Kate Stone College Coaching

I’m getting so many DMs about deferrals right now, and since I can’t answer each one individually, I want to speak to all of you at once.

A deferral simply means they want to see you again in the Regular Decision round.

One of my students who got into Harvard was deferred first. I’ve seen this happen dozens of times over the years — strong kids get pushed to RD and land exactly where they’re meant to be.

The question everyone keeps asking is: What are my chances after being deferred?

The better question is: What does a deferral usually mean at this school?

Because the truth is, deferrals mean different things depending on the institution:

Some schools defer as a yield strategy. They want to see who’s genuinely interested before they commit.

Some defer students they truly want to re-evaluate in the full RD pool.

Some are simply conservative in the early round. And this year, many were.

So if you were deferred, here’s what I want you to remember:

1. You didn’t do anything “wrong.”
Many deferrals have nothing to do with your qualifications.

2. Don’t panic-apply to an ED2 school unless it feels right.
ED2 can be a great strategy, but you should never commit to a school from a place of fear. You need to feel good about the fit.

3. Let this next RD round play out.
RD is where so much movement happens. I’ve seen kids get deferred, then admitted to schools more selective than the one that deferred them.

4. Focus on what you can control.
Finalize your remaining applications. Keep your grades steady. Follow the school’s exact instructions on next steps.

A deferral can be a redirect toward a school that ends up being a much better fit. I’ve also seen that SO many times.

Don’t panic. Hang tight. It’s all going to work out.

It’s great to get out of the office and visit Bedford, NY. My mom went to Fox Lane High School Fox Lane High School when my grandfather had a horse farm in Bedford back in the seventies.

I love to reconnect with my mom’s roots now that she’s passed. The need to retrace steps are some of the strangest parts of grief.

Later, I visited Shepherd and CO (+ grabbed some very elegant gifts for a friend’s bday — I highly recommend a visit), and I had a chance meeting with ABCNYMoms while I was there! All in all, a nice break.

What extracurriculars actually matter for college admissions?

One of our 9th graders has been doing independent studies in anatomy, suturing, and medical basics (in 8th grade mind you) because he might want to become a plastic surgeon. We’ve literally had him practicing injections on plastic heads for Botox. It’s both impressive and kind of hilarious.

But here’s where mentorship changes everything and why it matters for competitive majors like pre-med and bioengineering.

We connected him with a mentor (a real plastic surgeon) who basically said: “If you want to be a plastic surgeon, don’t just do a mini-med camp. Study beauty. Study proportions. Study Renaissance painters. Study the masters.”

So now, instead of just checking the “future doctor” box (which he’ll still do), his winter project includes:

- Visiting art galleries
- Studying master illustrators
- Analyzing facial structure and proportions through art
- Learning how artists see

This is the kind of development that actually stands out in college admissions. This is what most teens will never get from clubs, camps, or generic “passion projects.” Because that level of insight only comes from mentors with real domain expertise.

Kids in communities like ours sit on a huge amount of social capital they barely use. Not because they’re uninterested, but because they’ve never been coached to talk to adults, build advisors, or recognize the opportunities right in front of them.

Mentorship unlocks what camps and clubs never will. It gives kids depth, maturity, nuance, and a different way of thinking which is exactly what colleges are looking for when they ask, “How has this student explored their academic interests?”

In 2026, this is the most valuable extracurricular.

3 things your child should do when applying to college but probably isn’t. Let's talk about what has changed and what your child should do to stand out!

A dad told me, “I have two daughters. Both very bright. My oldest did everything right. I did not believe in coaching. I thought it was a waste of money. She had the GPA, the rigor, the leadership. She still got waitlisted at Michigan.”

His younger daughter started with a coach in 9th grade. Same grades. Similar awards. She got into every top school she applied to.

She is at Stanford now.

Most parents still believe straight A’s mean their kid is on track for selective colleges. I wish it worked that way. It doesn’t anymore.

Here is what actually separates students who get into selective and highly selective colleges:

1. Grades are not proof of readiness.

Search any admissions forum, and you will see the same question: “Why didn’t my straight-A kid get into Michigan?”

2. Depth matters more than long activity lists.

One self-directed project is worth more than five surface-level extracurriculars. Parents Google “Ivy League extracurriculars”, but real projects are tailored to each student. There is no standard list. Sometimes, it can take us 6 weeks to 3 months to come up with a really good project idea.

3. Be curious outside of school!

What interests your child when no one assigns the work? Most teenagers do not have an answer yet. That is a development issue, not an ability issue.

4. Independent skills determine competitiveness now.

The strongest applicants know how to research on their own, communicate with adults, initiate projects they genuinely care about, and leverage AI to deepen their learning. This takes coaching. A parent recently said to me, “What I love about you guys is that you are a life coach and a college coach.”

5. The biggest advantage is starting early. “Is it too late to start college prep in 11th grade?”

For some kids, yes. It becomes a rescue mission rather than a development process.

When new graduates are entering one of the rockiest labor markets we’ve seen in years, choosing a major feels consequential.

And if you’re aiming for a highly selective college, I don’t recommend applying “undecided.”

Selective schools want evidence that supports your intended major — your coursework, projects, curiosity, reading, experiences. That’s what makes your application coherent and competitive.

Many colleges directly ask “What interests you academically?” and “How will you contribute here?”

This is your clue.

Here’s where to start:

1. Ask yourself what comes naturally.
Where does your mind light up? What topics make you want to push yourself?

2. Pick a few majors that genuinely interest you.
Then ask: What related majors exist?
Are there less competitive (“less impacted”) options that still align with your interests?

3. Explore career paths — Use AI!!!
Most teens don’t know what’s possible — that’s normal. Early exploration helps you make smart decisions.

4. Read the course catalogs.
What are the actual requirements for each major?
Would you enjoy those classes?

Don’t assume “Business” means creativity and leadership only to discover you’ll be doing calc, microeconomics, and managerial accounting your first year. The academic reality is far more quantitative than students expect.

5. Use a reflective assessment.
We built our own (remarkably accurate) major-selection tool for our students (shoutout to Dr. Mike!).

We ask:
- What experiences did you enjoy most? Why?
- What did you value about them?
- What skills did you naturally use?

This gives us a clearer view of where you’ll thrive and which majors align with your strengths and growth trajectory.

For the record: your major does not control your life.

The English literature kid might run a startup.
The math kid might become a filmmaker.
The classics kid might go to med school.

Your major doesn’t define you.
But it can absolutely increase—or decrease—your admissions odds.

Ava was a kid who had “done all the right things” and had “worked hard” to get into a good college.

Her schedule was full with activities, sports, clubs, and volunteering. It was everything parents believe colleges want.

But like many juniors, we had to tell her a cold hard truth that it wasn’t enough for the colleges at the top of her list.

And in some cases, they weren’t even the right things to move her toward her intended major.

This is where families get stuck, especially when they are trying to get into competitive or highly impacted majors like business, marketing, engineering, or computer science.

We end up asking the question no one wants to face:

“Do you want the college or the major?”

Most parents do not realize that when you apply to a competitive major without any proof of interest, your target school becomes a reach or far reach.

And sometimes, like with Ava, we can still turn it around. She was driven. She showed up. She executed. She became our star student this year. Through this process she just knows herself now and she's more confident than your average teenager bc she let it rip on her goals.

And just like I said in my viral reel:

When you only have DECA, you’re not going to be competitive for business majors.

You need something real. You need something that exists in the real world with real outcomes.

That is what selective colleges refer to as evidence of your interests. It is one of the biggest gaps we see in juniors.

This is why I am saying so clearly (I'm banging the drum over here) that you need evidence for your interests.

You need to begin developing your profile much earlier. If you want that level of support, DM me READY.

And here is the part I loved most:

Ava inspired the students at our Family College Night. They heard her project, her clarity, her work ethic, and they lit up.

If she could do it, they realized they could too.

If you have not attended one yet, you are missing out.

How do you choose a college coaching team?

For me, it starts here: Who can actually get your kid to do things they didn’t think they could do?

Information about admissions is useless if the student can’t implement any of it.

When I’m hiring my own team, I look for a very specific skill set.

Every single one of my coaches uses my curriculum, and we spend the first six months actually getting to know the student — their strengths, blind spots, how they think, where they struggle, what they care about, what’s possible for them long-term. That part is non-negotiable. You cannot coach a student well if you don’t understand them completely.

And I’ll say this plainly: my college coaching curriculum is the anti–college coaching model.

On purpose.

Because the only way to have an unreasonable competitive advantage is to do things differently than everyone else.

You cannot expect success in selective admissions if you look exactly like every other kid doing the exact same activities.

If you want to become an attractive candidate to a selective college, you have to think more creatively and much longer term.

Selective colleges want to know:
- Where are you headed?
- where’s your evidence?
- What do you care about and why?
- Who might you be in four years?

If you’re choosing activities just because you think they “look good,” you’re aiming at the wrong target entirely.

And let’s be honest: colleges are a business.
They want to invest in students they can claim, students they’re proud to say, “This one is ours” because the student is already leaving a mark on the world in their own lane.

That’s the whole point of my model.

There are days when the work we do at Kate Stone Prep brings tears to my eyes. We’re not just helping kids “get into college.” We’re coaching them into an entirely new reality.

This week, our team helped a student pull her future forward by fifteen years. That’s what happens when you stop waiting for clarity to magically arrive and start taking the steps that create it.

I developed this program because I WISH I’d had this support and guidance as a teen.

You don’t have to spend your teens or twenties in confusion. Confusion comes from an inability to make decisions and it's a temporary state that disappears the moment you begin taking intentional action. No one has ever thought their way into clarity. No amount of waiting, worrying, or overanalyzing will do it.

Clarity comes from movement.

Action gives you data (good or bad) that clears the fog and shows you your next right step.

That’s how you adjust your sail.

That’s how you build momentum.

And that’s how your future comes rushing toward you faster than you ever imagined.