Helping families plan for college since 2018
Knowing what colleges you like
is only the beginning.
CollegeHound helps your student turn their plans into complete, competitive applications. Scout shows your family what deserves attention next.
The free workspace keeps colleges, applications, essays, recommendations, deadlines, and reusable student information together in one place your whole family can see.
Free account · No credit card · Scout is optional
Class of 2027
The Common App is open. Most Early Action and Early Decision deadlines fall between October 15 and November 1, and the FAFSA is expected around October 1. The catch-up plan · This year's essay prompts
Free CollegeHound. Everything your family needs.
You are not doing anything wrong. It is just hard to help when your student feels overwhelmed, you feel anxious, and nobody has a clear picture of what is actually done.
Without CollegeHound
- × Test scores in an email somewhere
- × A college list that hasn't been updated since March
- × Essay drafts in three different Google Docs
- × Parent trying not to nag
- × Student shutting down because the process feels too big
- × No shared plan for what needs attention next
With CollegeHound
-
One shared workspace. Both of you see it.
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Colleges, scores, essays, activities, scholarships, and deadlines in one place.
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Scout helps your family see what is done, what is missing, and what to focus on next.
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So the conversation can move from “Did you do this?” to “Let's look at it together.”
Start with the free CollegeHound.
Keep colleges, scores, essays, activities, scholarships, and deadlines in one place.
Free forever. No credit card.
Every family needs to answer four questions.
Most tools answer the first one. Start with the free CollegeHound. Add Scout when you want help with all four.
Where should we apply?
Scout recommends schools based on your student's actual GPA, scores, interests, and preferences, and says which are reaches, targets, and safeties, with reasoning. Not a generic list from the internet.
What makes this application stronger?
Scout reviews your student's activities, awards, classes, and essay ideas and shows where the application can say more. It helps find the story. It does not write the essay.
What needs to happen next?
Scout looks at your student's list, deadlines, recommenders, and what is already done, then says what deserves attention this week. Not a generic checklist.
Can we afford it?
Track scholarships, understand financial aid, and compare costs. Scout helps you find money you might be missing.
CollegeHound Plus
Meet Scout. The advisor who actually
knows your student.
Organization without direction is just a really tidy pile of stress.
Scout reads your student's profile – classes, scores, activities, colleges, and goals – then helps your family figure out what to do next.
Not a generic student. Yours.
Scout
You
Scout
1. Lock down the college list and know the earliest deadline. You have six schools tracked. If Jordan is applying Early Action to UNC Chapel Hill, that October 15 deadline is 43 days out and drives everything else.
2. Ask recommenders formally, this week. Jordan has three contacts in the binder. If the formal ask hasn't happened yet, do it now. Teachers get flooded with requests by late September, and an early ask means a better letter with more time for revision.
3. Start the Common App personal essay. Most of your schools use it. Jordan should pick a prompt and get a rough draft down in September.
That's the September sprint. Does this match what Jordan is already working on?
Scout knew this because the student's information was already in CollegeHound.
Real Scout response, edited for length and privacy. Jordan is a sample senior with six colleges, a 3.7 GPA, and a 1230 SAT. Scout's answer changes when the student does.
Scout supports the work your student and advisor are already doing. It helps them plan and brainstorm; it does not write the essay for them.
Then ask Scout what it means.
Scout uses your student's profile to answer real questions with context.
Ask a broad question. Scout turns it into a prioritized plan.
Based on what is already saved in CollegeHound.
Personalized college fit
Scout looks at your student's actual profile and tells you which schools are reaches, targets, and safeties. With reasoning, not just labels.
College research that goes deep
Campus feel, dorms, food, activities, social scene, jobs after graduation. One student gave Scout a 6 out of 5 for campus descriptions. Not a typo.
"What should we do next?"
Scout looks at where your student is in the process and tells you what to focus on this week. Not a generic checklist. Actual next steps for your family.
Essay help that is not cheating
Scout helps your student find their story and brainstorm angles. It does not write the essay for them. That is actually the point.
General AI starts with a blank box. Scout starts with your student.
You should not have to know the perfect prompt to get useful college guidance. Scout is built around the questions families actually ask, and it uses your student's profile to make the answers specific.
“We are driving to Alabama. What colleges should we visit for Computer Science?”
Read how Scout planned this real road trip
“My student wants to study CS. Is their college list balanced?”
How to build a list that fits your student
“It's September of senior year. What is actually due first?”
The catch-up plan, week by week to November 1
“We don't know where to start. What should a junior be doing right now?”
“Is this college realistic for my student?”
How to categorize reach, target, and safety schools
“What are we missing that we don't even know to ask?”
“My student has no idea what to write about for the Common App essay.”
All 7 Common App prompts explained
Scout can give you the deep version, the short version, the parent version, or the student version. Whatever helps your family move forward.
Free CollegeHound forever, no credit card. Add Scout for $9/mo (normally $15/mo).
Think you already have this covered?
Knowing where your student wants to go is only the beginning. CollegeHound helps them get the application done, and do it well.
"She already knows where she wants to go."
Great. Choosing the colleges is the beginning. CollegeHound helps her manage everything required to submit her strongest applications.
"We have a spreadsheet."
A spreadsheet stores what you remember to enter. CollegeHound helps identify what is missing, what is due, and what deserves attention next.
"We hired a college advisor."
Keep them. CollegeHound helps your family execute the plan between meetings and arrive prepared for the next one.
"We'll figure it out ourselves."
You can. CollegeHound means you do not have to reconstruct the entire process while your student is also managing classes, activities, testing, and senior year.
What it costs and why.
ChatGPT starts with a blank box. Parent groups don't know your kid. An advisor helps shape the strategy. CollegeHound helps your family carry it out, and it starts free.
Free CollegeHound
Free
Free forever. No credit card.
GPA, classes, activities, awards, college list, test scores, essays, deadlines, contacts, and to-dos. Parent and student views. Limited Scout access.
CollegeHound Plus
$15/mo $150/yr
$9/mo or $99/yr
Back-to-School College Kickoff
Cancel anytime.
Everything in free CollegeHound, plus unlimited Scout: personalized college fit, next steps, college research, essay brainstorming, scholarship guidance, visit planning, and answers based on your student.
Working with an advisor?
Your advisor helps shape the strategy. CollegeHound helps your family carry it out. It keeps the plan moving between meetings: organizing student information, tracking recommendations and essays, surfacing deadlines, and helping everyone see what comes next.
|
DIY (Google + spreadsheets) |
CollegeHound Free CollegeHound · Scout $15/mo |
|
|---|---|---|
| Organized college info | 14 browser tabs | One shared workspace |
| Personalized advice | Google it yourself | Scout reads their profile |
| Specific questions | Ask a parent group about someone else's 5.0 student | Ask Scout about your actual student |
| College research | Rankings, Reddit, and guesswork | Scout connects research to your student |
| Parent + student access | Shared Google Doc maybe | Both see the same plan |
Organized info
CollegeHound: One shared workspace
DIY: 14 browser tabs
Personalized advice
CollegeHound: Scout reads their profile
DIY: Google it yourself
Specific questions
CollegeHound: Ask about your actual student
DIY: parent group guesswork
College research
CollegeHound: Research tied to your student
DIY: rankings, Reddit, guesswork
Shared access
CollegeHound: Parent and student see the same plan
DIY: shared doc maybe
Back-to-School College Kickoff
CollegeHound Plus Monthly: $15/mo
→ $9/mo
· CollegeHound Plus Annual:
$150/yr
→ $99/yr
Start with your email, your student's grade, and their high school. Add the rest as you go.
Sign up and create your workspace
Just your email, student's grade, and high school. No credit card.
Follow the guided checklist
A step-by-step walkthrough shows you what to add and why. No blank screen, no guessing what to do first.
Ask Scout when you need guidance
Scout comes with built-in prompts so you don't have to figure out what to ask. Pick a question or type your own.
Student-tested against ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot
One student tested Scout across 16 college-planning questions. Scout gave the most personalized answers because it was the only tool using the student's actual GPA, test scores, activities, and college list.
The biggest difference was not that Scout sounded smarter. It was that Scout knew the student.
Read the full comparison →Scout works for your family. Not for colleges, advertisers, or investors.
No college pays to be recommended. No ad network sees your data. No investor is pushing us to sell your attention. Scout works for you because your family is the customer.
Private by design
No last names, birthdates, or SSNs required. We limit personally identifying information from the start.
Current when it matters
Scout can search for current information when deadlines, programs, scholarships, or costs may have changed. For stable data, it relies on trusted sources that update on their own schedule.
Not sold. Not shared with advertisers.
Your student's information is for your family. We do not sell student data or let ad networks use it.
Tested by the students it’s built for
This past summer, six student interns used CollegeHound for their own real college planning. Each of them earned an award for the thing they did best.
The pages below are their landing pages. Each one started as the intern’s own design, built around their own message and their own ideas. We could not be prouder of them.
What students and educators are saying
“Scout helped me see that college applications aren’t as scary as they seem - they just need organization and proper planning.”
Rohan
CollegeHound Intern · Senior
“It was more like a companion working with you instead of something you just ask for quick answers.”
Leo
CollegeHound Intern · Senior
“Scout suggested colleges I had never heard of.”
Daliana
CollegeHound Intern · Junior
“I thought the AI would give generic answers, but it actually read my exact stats. It noticed the gap between my unweighted and weighted GPA and told me how to use my specific extracurriculars.”
Stuti
CollegeHound Intern · Senior
“There were in-depth explanations, TLDRs, and a summary at the end. The response was really solid.”
Eli
CollegeHound Intern · Senior
“One place instead of twenty Google Docs.”
Stuti
CollegeHound Intern · Senior
“This is an incredible tool. It finally gives structure to everything students do before applying to college.”
Christina Winter
Educator & Parent
“The college journey can feel overwhelming for kids with learning challenges but CollegeHound makes it manageable.”
“Knowing where to start is often a roadblock for students with ASD, ADHD and executive function challenges. CollegeHound lessens that burden by providing a clear framework that starts as early as 9th grade, building crucial skills like planning, time management, working memory and organization over several years.
This long-term approach helps students stay on track and reach deadlines with reduced stress. Its personal assistant, Scout, is a standout feature that sets realistic goals, identifies gaps in applications, and matches individualized interests to schools that are the right fit for specific learning needs.
As an executive function coach who works with kids with learning differences, I would highly recommend this platform.”
Lindsay Strobl, MA, LSC
Executive Function Coach
Questions we get a lot.
My kid will not use it. Why should I bother?
That is actually the most common reason parents sign up. You do not need your student's permission to start organizing. Most parents of 9th and 10th graders use CollegeHound to capture grades, activities, and awards as they happen. When senior year hits and applications ask for everything, it is already there. Your student can join when they are ready. Or not.
We already have a counselor. Do we need this?
Keep them. Your counselor or advisor helps shape the strategy. CollegeHound helps your family carry it out between meetings: student information organized, recommendations and essays tracked, deadlines visible, and everyone able to see what comes next. You arrive prepared for the next conversation.
Fair question. Scout talks to them like a person, not a textbook. Students tell us it feels like texting a really smart friend who happens to know everything about college admissions. And CollegeHound is free. Your kid can use it whether you pay for Scout or not. No pressure, no lockout.
ChatGPT doesn't know your kid. It gives the same generic advice to every student who asks. Scout reads your student's profile. Their GPA, test scores, activities, college list, notes. And it gives advice based on their actual situation. Think of it like the difference between Googling “what should I do” and asking someone who has already seen your file.
No. And that is on purpose. Scout helps your student find their story, brainstorm angles, and figure out what makes their experience worth writing about. It doesn't write the essay. The essay is supposed to be your student's voice. Scout helps them find it.
It is actually the perfect time. The families who feel behind senior year are the ones who didn't start organizing until junior year. Right now there's no stress, no deadlines. Just a chance to get everything in one place so when it matters, you're ready. Scout even knows what sophomores should be thinking about vs. seniors.
No catch. CollegeHound is free. No credit card, no trial expiration. Scout is $15/month (currently $9 with our Back-to-School pricing, through Labor Day). You can cancel anytime, no questions asked. We're a small company run by a speech-language pathologist and a software engineer. We're not trying to trap you. We're trying to help you.
Sign up with your email, your student's grade, and their high school, and Scout is ready to talk. You don't have to fill in everything on day one. Add stuff as you go. Test scores when they come back, activities as they happen. The whole point is to make this easier, not add another thing to your plate.
Yes. CollegeHound is completely free. Sign up, poke around, add your student's info. You'll see how it works before you spend a dime. Scout is the paid piece. It’s normally $15/month, or $9 right now with our Back-to-School pricing. You can try it for one month and decide. Cancel anytime; no long-term commitment.
No. If your student is a senior, the Common App is open and most Early Action and Early Decision deadlines fall between October 15 and November 1, which is plenty of time to finalize a list, draft the essay, and ask for recommendations if you start this week. If your student is a junior or younger, September is the calmest window of the whole year: no deadlines yet, and everything you add now is already there when senior year asks for it.
“I am a speech-language pathologist with 30 years of experience helping students and families communicate. I have ADHD and a blended family of seven. By our fifth application cycle, I knew the process was broken for everyone, not just families like ours. So we built CollegeHound.”
We are real people and this is our real passion. Every CollegeHound family can reach us directly. No ticket system, no chatbot wall. Just us.
Shelley Psyk
Co-Founder & CEO
Back-to-School College Kickoff
CollegeHound is free. Add Scout for $9/mo (normally $15/mo).
CollegeHound is free. Unlock unlimited Scout with Plus for $9/mo (normally $15/mo). Cancel anytime.
I know this is a lot. I am living it too.
Create a free account — no credit cardGrades 9-12. Cancel anytime.