About
Guidance shouldn't require a five-figure check.
Sherpa was built to make thoughtful, personalized college application guidance accessible to more students — right inside the Common App, whenever they need it.
Mission
Our mission.
Who we are
Sherpa was founded by three alumni of Princeton, Columbia, and MIT, each of us coming from low-income, first-generation backgrounds.
We know firsthand how much a college application can matter, and how different the process can feel when experienced guidance isn’t readily available. We didn’t have someone beside us who’d done this before, who could tell us what an admissions officer was really looking for, or catch the small things that make an application feel whole. We got here anyway, but it took longer, and it was harder than it needed to be.
What we saw
Some students enter with private counselors, essay coaches, and years of individualized support. Others navigate essays, activities, and deadlines largely on their own — often with school counselors responsible for hundreds of students, or with whatever advice happens to reach them.
The students on each side aren’t different in what they’re capable of. What’s different is who was standing beside them when it counted.
We saw a gap not in talent or ambition, but in access.
What we’re building
Sherpa is our attempt to narrow that gap.
We believe technology can make individualized college guidance available to far more students at a cost that is realistic for more families. But making guidance more accessible only matters if it remains genuinely useful.
That’s why Sherpa is built to understand a student’s application as a whole — across their essays, activities, and other materials — rather than treating every question in isolation.
It can spot inconsistencies, identify opportunities to go deeper, and offer perspective when a student is unsure what to do next, while keeping the ideas and final application their own.
Audience
Who we built Sherpa for.
Students
Sherpa is for students who care deeply about their applications and want another perspective when they’re unsure what to do next.
You might be handling most of the process yourself. You might already have a counselor, teacher, or parent helping you. Either way, there are moments when you want someone to turn to — for an essay that isn’t quite working, an activity you’re struggling to describe, or a decision you’re second-guessing.
Sherpa is there for those moments, inside the Common App where the questions come up.
Parents
Sherpa is for parents who want to know their child is supported through the college process — and who want a little less of that stress sitting on their own shoulders.
You shouldn’t have to become an admissions expert overnight, or feel like every essay and deadline depends on you. Sherpa gives students a place to get thoughtful help when they need it, so you can stay involved without carrying every question alone.
Our goal is simple: more resources within reach, less worry at home, and a clearer path toward the future your family is working for.
Vision
What we hope to achieve with Sherpa.
We want individualized college guidance to become a normal part of the application process, rather than something only a small share of students can realistically access.
Historically, personalized guidance has been difficult to scale. A counselor has limited hours. A school has limited staff. And individualized support becomes expensive precisely because it depends on so much one-on-one time.
Technology gives us an opportunity to change that.
Our hope is that more students can approach the college process knowing that when they reach an important decision, get stuck, or need another perspective, meaningful guidance is within reach.
Success for Sherpa would mean that the quality of support available to a student depends less on what their family can afford — and more students can navigate the process with clarity, confidence, and a strong sense of ownership over their application.
That’s the future we’re working toward.
Contact us