About
We had
advantages.
We know it. And this entire site exists because of it — to pass on everything our access gave us to students who didn't have that same head start.
The context
Let's be honest
about where we came from.
Our mom has a PhD in Education and Equity from Harvard. Our dad has a PhD in Theoretical Physics from UC Davis. We grew up in a household where academic excellence was the water we swam in. That matters — and we're not going to pretend it doesn't.
Growing up with two parents who understood systems of education, who went to top schools, who knew how the game was played — that's a real advantage. When Tsadiku was six years old, he sat in Harvard Yard watching our mom receive her doctorate. Most kids his age had never seen a college campus.
We also went to Inderkum High School — a public school in Sacramento that the state named the most racially diverse in California. Our hallways looked like our city. Our classmates faced real barriers — to opportunity, to resources, to information. And we watched students who were just as smart as us fall through cracks that better preparation would have helped them avoid.
That gap — between what we had access to and what our peers had access to — is why this site exists. The college system rewards people who know how to navigate it. We learned how. Now we're writing it all down.
“We're not here to inspire you. We're here to give you the actual information.”
— Tsadiku & Adiyah Obolu
Our parents
Mom
PhD in Education and Equity, Harvard University. She understood the levers of academic systems from the inside. That knowledge shaped us.
Dad
PhD in Theoretical Physics, UC Davis. He showed us what rigorous, original thinking looks like — and that Black men belong in elite academic spaces.
Co-Founder
Tsadiku Obolu
Product Manager, Google · New York
Tsadiku graduated from UC Berkeley's Management, Entrepreneurship & Technology (MET) program — a dual degree in EECS and Business Administration with roughly a 1% acceptance rate. He was a Regents and Chancellor's Scholar, UC Berkeley's highest honors.
Before Berkeley, Tsadiku was the kind of student who turned every environment into an opportunity. At Inderkum High School, he grew the Black Student Union from 3 members to 150, organized a school-wide teach-in after Stephon Clark was killed by Sacramento police, and served as Chief of Staff for the College and Career Readiness program — fundraising over $40K for fellow students. He also ran a snack business that grew to employ two people and clear $800/month.
He received a likely letter from Harvard. He chose Berkeley's MET program because the combination of engineering and business was, in his words, exactly what he needed to build the things he wanted to build. He now works as a Product Manager at Google.
Acceptance results
| School | Notes |
|---|---|
| Harvard University | Likely letterLikely letter |
| UC Berkeley — MET Program | Scholarship~1% acceptance rate |
| Yale University | |
| Georgia Tech | ScholarshipProvost Scholarship |
| UCLA | |
| UC Davis | |
| Brown University | WaitlistedWaitlisted |
| University of Pennsylvania | WaitlistedWaitlisted |
Co-Founder
Adiyah Obolu
Sophomore, Yale University
Adiyah is a sophomore at Yale majoring in Ethnicity, Race, and Migration with a Certificate in Education Studies. She's also the Creative Director for Yale's oldest spoken word group, and works at Yale's Afro-American Cultural Center on the Intercultural Social Justice team.
In high school, Adiyah didn't just participate in systems — she rewrote them. As BSU President, she spearheaded a district-wide Student Bill of Rights that resulted in ethnic studies becoming a required course, cultural awareness training for all teachers, and a Youth Advisory Committee for the school district. She ran a podcast called Our Justice Journey that amassed 5,000+ views and featured luminaries in education equity.
She received likely letters from Yale, Columbia, Cornell, and Amherst — and scholarship offers from all three. She chose Yale. She now mentors youth in New Haven and continues the same work she started at Inderkum High School, just from a different zip code.
Acceptance results
| School | Notes |
|---|---|
| Yale University | Likely letterLikely letter |
| Columbia University | ScholarshipKluge Scholarship |
| Cornell University | ScholarshipTanner Dean's Scholar |
| Amherst College | Likely letterLikely letter |
| Harvard University | |
| Stanford University | |
| UC Berkeley | |
| UCLA | |
| University of Pennsylvania | |
| USC | |
| UC Davis |
The mission
Why this exists.
A lot of college prep content exists. Most of it was written for students who already have access — students at private schools with full-time college counselors, students whose parents went to these schools, students who grew up surrounded by people who could answer every question along the way.
We went to a public school in Sacramento. We had educated parents, yes — but we also had classmates who didn't. And we watched smart, capable students miss opportunities not because they weren't good enough, but because nobody told them what they needed to know.
This blueprint is our attempt to level the information gap. Not to sugarcoat the process. Not to pretend it's a perfect meritocracy. But to give every student who reads this the same honest, informed, tactical understanding of the college system that we had — and that made a real difference.
Your story is your strategy. We're just here to help you tell it right.
Ready to start?
Work through the six sections — or go straight to the section that's most relevant to where you are right now.