Academic, College Counselor · Part-time, W-2 · Most advisors earn $50,000+ annually working with ~15 students

Now hiring across the Bay Area.

We're hiring part-time college advisors to staff our growing Bay Area offices. If you're an independent consultant tired of running a business instead of doing the work, a former admissions officer or current college reader looking for predictable income, or a school counselor who wants to use your expertise outside school hours — read on.

Company Overview:

StrivePath empowers students and families with personalized academic and college advising. We bring community resources and leverage comprehensive data to provide clarity in high school and college planning. Focusing on holistic development, we guide students through academic planning, career exploration, and admissions, ensuring they are well-prepared for the future. Happier students. Less stressed families. Better admission outcomes. We believe families deserve better than the all-or-nothing choice between an overworked school counselor with 300+ students on their caseload and a sole-practitioner consultant juggling marketing and billing instead of advising. We're building the place in the middle.

Position: Academic College Consultant/Coach

Locations: Expected to service students from one of our Bay Area offices.

Employment Type: Full Time

Compensation: $75/hour with opportunity to scale to full time

Role Overview:

The Academic College Consultant/Coach will be responsible for advising and coaching students as they progress through middle and high school. This role involves working closely with students to ensure they are well-prepared for college applications, utilizing a well-defined curriculum and data-driven insights.

What makes this different from other part-time advising roles

The pay is real, and the math is clear

$75/hour, W-2. Our average student contract is $5,000 and lasts 12+ months. Most of our advisors earn $50,000+ in annual supplemental income working with around 15 students. No invoicing, no chasing payments, no 1099 surprises.

Contracts last 12+ months, so the income is consistent

Most solo college consultants live with feast-or-famine income — busy in fall, dry in spring. Our average student contract is 12+ months, often longer. That means consistent monthly income — once you ramp, you know what next month looks like.

It's not a sales role

You will never pitch a family, quote prices, close a contract, ask for referrals, or run a webinar to fill your pipeline. We handle every part of business development. Your job starts the day a family signs and ends the day their student matriculates.

Zero back-office

No invoicing. No intake calls. No marketing. No CRM management. No website to maintain. No collections. No family-escalations call at 9pm on Sunday. Our operations team handles all of it.

You work alongside other advisors — not alone

Most independent consultants and school counselors make every judgment call in isolation. Was that the right rec letter strategy? Should this kid apply ED? Is this essay actually good? Here, you have 15+ colleagues to consult, a structured curriculum to anchor decisions, and shared performance data on how our past students fared at every school on the list. You stop second-guessing.

Real path to full-time (180K+ in cash compensation)

If you want more hours, more responsibility, and a salaried path, it's available.

What you'd actually do

• 1:1 sessions with assigned students — in person at our Bay Area offices, with some remote sessions as appropriate
• Guide students through UC, Common App, and CSU applications
• Course planning, summer programs, essay strategy, school list building — the full advising arc from 9th grade through matriculation
• Lead occasional workshops for students and parents
• Document insights so the team gets sharper together — we explicitly invest in becoming better collectively, not just individually

What we need from you

• Real college admissions experience — at least one of the following:
• Former or current admissions officer (any college)
• Former or current school counselor
• Independent college consultant
• Current or former UC reader or other college application reader
• Education: Bachelor's degree required. Master's preferred but not required. HECA / WACAC / NACAC / IECA membership is a plus.
• Strong working knowledge of UC, Common App, and CSU application systems.
• In-person comfort. This is not a fully remote role — families pay us for the in-person relationship at our offices.
• Tech basics: Familiar with G-Suite. CollegePlannerPro and Notion are a plus, not a requirement.

Why our advisors stay

• Pay is in the top quartile of what part-time college advisors earn in California
• No business to run — stop being a CEO and start being an advisor again
• Decisions get easier — curriculum + data + colleagues = you stop guessing
• Income is stable — 12+ month contracts mean predictable cash flow
• Real path to full-time when you want it
• Your other work stays separate — if you currently run a private practice or read for a UC, that work stays yours

A note for current college readers and school counselors

We work with many advisors who are also UC readers or current school counselors. Your reader work or school employment stays completely separate from StrivePath. We require disclosure (so families know your background), recusal where appropriate (you wouldn't read your own StrivePath students' apps), and that any school-employment policies are honored. We've helped many advisors navigate this — happy to discuss specifics on a call.

Application Process:

Interested candidates should submit a resume and cover letter detailing their experience and interest in the role. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. We tend to move from application to hire within 3-4 weeks for the right hire.

StrivePath is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.