You get a roadmap: an honest read on your target schools, what each one really takes, and a plan shaped around your goals and your story. Our research engine and database carry the heavy analysis, which is why you get the depth of a top firm at a fraction of the price.
A great application is two things at once: a clear-eyed plan for the schools you actually want, and a story that makes an admissions officer remember you. Waypoint builds both. Our research engine and database map exactly what your target schools reward and where you stand today, then we shape a roadmap around your interests and your life story, waypoint by waypoint, so every step strengthens the case you will make to admissions. Here is how that compares to the alternatives.
| Free AI & chancing tools | Typical consultant | Premium firms | Waypoint | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | An algorithm, unsupervised | Whoever you are assigned | A team billed by the hour | One accountable expert, backed by a serious research engine |
| How personal is it | One-size-fits-all | Varies by counselor | High, in theory | Built around one student, start to finish |
| What you hold when it's over | A chancing score, often wrong | Notes from meetings | Memories of many meetings | A decision-grade written roadmap |
| Honest odds | Overestimates, documented | Depends who you get | Optimism is the product | Reach/target/likely, in writing, with reasons |
| Plan kept current | Never | Only when you meet | Only when you meet | Re-checked every quarter (Living Roadmap) |
| Price | $0-$99/mo | ~$6,500 average | $25,000-$100,000+ | $295-$2,995, published |
Your plan is built around you: your grades, your goals, and your story. The research engine pulls current data on every school that fits, admit rates, real cost after aid, and what each program actually rewards, so the strategy is specific to one student and current to this cycle.
Software can gather data all day. Reading a student is a different skill: shaping your experiences into a story that makes an admissions officer lean in, spotting the gap in a profile, telling you the honest truth about a reach school and handing you the plan to close it. That is my work. I have also spent years on the other side of the desk volunteering with West Point Admissions, and that perspective shapes how I read a profile and what I tell you to do about it.
Every price is on this page. Every deliverable is a document you keep. Every call on your odds comes with the reasoning attached. In an industry built on hidden prices and vague promises, seeing exactly what you get, before you pay, is the whole point.
Waypoint is a new undergraduate practice, but the work behind it is not. For nearly a decade I have volunteered as an admissions mentor, and the applicants I coached earned spots at some of the most selective programs in the country. To be clear about what these are: they are graduate business school admissions, not undergraduate. The strategy is the same one every Waypoint roadmap uses, a realistic school list, a sharp narrative, and honest odds. Names withheld for privacy.
We worked together through essay strategy, application review, and mock interviews. The result was an offer of admission to Harvard Business School.
This applicant earned interviews at Harvard, MIT Sloan, and Berkeley Haas in a single application round, on a school list built with the same reach/target/likely strategy every Waypoint roadmap uses, and enrolled in Harvard's MS/MBA program.
Together we sharpened this applicant's resume and overall application strategy. They earned admission to Chicago Booth and now work at a leading management consulting firm.
These outcomes come from my volunteer admissions mentoring and are separate from this practice. Applicants author their own materials; schools make their own decisions. Waypoint client outcomes will be published here as they arrive.
A free 15-minute call. We meet, and I gather the basics I need to start building your plan: where the student stands, where they want to go, and what matters most.
A custom, data-grounded roadmap: balanced school list with honest odds, real costs after aid, extracurricular strategy, testing plan, and a timeline with every deadline.
A 45-minute review and planning session, where we walk through the whole roadmap and lock in your next steps.
Most consultants hand you advice. A Waypoint roadmap hands you the specifics: not "get an internship," but which organizations near you take high school interns, who to contact there, and the exact email to send them.
See everything inside the roadmap →Company: Ridgeline Robotics Address: 1420 Elm St, Suite 3 Phone: (303) 555-0148 Distance: 6 mi from home, drivable HS interns: Yes, summer program
This is what The Roadmap ($1,495) delivers, and the document every Living Roadmap is built on. Here is a redacted example, built for a student aiming at engineering programs, with every section tailored to her, her goals, her grades, and where she wants to go.
Target engineering internship Company: Ridgeline Robotics Address: 1420 Elm St, Suite 3 Phone: (303) 555-0148 Distance: 6 mi from home, drivable HS interns: Yes, summer program
Subject: Local student interested in structural engineering Dear Ms. Ortiz, I'm a high schooler a short drive from your office, and I've been building a load- tested model bridge. I'd love 20 minutes to hear how you...
Where this fits: the List Check ($295) covers the school list alone. The Roadmap ($1,495) is the full document shown here. The Living Roadmap ($2,995 first year) keeps every section of it current, through graduation.
Request the full redacted sampleAn honest read on the odds, a clear plan built around one student, straight answers to your questions, and that we will make the most of everything you actually control.
Admission. No ethical advisor can promise that, and anyone who guarantees results is misleading you. The student is always the sole author of their own applications and essays.
I'm Dave Burgio. I graduated from West Point, served as a U.S. Army officer with a combat deployment to Afghanistan, and later earned my MBA at Harvard Business School.
When my own kids started high school, I did what I do for every decision that matters: built a plan. Real data on every target school, true costs after aid, what each admissions office actually rewards, and a season-by-season timeline. Other families saw it and asked for one. That is how Waypoint started.
What you get from me is judgment, structure, and a clear plan, powered by a research engine and database that let me deliver the depth of a top firm at a fraction of the price. You work directly with me from start to finish, and you see the price up front, because you deserve to know it before we ever talk.
I'm taking on a limited number of founding clients, families and students I'll work with closely in exchange for honest feedback and, once I've earned it, a testimonial. Founding clients get preferred pricing on any of the packages above. When the spots are filled, they're filled.
Email Dave to get startedEmail [email protected] · Call or text (720) 593-9592
Available virtually, nationwide. Text is usually the fastest way to reach me.