Giving away all our best secrets

When we started Sierra we noticed that a lot of companies took on some students pro bono. 

When our founder, Alex, talked to these consultants, they talked about their attempts to “balance the scales” by taking on some clients who couldn’t pay every year. 

We decided to go in a different direction.

Instead of working pro bono with a few students every year, we level the playing-field of college admissions by being ruthlessly transparent about how it actually works. We do this on Reddit’s r/ApplyingToCollege subreddit. 

With over seventy-million monthly unique views, it’s the perfect place to share scathingly honest admissions takes that help steer self-motivated students in the right direction. 

Our content there has racked up over 3mm views, tens-of-thousands of shares, and frequently comes up in our introductory calls with clients. 

Why do we focus on writing—and on giving away our good advice for free with abandon? 

Well, honestly, because we just don’t see it as a threat to our work. You can read all you want, but no amount of content fully replaces the personalized value our team provides. 

Writing about admissions also forces us to stay up on our game. Educating others pushes us to educate ourselves about the most recent trends in admissions. 

Also, we find that writing publicly about admissions helps us find clients (organically) who align with what we’ve written—and who have done their homework. 

If you’re reading this right now (hello!), that means you actually care enough about this process and are careful about what you consume (or who you work with). You’re our type of client. 

We find that writing catalyzes a virtuous organic cycle—steering us clients who are thoughtful and informed about the admissions landscape. 

(If you want to read our three most needle-moving pieces of admissions content, we’ve packed them up for you in an email. You can sign up for that here. Happy reading!)

So, we see writing about admissions as a win-win-win. 

Want to know more about our approach to college admissions? Take a look at our philosophy about college admissions. Our team page is also a great resource to meet the faces of Sierra and learn a bit more about what makes us special. Or if you have specific questions about our work, methodology, or logistics, our FAQ page is a great place to start.