How we work with families.
Five ways to engage, designed around what your family actually needs.
Rumos offers five service offerings, each shaped around a different family situation. Some families need one focused conversation; others want sustained support across a full application year; some prefer learning in community with other families; some want an expert physically present at a college visit. Whichever fits, the work is in English, Portuguese, or Spanish — your choice — at price points designed to make professional advising accessible.
Best for
Families with a specific question or a moment of decision. Not every family needs ongoing support. Sometimes a focused 60- or 90-minute conversation is exactly what's required.
What's included
- Pre-session intake form (in your language) so we can use the time well
- A 60-minute focused session (90 minutes available for an additional $75)
- A written summary in your language, delivered within 48 hours, with action items
- One follow-up email within seven days for any clarifying questions
Common situations where families choose this
My daughter is a junior and I want to know what she should be doing this summer.
A financial aid letter arrived in March and I don't understand what it actually means.
We've drafted a college list and I want a professional read on whether it makes sense.
We're three weeks out from a deadline and we need to make sure nothing is being missed.
I want to test what working together feels like before committing to a package.
Pricing
- Standard60 minutes$250
- Extended90 minutes$325
Best for
Families who want sustained guidance across a school year, structured around their student's grade and the specific places they want more confidence.
What's included
- 4 to 10 sessions across 6–12 months
- Written summaries after every session
- Email support between sessions for quick questions
- Document review on a defined cadence (essays, applications, financial aid letters)
- Adjustments to the package structure if your family's needs change mid-year
Sample packages
Foundation Package — $1,200
Course planning, GPA strategy, extracurricular guidance, introduction to college types, summer planning. For families who want to start early and feel grounded.
Strategy Package — $2,200
College list development, testing strategy, summer activities, essay topic exploration, financial aid education for parents, campus visit planning.
Application Package — $3,200
Final list review, application strategy, essay coaching across personal statement and supplements, FAFSA support, recommendation letter strategy, decision support, financial aid letter comparison.
Transfer Package — $1,800
For community college students transferring to four-year institutions. Articulation agreements, transfer essay strategy, transfer-specific financial aid, timing.
Pricing
Best for
Families who want full-service support across the application year, with a single advisor walking with them from the first college list through enrollment.
What's included
- 12 to 18 sessions across 9–18 months
- Unlimited email support between sessions
- Comprehensive document review (essays, supplements, applications, aid letters)
- Parent strategy sessions in addition to student sessions
- Decision support including financial aid letter comparison and enrollment logistics
- Add-ons available for athlete recruitment, international students, and BFA/portfolio applications
- Optional add-on: in-person accompaniment for college visits, fairs, or campus events at standard accompaniment rates
On positioning
Pricing
- Standard12–18 sessions, 9–18 months$5,500
- With add-onAthlete recruitment / international / portfolio$8,500
Best for
Families who want someone with them at a college visit, college fair, or important campus event — to translate, advocate, ask the right questions, and help interpret what they're seeing.
This is a service that almost no other consultant offers, and it's specifically built for families whose situations make solo navigation difficult: language barriers, work schedules that prevent extensive research, first-generation experience that means not knowing what to ask, or simply the desire to have an expert in the room.
What's included
- 30-minute prep call before the visit — what to look for, what questions matter, what your family specifically wants to learn
- Accompaniment to the visit itself — campus tour, info sessions, admissions meetings, financial aid conversations, real-time translation if needed
- 30-minute debrief call afterward — what was observed, what to follow up on, what to investigate further
- Written summary in your language with action items
Common situations where families choose this
We're visiting four colleges over spring break and we want someone with us for the most important one.
The college fair at the convention center has 200 booths. We don't know which ones to visit or what to ask.
My son has an interview at his top choice. We want someone there to help us debrief honestly afterward.
We're considering an out-of-state school. Before we commit to the deposit, we want a professional opinion from someone who has seen the campus with us.
Pricing
- Local visitWithin 1 hour of Lynn · half-day$400 – $600
- Regional visit1–3 hours travel · full day$700 – $1,000
- Overnight visitLonger trips · hotel and travel billed at cost$1,200 – $1,800
- College fair accompanimentHalf-day at convention center events$400 – $600
Best for
Families who want to learn the process in community with other families — and at a price point that makes professional guidance accessible at scale.
What's included
- 6 group sessions over 4–6 months, in Portuguese or Spanish
- Cohorts of 10–20 families
- Limited individual office hours for quick questions
- Private community space (WhatsApp group) for ongoing connection between sessions
- Optional in-person meetups for cohorts in the Greater Boston area
Sample cohort curriculum
Where do we even start?
Mapping the high school years.
Which colleges?
Building a list that fits academically, financially, and personally.
How does paying for college actually work?
FAFSA, grants, loans, scholarships.
The application itself.
Common App, essays, recommendations, deadlines.
The essay.
What admissions officers actually read for.
Decisions are coming.
Comparing schools, comparing aid, making a choice.
Pricing
- Community-hosted cohortsRun in partnership with churches, CBOs, or schools$300 / family
- Direct-enrolled cohortsOpen enrollment$650 / family
On access and income-based pricing
We believe quality college advising shouldn't be reserved for families who can afford the highest price points. Rumos offers income-based pricing across all individual service tiers, and a defined number of pro bono spots each year for families referred by school counselors, community-based organizations, and partner programs.
If cost is a concern for your family, raise it in your discovery call. We'll talk honestly about what's possible and find a fair arrangement — without paperwork, without proving you "deserve" support. If Rumos isn't the right fit financially, we may be able to refer you to free or near-free resources that are.
What Rumos doesn't do.
Honesty about scope is part of the brand. Here's what we don't do:
We don't promise admission to any specific college.
Admissions outcomes depend on factors no consultant controls — your student's academic record, the year's applicant pool, institutional priorities, and decisions made inside admissions offices. What we promise is that your application will be complete, considered, and well-positioned. The decisions themselves belong to the colleges.
We don't write your child's essays.
We coach. We give feedback. We help students find what they want to say and say it well. We do not write the words for them. Admissions offices read thousands of essays; they can tell when a student wrote it and when someone else did.
We don't replace your school's college counselor.
School counselors are doing essential work with limited time and growing caseloads — most Massachusetts public high schools have student-to-counselor ratios of 350:1 or higher. Rumos works alongside school counselors, not against them. The sustained, individualized attention we provide is the layer your school counselor doesn't have the time to give. We encourage families to use both.
We don't replace the work your family does together.
The conversations between you and your child about who they are, what they want, what they're afraid of, and what they hope for — those are yours. We provide context and information so those conversations have somewhere clear to go.
Questions families often ask.
How is this different from my school's college counselor?
Your school counselor is your first line of support and a valuable resource. They typically have caseloads of 300 to 500 students and limited time for individualized work. Rumos supplements that work with sustained one-on-one attention, trilingual delivery, and the kind of long-form guidance that's hard to fit into a 30-minute counselor appointment. We do not replace school counselors; we work alongside them.
Can we really do this in Portuguese or Spanish?
Yes. Sessions, materials, written summaries, contracts, and email support are all available in English, Portuguese, or Spanish. Choose whichever language your family thinks in. Mixing languages within a single session is welcome — many of our families do this naturally.
What if cost is an issue for our family?
Income-based pricing is available across all individual service tiers. Pro bono spots are reserved each year for families referred by school counselors, community-based organizations, and partner programs. Raise it in your discovery call — we'll find a fair arrangement, or refer you to free or near-free resources that may fit better.
Do you work with undocumented families?
Yes. We have extensive experience supporting undocumented and mixed-status families through the college process, including navigating in-state tuition policies, scholarships available to undocumented students, and the FAFSA-versus-CSS-Profile question. We do not collect or share immigration status information beyond what's directly relevant to the services being delivered.
Do you guarantee admission to a specific college?
No. No reputable college consultant does. What we guarantee is that your application will be complete, that your family will understand what you're applying to and why, and that the financial implications will be clear before any deposit is made. The admissions decisions belong to the colleges.
How early should we start?
There is no wrong time to start. Families who begin in 9th or 10th grade get the benefit of long-horizon planning — course selection, summer activities, building a track record. Families who come to us in 11th or 12th grade can still do excellent work; the timeline is just tighter. If your student is already a senior and applications are due in months, we can help — bring it up in the discovery call and we'll talk honestly about what's achievable.
Can we work with you if we don't live in Massachusetts?
Yes. Most sessions are virtual. We work with families across the U.S. and internationally — including U.S.-bound families abroad. In-person sessions and accompaniment are available in the Greater Boston area.
How do we get started?
Book a free 20-minute discovery call. We'll talk about where your family is, what you're hoping for, and whether Rumos is the right fit. If we are, we'll discuss which tier makes sense and what the next session looks like. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you that honestly and refer you to a better one.
Ready to find your family's path?
A discovery call is free, takes twenty minutes, and gives you a clear sense of whether Rumos is right for where your family is right now. We meet in English, Portuguese, or Spanish — whichever feels easiest.