Testimonials About Us

Take the Guesswork Out of 9th Grade, With Expert Answers Every Step of the Way.

The Strategic Admissions Advice system gives your family a clear, month-by-month plan and direct access to expert answers, for your 9th grader and for you. No jargon. No guesswork.

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The Foundation System

Finally, Someone to Ask.

The hardest part of the college process isn't the information. It's not knowing who to ask. With the Foundation System, you get real answers from a college admissions expert, plus everything your family needs, every month.

Everything Your Family Gets, Every Month
Personalized Answers Within 72 Hours
  • Ask your real questions about your teen
  • Get expert answers fast
  • Stop spiraling online
  • Make decisions with confidence
Monthly Live Q&A
  • Live expert guidance
  • Parent and student support, separately
  • Timely monthly topics
  • Real answers specific to you, not random advice
Parent Lessons
  • Know what matters this month
  • Ask better questions
  • Support without hovering
  • Stay calm and informed
Student Lessons
  • Built for your student's grade
  • Clear priorities for the month
  • Practical next steps
  • Less confusion, more direction

What Nobody Tells You About 9th Grade

The college process doesn't start in junior year. It starts now, and most families don't realize what freshman year sets in motion until it's too late to change it:

  • The GPA that starts this semester appears on every application your student submits.
  • The activities they begin now are the start of a record, and beginning early matters.
  • The habits they build this year, good or bad, are the ones they carry into the high-stakes years.
  • Most families are working with a counselor responsible for 300 students and advice that's either alarming or vague.

What's missing is a clear, trusted plan, with an expert you can actually ask.

How It Works

3 Steps to a Real Plan
1
Enroll

You enroll as the parent. Your student automatically gets their own separate login and student track.

2
Your Content Unlocks Monthly

A new module opens on the 1st of each month for both of you, with a bonus resource around the 15th. Your first module goes live August 1, 2026.

3
Show Up and Get Support

Join the live monthly coaching calls with Shereem, and email a college planning coach anytime with questions about your student.

What We Help Your Family Handle Before It Becomes a Problem:

The Foundation System gives students and parents separate guidance, so everyone knows what to do, what to watch, and what comes next.

STUDENT TRACK

  • Protect the GPA early

  • Build better school habits

  • Choose courses with purpose

  • Start activities the right way

  • Explore interests before pressure builds

  • Understand testing without panic

  • Use summer wisely

  • Enter sophomore year ready

 

PARENT TRACK

  • Know what matters now

  • Support without hovering

  • Ask better questions

  • Spot problems early

  • Reduce college anxiety at home

  • Understand courses, activities, and testing

  • Plan smarter summers

  • Guide your student with confidence

Do not wait until junior year to find out what freshman year should have been.

Reserve Your Spot →

Live Every Month

A Real Expert, in the Room, Every Month

Every month, your student joins a live group coaching call with other Class of 2030 students. Every month, you join your own separate parent coaching call. Shereem is in the room for both. This is not a recorded webinar. It's a live conversation, every month.

Students' coaching call
Parents' coaching call
LIVE
Shereem

Choose Your Path

The Right Level of Support for Your Family

From going it alone to real expert support every month, here is where the Foundation System fits.

Do It Yourself
Free
but you are on your own
  • No expert to ask when you are stuck
  • No system and no month-by-month plan
  • Piecing it together from conflicting advice online
What most families default to.
Recommended
The Foundation System
$49
per month, cancel anytime
  • Direct access to ask an expert your questions
  • Monthly modules for you and your student
  • Live monthly group coaching with Shereem
Enroll Now →

About Strategic Admissions Advice

Strategic Admissions Advice was created to help families move through the college admissions process with clarity and confidence.
Led by author, admissions expert and father of teens, Shereem Herndon-Brown, Strategic Admissions Advice brings nearly two decades of experience guiding students and parents from high school planning through college acceptance. Shereem is a former school counselor, former English teacher, speaker, and author who understands the college process from every angle: the student’s story, the parent’s concern, the school’s role, and the college’s evaluation process.
 
His work is grounded in one belief: families deserve clear, timely, expert guidance before the process becomes overwhelming.
Shereem is the co-author of Powerful College Admission Essays: A Guide to Telling Your Story, and his approach combines deep admissions knowledge with practical, parent and student friendly direction.

The 9th Grade Roadmap gives expert advice on:

  • How to protect the GPA from the start
  • How to understand course selection and sequencing
  • How to build stronger academic habits
  • How to think about activities without overscheduling
  • How to support your teen without hovering
  • How to avoid the mistakes families often do not see until junior year

Most families do not need more random advice.They need a roadmap.That is why this guide exists.Most families wait until 11th grade and say, “I wish we had started sooner.”

Featured In

NYT, Washington Post & Chicago Tribune

Published Author

on college admissions

Nearly 25 Years

as an educator

Georgetown

Former Admissions Officer

Former School Counselor

Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, Yale

Testimonials

Real Families. Real Results.
“

We used Shereem's services to guide our three daughters through the college application process, and his expertise was absolutely invaluable.

Parent of Lehigh, Tulane & Vanderbilt students
“

What would we do without Shereem! He provided support every step of the way, from discussing compelling essay ideas to selecting the right schools and navigating the various portals.

Parent of Northwestern & Spelman students
“

Without their game changing guidance, we would have been lost. Now, my son has a list, an essay, and a plan. [He] is on his way to a fantastic university, with scholarships in hand!

Michael T. · Pomona College

Start Your Freshman's Foundation Today

The 9th Grade Foundation System
Class of 2030.

$49/month, billed monthly.

Cancel anytime.

Monthly Subscription

$49

Best Value

  • 10 monthly student modules.
  • 10 separate parent modules.
  • Live monthly group coaching for students and parents.
  • Mid-month bonus resources.
  • Automatic continuation into the 10th Grade Momentum System, no re-enrollment.

Join families starting their student's high school journey with a real system instead of guesswork.

Enroll in the 9th Grade Foundation System: $49/Month →

Frequently Asked Questions:

9th Grade Only Happens Once.

Four years from now, your student will be submitting college applications. The families who look back and say "I wish we'd started sooner" waited until junior year.

You don't have to. Strategy, support, and live coaching, built for your student and for you.

Start the Foundation System: $49/Month →