Getting Started

Start by filling in your graduation year, intended major, current school, and a short bio. This information powers your Student Portfolio and helps both Sofia and Katy give you relevant, personalized guidance.

• Add your GPA if you know it — you can refine it later with the GPA Calculator
• Your bio and academic info appear on your shareable portfolio

Sofia is your AI tutor for any high school subject — math, science, history, English, and more. Open a subject, start a chat, and ask Sofia to explain a concept, work through a problem, or quiz you on a topic. She adapts to your level and gives step-by-step explanations.

• Tell Sofia your grade level and current topic for the most relevant help
• Ask Sofia to quiz you after an explanation — it's one of the fastest ways to check your understanding
• Use the Plan tab inside any course to get a structured study schedule

CollegeApp includes more than 8,000 pre-built flashcards using spaced repetition — cards you struggle with come back sooner, cards you know well appear less often. Each of the 25 AP courses also has a full practice exam in the real format, with an estimated 1–5 score at the end. SAT and ACT have their own timed practice tests.

• Do a short flashcard session daily — even 10 minutes builds long-term retention
• Take one exam section at a time if you don't have time for the full exam
• Your flashcard progress and box levels are saved automatically across sessions

Taking a class outside our catalog? Choose Add your own class in the Tutor, then paste the syllabus or upload a photo or PDF of it. Sofia reads it and builds a topic-by-topic study plan you can edit.

• A clear photo of the full syllabus page gives the best topic list
• You can rename, add, or remove topics after the plan is built

Quizzes, practice exams, flashcard reviews, and mastered topics all earn XP. Study on back-to-back days to build a streak and unlock badges. Your level, streak, and badges show at the top of your Sofia home.

• One short flashcard session is enough to keep a streak going
• Parents linked to your account can see your level and streak

Add the schools you are considering and sort them into reach, match, or safety. Track your application type (ED, EA, RD) and status for each school. Ask Katy, your AI college coach, to help you research schools and refine your list.

• Aim for 2–3 reaches, 3–4 matches, and 2–3 safeties
• Use the Notes field to log your impressions after campus visits or virtual tours

Every school has its own deadlines for EA, ED, and RD. Log them here so you can see an urgency-ranked list of what needs attention first. The calendar view shows all your deadlines at a glance.

• ED deadlines are typically November 1–15
• RD deadlines cluster around January 1 and January 15

Write and save your essays directly in the app. The live word counter helps you stay within limits. Link a Common App essay to multiple schools at once. Use Katy, your AI college coach, to brainstorm topics, review your drafts, and sharpen your voice.

• The Common App personal statement is 650 words max
• Paste a draft to Katy and ask for specific feedback on structure, voice, and word choice
• Tell Katy which school and prompt you are writing for — she will tailor her feedback

Add your SAT and ACT attempts. CollegeApp automatically calculates your superscore across all test dates. Use Sofia and the SAT/ACT practice tests in the Tutor section to prepare for upcoming test dates.

• You can add multiple attempts — superscoring takes the best section scores across all dates
• Most schools are test-optional; log scores only if you plan to submit them

Add your AP, IB, honors, and regular courses. Assign a letter grade to each course and the GPA Calculator will compute your weighted and unweighted GPA automatically. Use Sofia for help in your specific AP courses.

• Weighted GPA adds +1.0 for AP/IB and +0.5 for Honors/Dual Enrollment
• Every AP course has a study plan and a full practice exam in the Tutor section

Log your extracurricular activities, leadership positions, awards, and competition results. Drag to reorder — the sequence shows colleges which activities matter most to you. Ask Katy to help you write strong activity descriptions.

• Most colleges ask for up to 10 activities in priority order
• Log math, science, and computing competitions in the Competitions tracker

Generate a shareable link to your Student Portfolio — a clean one-page summary of your academics, activities, and awards. Send it to coaches, counselors, college reps, or potential employers.

• You can revoke the link at any time from the My Portfolio page
• The portfolio is view-only — recipients cannot edit anything

Katy, your AI college coach, is available from anywhere in the app — just click the coach button in the bottom-right corner. Ask her about specific schools, your essay strategy, how to frame an activity, or anything else related to your application. She has context about college admissions and gives specific, actionable advice.

• Katy works best with context — tell her your GPA, target schools, and what you are working on
• For essay feedback, paste your full draft and ask for comments on a specific aspect