Built on the belief that the best guidance often comes from those who’ve just walked the path, Pathways connects high school students and families with real college students and recent grads who offer authentic, experience-based advice. Whether you're navigating applications, building a college list, crafting essays, or exploring campus life, our advisors provide personalized insights grounded in lived experience. Pathways empowers students to make confident, informed decisions about their academic future—through conversations that are timely, relatable, and real.

Advisors are current students or recent graduates from a variety of colleges. They've successfully navigated admissions and student life and are here to share what they learned—honestly and personally.

You can browse advisor profiles, read about their background, colleges attended, and areas of expertise. You can favorite advisors, message them, or book individual consultations directly.

Yes. You can request consultations with peers who’ve attended (or are attending) the specific colleges you’re interested in.

Anything college-related: essays, applications, financial aid, course selection, major decisions, extracurriculars, dorm life, and more.

You can book sessions on a per-consultation basis. There’s no long-term commitment.

Consultations are scheduled for 30 minutes.
You may pre-purchase credits for multiple sessions and you can use those credits across multiple advisors over time. Purchased credits expire after one-year.

Pathways complements traditional advising. While counselors provide strategic planning, our peer advisors offer up-to-date, real-world insights based on personal experience at specific schools and programs.


Pathways connects you directly with students who’ve recently succeeded in the college application process — not career counselors who haven’t applied to school in decades. You get real insights from peers who’ve lived it and won.

All advisors create profiles sharing their academic backgrounds and achievements. While we don’t independently verify all credentials, advisors are rated by users and participate in a monitored community to ensure quality and accountability.

That’s up to your student and the advisor. Many sessions are student-led, but parents can join if both parties are comfortable.

You can rate your session and provide feedback. If there's a concern, our support team is available to address it.

You don’t have to choose one over the other—you need both. Traditional counselors offer structure and experience, but only someone who’s just lived through the process can give you the real, unfiltered insights you won’t find in a handbook. Pathways connects you with high-achieving peers who’ve done exactly what you're trying to do, offering current, tactical advice that complements professional guidance.

Yes, you can! We offer a $25 referral credit for anyone who refers a new student to Pathways. This credit can be used to request consultations from our peer advisors. Simply refer a friend or fellow student to Pathways, and when they sign up and use the service, you’ll receive a $25 credit.

Credits are valid for 1 year and can be used for any future consultations. The more students you refer, the more credits you accumulate for consultations with our peer advisors. It's a win-win for everyone!

Yes. You can filter advisor profiles by their field of study, extracurricular achievements, or specific programs they've been part of. This allows you to connect with someone who has firsthand experience in the area you're interested in.​

Currently, Pathways focuses on one-on-one consultations to provide personalized guidance. However, we are exploring the possibility of group sessions or workshops in the future based on user interest.​

After each session, you'll have the opportunity to rate your advisor and leave comments. Your feedback helps maintain the quality of our advising community and assists other users in making informed choices.​

We’re looking for students with elite application profiles—those who have lived through the high-stakes admissions process and excelled. This includes students who were top of their class, earned perfect or near-perfect SAT/ACT scores, gained admission into highly selective colleges or programs, secured prestigious scholarships, or built standout extracurricular achievements. Whether you got into an Ivy League school, a top STEM program, or received national accolades, your lived experience gives you a unique and powerful perspective. Students trust peers who’ve just gone through it—they want to talk to someone who’s been in their shoes, not just someone who talks about the process from the outside.

Students can find you through your profile and book individual sessions with you. You set your availability and rate.

Yes. You can set your own rates and receive payments through the platform. Your rates are influenced by several factors, including your ratings from students, the distinctiveness of your experiences, and the eliteness of your academic or extracurricular achievements. Pathways holds funds securely and releases them to you after each completed consultation.

No certification is required. Your credentials are your results—your school acceptances, scores, and achievements. You’ll be selected by clients based on your public profile.

Yes. You control your rates. Your pricing can reflect your accomplishments, the demand for your background, and your availability.

Pathways holds client funds securely. Your consulting fees are released to you on a set schedule after each session. It’s a transparent transaction.

Pathways is designed to let you focus on what matters—helping others—while we handle everything else. You create your profile, set your availability, and choose how often you want to engage. We take care of marketing, payment processing, and logistics. While you set your rates, we may optimize them based on demand and feedback to help you earn more consultations. You operate as an independent contractor, maintaining full control of your time and responsibilities. All we ask is that you remain professional, follow our community guidelines, and share real, honest advice grounded in your lived experience.

Clients browse advisor profiles and choose you based on your background. No algorithm decides for them—it’s peer-to-peer and completely transparent.

Yes, absolutely. When you refer a friend to join as a peer advisor, you’ll receive a 10% referral bonus for their first three consultations. So if they earn $100 from a session, you get $10 credited to your profile—automatically. There’s no cap on how many advisors you can refer, and you earn the bonus for each one’s first three completed consultations. It’s our way of rewarding you for helping build the Pathways network with trusted, high-caliber mentors.