Common App Strategy & Support™ · Grade 12
The Common App gives you boxes. We figure out what belongs in them.
We ask the right questions until we understand what your student really did, how they contributed, what changed over time, and what an admissions reader would never know from an activity title alone. Then we turn that information into a clear, strategic Common App plan.
Why questions matter
A résumé rarely tells the whole story.
A student may write “lifeguard,” “volunteer,” “babysitter,” “club member,” or “team leader.”
That does not tell us whether they were promoted, how many people they supervised, whether they solved problems, trained others, cared for younger siblings, created something new, or carried responsibilities nobody else sees.
Those details do not appear unless somebody knows to ask for them.
That is where our work begins.
From a Common App Strategy parent
“I highly recommend Heather and Jennifer at LaunchPoint Consulting! This was my first time going through the college application process, and they made everything so much easier. They helped organize my son’s Common App activities and honors, even identifying honors we had overlooked, and emailed me exactly how to enter everything into the Common App.Taylor R. · Google review
They also reviewed and edited his essay and resume and had a one-on-one phone call with my son to get to know him better. They were incredibly detailed, responsive, and helpful. Within just a few days, they helped us get everything across the finish line and made me feel so much more confident about his application. I’m so thankful I reached out to them!”
From a Common App Strategy parent
“Specifically, they were able to ask great questions of my son to uncover deeper information for his activities. They also worked with him on rewording and reorganizing his activities!”Jen H. · Google review
Read Jen’s full review
I wanted to take a moment and thank Heather and Jennifer of LaunchPoint Consulting - College Strategy for their assistance with our Common App! Specifically, they were able to ask great questions of my son to uncover deeper information for his activities. They also worked with him on rewording and reorganizing his activities! He had several similar music related items, and they helped him showcase each one! It is a very valuable service - if you are considering , I recommend! Thank you ladies!
The LaunchPoint process
We keep asking until we understand what the student actually did.
We start with the student's current materials and ask targeted questions until we understand the responsibilities, progression, contribution, context, and details that matter.
What we strategize
Each section has a different job.
We look across the included parts of the Common App so they add information instead of simply repeating one another.
Activities
Ordering, titles, and copy-ready descriptions that communicate responsibility, progression, leadership, contribution, impact, and context.
Honors
What belongs in Honors, how it should be named, and the order that makes the section easiest to understand.
Additional Information
Whether additional context is needed and, when it is, what actually belongs there.
Challenges & Circumstances
When relevant, we help determine what context an admissions reader needs to understand the student's record.
Application Alignment
We look for gaps, repetition, missed context, and places where one section can contribute more effectively to the whole.
What strategy looks like in practice
The details change the recommendation.
Accuracy
The impressive number needed another question.
A student reported 300+ community-service hours. We flagged the total for verification when it appeared some may have been completed before high school.
Ordering
The smaller activity deserved the bigger spot.
An activity with relatively few hours moved much higher once we understood what the student actually did and why the experience mattered.
Context
The hours alone created the wrong impression.
A student's job involved very different commitments during the school year and school breaks. We worked through how to represent the time accurately.
What the questions uncover
The student did more than the first description showed.
Better wording is not the starting point. Better information is.
Lifeguard Supervisor
Kept guests safe, performed rescues and first aid, and supervised other lifeguards.
Progression, scale, leadership, and certification
Promoted after two years, supervised 5–6 lifeguards, carried responsibility for 100+ guests, responded to rescues and first aid, and held CPR/AED/First Aid certification.
Lifeguard Supervisor
Promoted after 2 years; supervise 5–6 lifeguards and safety of 100+ guests; respond to rescues/first aid; CPR/AED/First Aid certified.
What your family receives
A strategy report you can actually use.
Specific recommendations rather than a vague critique.
From a LaunchPoint parent
“Jenny and Heather helped navigate both my daughter and my son through every step of the essay and Common App process. I loved the variety and depth of questions that my kids had to reflect on and answer thoughtfully. I was so impressed by the amount of time spent with my kids throughout this process and the personal investment that Jenny and Heather made in both of them. My son and daughter gained so much clarity, reflection, and confidence through this process.”H. Alvarado · Google review
Common App Strategy & Support™
Your student already did the work. Make sure the application shows it.
We gather the details, ask the questions, make the strategic decisions, and give your family recommendations that can be reviewed and used directly in the Common App.
Clear scope
Focused Common App strategy.
Designed for families who want deeper strategy for the included Common App written sections without broader application consulting.
Questions parents ask
What to expect.
Does my student need to have the Common App completed first?
Do you just rewrite the Activities descriptions?
Can we copy the recommendations into the Common App?
How quickly will we receive the strategy?
Is a meeting required?
Ready to strengthen the Common App?
Purchase Common App SupportQuestions first? Ask Jennifer and Heather
Purchase indicates agreement with the LaunchPoint Consulting LLC Service Agreement.