle, PA → Charlottesville, VA

Matthew Sopko

University of Virginia

UVA · #26 in the nation #4 top public university

Got into UVA, one of the most selective public universities in the country, from a small Pennsylvania town with no name recognition and no connections. His application was built on his real experiences, framed honestly and specifically. It worked because it was authentic, not because it looked impressive on paper.

New Castle, PA → State College, PA

Mark Daugherty

Penn State · Smeal College of Business

Penn State · top 30 public Smeal · top 25 undergrad business

Penn State’s Smeal College of Business. Built his file around what he knew and what he genuinely cared about. No inflated activities, no manufactured credentials. He thinks most students undersell themselves because nobody’s ever explained what admissions offices are actually reading for. That’s what he’s here to fix.

All three of us earned the College Board National Rural & Small Town Recognition Award, given to students from exactly the kind of place this guide is written for.

School rankings via U.S. News & World Report, 2026.

Questions

FAQ

Is $49 worth it?

A single hour with a private college counselor costs $150–$300. This guide was written by three people who went through the exact same process your student is about to face, and it covers everything from chapter one to the final deadline. If it helps your student build one better school list, write one better essay, or avoid one costly mistake, it paid for itself many times over.

What’s actually in the guide?

11 chapters covering every part of the process: building your school list, understanding financial aid and the Net Price Calculator, SAT prep strategy, the Common App section by section, writing your personal statement, the activities section, recommendation letters, short answers, and supplements. You also get the SAT practice tool (3,000+ questions with full answer breakdowns), 4 fillable worksheets (school list builder, essay brainstorm, activities planner, and application timeline), and unlisted video walkthroughs.

Who is this guide for?

We were small-town students, but this guide is really for anyone going through admissions without a lot of built-in advantages, whether you didn’t have many opportunities in high school, or you had them and nobody ever showed you how to frame them. And because the three of us just went through this exact process, we’re closer to it than a counselor who applied twenty years ago. We know what admissions offices are reading for right now, not what worked a generation ago.

I’m a parent, not a student. Is this for me?

Yes. A lot of parents will buy this for their kids. It’s written to be readable by both. The school list strategy, the financial aid walkthrough, and the timeline appendix are especially useful for parents to work through alongside their student, so you know what questions to ask and what milestones to watch for all year.

What if applications have already started?

Buy it now. The essay chapter, the activities section, and the recommendation letter strategy are all relevant mid-application. The SAT material is useful any time before test day. There’s something actionable at every stage, and you keep access permanently.

What’s your refund policy?

All sales are final. Everything we sell is a digital product with instant delivery, so we can’t take it back once you have it. That’s exactly why this page tells you precisely what’s inside before you buy: 11 chapters, the practice tool, the worksheets, the videos. If you have a question we haven’t answered, email us before purchasing and we’ll give you a straight answer. Read the full refund policy →

How do I get access after buying?

Right after purchase you’ll receive a login code by email. Use it to access the web-based guide and the SAT practice tool. Everything in one place, lifetime access. You can print any section you want on paper. If you bought the $199 tier, you’ll also receive a scheduling link for your essay review with Grayson.

Contact

Have a question?

Reach out directly. Whether it’s about the guide, the essay review, or anything else, we’ll get back to you.

connect.collegecrashcourse@gmail.com