Rao Advisors - We Help You Aim Higher!

We are a Google 5-star small business-rated, full-service, low-cost Texas firm that uses advanced online tools to counsel students and families about all things college, including graduate school. Our webinars have won praise for their innovation. Our outcome-based college selection methods are unique and structured SOP/essay reviews help you stand apart. Join hundreds of satisfied clients who have won admission to the most elite U.S. institutions.

Rao Advisors - Home

Do you have an 8th - 12th grader at home? Do you feel that they can use some advice to improve their high school preparedness? Are you confused about how to plan for their college?

We hope that your child can join the hundreds of our student clients in the United States and from around the world who have won admission to top colleges and universities in the U.S.

For the Class of 2026, several clients reported getting interview calls from the very best schools, including Cornell, Rice, Vanderbilt, Wash U, the University of Southern California, Northeastern University, and Berkeley. A few got admissions to direct MD/DO programs.

Many clients reported getting into some of the best public universities, including Public Ivys. UT Austin, UCLA, Georgia Tech, the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, UC San Diego, the University of Michigan, Purdue, and the University of Virginia, repeatedly made the list. Clients also got into Texas A&M, Arizona State, the University of Washington, the University of Pittsburgh, and Virginia Tech.

Read our open letter to parents of the high school class of 2027.

Our lead counselor is Rajkamal Rao, the founding Managing Director of the firm. We're proud to be a Google 5-Star Business, a prestigious recognition we first earned in May 2018 and continue to maintain. Check out our public reviews on Google or feel free to ask the 1,300 people who like or follow our Facebook page.

Scan the QR codes below to access key pages of our site.

About us

Book an appointment

Essay primer including our two-pass approach

Our fees

Domicile Information for Texas Public Colleges and Universities

By Rajkamal Rao

Here are the forms used by all TX public universities to make decisions about your domicile and hence, if you can be reclassified as in-state for the purposes of tuition.

Core Residency Questionnaire

Documentation to Support Domicile and Residency - Check out Non-U.S. Citizen Basing Residency on Parent/Guardian

Residency Affidavit

Once you get the unique Student ID from each school, print out the residency affidavit and put the Student ID in the field.

Get all of them notarized and scan them to a .pdf file.

Send your .pdf in an email to the undergraduate student admissions office at each target school, copying the university registrar's office at each school. The latter office will reclassify you as in-state.

Include the following information in each mail:

Name

Student ID - this is what the school sends you.

ApplyTex application ID for the school

Email address

Phone number

Rao Advisors Privacy Policy

Rao Advisors LLC, wholly owned by Rajkamal Rao and Bhagyashri Rao, operates the www.raoadvisors.com website (the "Site") and takes your privacy very seriously.

We do not sell or share personal information. We limit the use of sensitive personal information.

This privacy policy is intended to inform you about the information that is collected from you when you visit the Site; how this information may be used and disclosed; how you can control the use and disclosure of your information; and how your information is protected. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, please contact us at rajkamal.rao@raoadvisors.com.

Our site is hosted on Blogger, a Google-owned site.

Scope: This privacy policy applies only to the Site. This policy does not apply to information collected through any other website or to the practices of companies that this site does not control. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of other websites, and we recommend that you read the privacy policies of each website that you visit.

What information the Site collects Information you provide directly to us:
You are not required to provide information directly to us in order to view the Site. However, when you use certain Site functions, such as when you register for certain services, access certain content or features, or directly contact the Site, we may ask you to provide information, including:

contact information, such as name, email address, postal address, phone number, and mobile number;
username and password;
information posted in community discussions and other interactive online features;
search queries conducted on the Site; and
correspondence you send to us.

Information automatically collected when you visit and interact with the Site:
When you visit and interact with the Site, certain information may be collected automatically, including:

your computer's Internet Protocol (IP) address;
your browser type and operating system;
the web pages you were visiting immediately before and after you came to the Site;
activities within community discussions;
web pages and advertisements that you view, and links that you click on, within the Site;
your bandwidth speed and information about the software programs that are installed on your computer;
aggregated data about email click-through rates and user video viewing;
standard server log information; and
information collected through HTML cookies, Flash cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies.

How we use the information that we collect Email Communications:
We may use the information that we collect to send you e-mail communications, such as editorial updates, information about your account or changes to the Site, and promotional messages about our own or our marketing partners' products and services. If you signed up for one of our email newsletters, we also will send you the newsletter that you requested.

Advertising:
In order to provide our readers with free access to our content, we may decide to display advertisements on the Site, many of which are targeted based on information about you. For example, using information collected through cookies, web beacons, and other sources, we may use demographic data or information about your online activities or interests to display targeted advertising that may be relevant to your preferences. Through this process, advertisers reach Site visitors who are most interested in their products, and you see advertising for products or services in which you may be interested. Third-party advertisers and advertising platforms also may serve targeted ads on the Site. Please remember that the information practices of third-party advertisers or platforms collecting data on our site are not covered by this privacy policy.

User Accounts:
To provide you with an open, but also civil, discussion forum, we track user involvement in our community discussions.

Request Fulfillment:
We may use the information that we collect to fulfill your requests for products, services, and information. For example, we may use your contact information to respond to your customer service requests or to enable you to participate in features on the Site such as surveys, polls, sweepstakes, and message boards.

Statistical Analysis:
In order to learn more about how our Site is used, we aggregate and analyze the data that we collect. We may use this information, for example, to monitor and analyze use of the Site, to increase our Site's functionality, and to better tailor our content and design to suit our visitors' needs.

Enforcement:
We may use the information that we collect to prevent illegal activities, to enforce the Site's Terms and Conditions, and to otherwise protect our rights and the rights of our users. In addition to the uses identified above, we may use the information that we collect for any other purposes disclosed to you at the time we collect your information or pursuant to your consent.

Information sharing: We value your privacy, and will not share information about you to anyone. If you choose to engage in public activities on the site, such as posting comments on community message boards, any information you submit can be read, collected, or used by others. Please exercise caution when deciding to disclose any personal information in public activities or submissions.

We may share information about you in the event that the Site is acquired by or merged with another company or a similar corporate transaction takes place. However, the Site will notify you by placing a prominent notice on our site or sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account before your information is transferred and becomes subject to a different privacy policy.
We may share information about you to investigate, prevent, or take action regarding illegal activities, suspected fraud, situations involving potential threats to the physical safety or other rights and interests of any person, or as otherwise required by law.
We may share information about you to respond to subpoenas, search warrants, judicial proceedings, court orders, legal process, or other law enforcement measures, to establish or exercise our legal rights, or to defend against legal claims.
In addition to the scenarios identified above, we may share information about you for any other purposes disclosed to you at the time we collect your information or pursuant to your consent.

Please note that third parties may independently collect data about you, including your IP address and information about the websites you visit and the links you click, through cookies, clicks on links, or other means when you visit or view ads on the Site.

Access: If you choose to share contact information with us, you may update or amend this information by contacting us at rajkamal.rao@raoadvisors.com.

Confidentiality and security: We limit access to contact information about you to employees or service providers who we believe reasonably need to come into contact with that information to provide products or services to you or in order to do their jobs. We also have adopted commercially reasonable technical, physical, and administrative procedures to help protect information about you from loss, misuse, and alteration.

Please note that no data transmission or storage can be guaranteed to be 100% secure. We want you to feel confident using the Site, but we cannot ensure or warrant the security of any information you transmit to us.

Children under 13: We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If we learn that we have collected any personal information from a child under the age of 13 without verifiable parental consent, we will delete that information from our database as quickly as possible. If you believe that we may have collected information from a child under 13, please contact us at rajkamal.rao@raoadvisors.com.

Changes to the privacy policy: We may update this privacy policy at any time to reflect changes in our practices and service offerings. If we modify this privacy policy, we will update the "Effective Date." We will notify you of any material changes in the way we treat your information by placing a prominent notice on our site or sending a notice to the primary email address specified in your account.

Questions and suggestions: If you have questions about this privacy policy, please contact our privacy team at rajkamal.rao@raoadvisors.com.

Effective Date: Feb 13, 2013. Updated 07/02/2026

Tutor Profiles

Jeffrey Kunzweiler

Jeffrey Kunzweiler is a Philosophy and Literary Arts major at Brown University with a passion for English and writing. He won the National Award in the Short Story category in 2025.

Khushi Vandra

Khushi Vandra is a Particle Physics Ph.D student at Duke University. She graduated from Villanova University and has interned at Columbia and CERN. As a researcher, she possesses strong mathematical and English skills.

Kristofer Nino

Kristofer Nino is an English graduate from Stanford (2025). He has a passion for English and writing, having served as a writer for The Stanford Daily, Stanford's largest newspaper.

Pranav Tenneti

Pranav Tenneti is an accomplished graduate of Electrical and Computer Engineering with a double major in Business Honors from UT Austin. He is a strong Math tutor.

Ronak Suchindra

Ronak Suchindra is a Mechanical Engineering undergraduate at UPenn, strong in Math and English. He focuses on identifying improvement areas through targeted practice.

Sahasra Jasti

Sahasra Jasti is an accomplished Math major at UT Austin. She is strong in Math, loves teaching it, and has helped multiple clients master subjects including Calculus and Geometry.

Pradyun Gaddam

Pradyun Gaddam is an accomplished Computer Science and Math major at Purdue University. He is strong in Math and loves teaching it.

Popular Essay Prompts

Common App, UT Austin, and Texas A&M

Most colleges use established essay prompts to help students share meaningful experiences from their lives. These prompts guide students toward stories that reveal character, values, and personal growth. Understanding the major prompts helps students choose topics that align with their lived experiences and support strong, reflective writing.

Common App Personal Essay Prompts (650 words)

The Common App personal essay is accepted by more than 1,000 colleges. Students choose one prompt from the list below. Each prompt encourages storytelling rooted in personal experience, reflection, and insight.

The Seven Common App Prompts

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, please share your story.
The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?
Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?
Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?
Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.
Describe a topic, idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time. Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn more?
Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

These prompts work well for students who want to explore a formative moment or a steady pattern in their lives. Personal anecdotes are especially effective because they help admissions officers understand the student’s perspective and development.

UT Austin Essay Requirements

UT Austin continues to accept both the Common App and ApplyTexas. Beginning with Fall 2025 admissions, the university has simplified its writing requirements. The long 650‑word growth essay and the three older supplements have been removed. Students now complete one required essay and two short supplemental responses. These changes reduce the overall writing load for applicants.

Required Essay (500–650 words)

Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you’ve already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.

This prompt is identical to Common App Prompt #7.

By definition, this means that students can respond to any Common App prompt, not just #7. Students therefore may submit any essay that reflects their lived experiences, personal growth, or meaningful insights.

Supplemental Essays (250–300 words each)

1. First‑Choice Major Essay

Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first‑choice major?

Students can explain how their interest developed and how their experiences shaped that interest. A clear narrative works well here. Students may reference academic exposure, personal projects, responsibilities, or observations that guided their thinking. When exploring career pathways, students can consult the U.S. Department of Labor’s ONET database for detailed descriptions of hundreds of occupations. Themes from ONET can help students articulate long‑term goals in a grounded way.

2. Activity or Responsibility Essay

Think of all the activities — both in and outside of school — that you have been involved with during high school. Which one are you most proud of and why?

(Guidance for students: This can include an extracurricular activity, a club or organization, volunteer activity, work, or a family responsibility.)

This prompt invites students to highlight a meaningful experience. Students may describe how they contributed to a group, supported others, developed a skill, or took on a responsibility. Many students choose to reflect on leadership, service, or steady commitment. A focused anecdote helps illustrate the significance of the experience.

Optional Essay

Please share background on events or special circumstances that you feel may have impacted your high school academic performance.

Students may use this space if they experienced significant adversity such as financial hardship, family responsibilities, health challenges, or loss. This prompt is optional and should be used only when the context helps admissions officers understand the student’s academic record.

Texas A&M Essay Requirements

Texas A&M accepts both ApplyTexas and the Common App. The university uses one required essay, two supplemental essays, and several scholarship‑related “stealth” questions. Engineering applicants no longer complete a separate engineering supplement.

Required Essay

Texas A&M’s required essay prompt is the same across both platforms:

“Tell us your story. What unique opportunities or challenges have you experienced throughout your high school career that have shaped who you are today?”

Students can describe meaningful experiences, responsibilities, or challenges that influenced their development. Personal anecdotes help illustrate growth and perspective.

Supplemental Essays (Common App Writing Section)

Essay Topic 1 (250 words)

Tell us about the person who has most impacted your life and why.

Students may describe a family member, mentor, teacher, coach, or another individual who influenced their values or direction. A brief anecdote helps show the nature of the relationship.

Essay Topic 2 (250 words)

Describe a life event which you feel has prepared you to be successful in college.

Students can reflect on a responsibility, challenge, project, or experience that strengthened their readiness for college‑level work and independence.

Engineering Supplement

The Engineering Essay/Short Answer Question is no longer part of the freshman application. No engineering supplement is required.

Stealth Essays (TAMU Endowment Scholarships)

These questions appear in the scholarship section after the writing portion of the application. Students enter responses directly into text boxes. These questions do not appear on ApplyTexas.

Why have you chosen to apply to Texas A&M University? (50 words)
Why have you chosen your academic major(s)? (50 words)
Briefly describe any educational plans you have beyond earning your bachelor's degree. (50 words)
What are some of your life goals and objectives? (50 words)
How do you show leadership in your life? How do you see yourself being a leader at Texas A&M University?
or
Describe an example of your leadership. Be sure to describe your actions and the actions of those around you and to explain what you accomplished. (550 words)

These responses help the scholarship committee understand the student’s motivations, goals, and leadership experiences.

Engineering Honors Essays

The Engineering Honors application opens in early November 2026. Requirements for this cycle have not yet been released. In prior years, applicants completed three 500‑word short answers, one 1,000‑word supplement, and submitted a separate letter of recommendation. Students interested in Engineering Honors should monitor Texas A&M’s official updates.

Our College Essay Writing Guide

Purpose of the College Essay

The college essay introduces you to admissions officers in a personal way. It gives context to your experiences, motivations, and values. It also helps colleges understand how you think and what shaped your perspective. A strong essay grows from your lived experience and presents your story with clarity and sincerity.

What Colleges Hope to Learn

Admissions officers read your essay to understand:

the experiences that influenced you
the responsibilities you have taken on
the interests that guide your choices
the qualities you demonstrate through your actions
the way you reflect on events in your life

They look for writing that is thoughtful, specific, and grounded in real moments.

Selecting a Meaningful Story

A strong essay begins with a personal anecdote. This can be a brief moment, a small interaction, or a situation that stayed with you. What matters is the insight it produced and the way it shaped your thinking.

Students often find meaningful material in:

a responsibility that required steady effort
an experience that changed how you understood something
a moment that revealed a value you hold
a challenge that required patience or creativity
an interest you explored in depth

These lived experiences provide the raw material for reflection and storytelling.

Writing in Your Own Voice

Your essay should sound like you. Use language that feels natural and clear. Write in the first person. Focus on your thoughts, actions, and observations. Personal anecdotes work best when they are described simply and directly, without embellishment.

Using Lived Experience as Evidence

Specific details from your life give your essay strength. These details can come from:

a conversation
a routine
a responsibility
a moment of hesitation or decision
an observation that stayed with you

These elements help readers understand how you move through the world. They also give your writing texture and authenticity.

Elements of Effective Writing

The Brown University framework offers a helpful structure for strong writing:

Idea — the central point of your essay
Motive — the reason the story matters
Structure — the organization of your narrative
Evidence — the lived experience and specific details
Explanation — the meaning behind those details
Coherence — smooth flow from one part to the next
Implication — the broader significance of your story
Presence — your voice and personality

Personal anecdotes support the “evidence” and “presence” elements especially well.

Using the STAR Method

The STAR method provides a reliable way to shape longer essays:

Situation — describe the context
Task — explain what you needed to do
Action — outline the steps you took
Result — summarize the outcome and what you learned

This approach helps you organize your lived experience into a clear narrative.

Maintaining Clarity and Focus

Clear writing depends on specific details and steady pacing. Describe what happened, how you responded, and what you learned. Let your reflection grow naturally from the events you describe. Personal anecdotes guide the reader through your thought process and help them understand your growth.

Topics That Require Care

Some experiences require thoughtful handling because they can shift attention away from your development. These include highly sensitive personal events or subjects that may lead to strong reactions. If you choose one of these areas, keep the focus on your insight and growth.

Common Writing Challenges

Students often face challenges such as:

selecting a topic that is too broad
summarizing events without reflection
relying on general statements
repeating the same idea in multiple ways
describing achievements instead of experiences

Personal anecdotes help avoid these issues by grounding the essay in real moments.

Preparing to Write

Before drafting, take time to:

List meaningful experiences from your life
Identify what each experience reveals about you
Choose one that offers room for reflection
Outline the sequence of events
Draft without worrying about perfection
Revise for clarity, detail, and insight

This preparation leads to stronger writing and a more focused essay.

After Completing Your Draft

A professional review helps refine your structure, strengthen your voice, and ensure your writing is polished. Our proprietary Two‑Pass Review Approach supports this process by providing creative guidance in the first pass and technical refinement in the second.

Final Guidance

A strong college essay grows from lived experience, honest reflection, and clear storytelling. When you focus on the moments that shaped you and the meaning behind them, you create writing that helps admissions officers understand you as a person.

Resume Review

Resume reviews are fixed price.

Repeat Pass (First or Second)

Our pricing is simple and based on the official word limit set by the institution. You may submit an essay that exceeds the stated limit by up to 5%. Anything beyond that moves into the next pricing band. If your essay is shorter than the stated word limit, we still price it using the official word count for that prompt.

To estimate your cost, divide your essay’s word count by 50. This gives you the number of units you will purchase.

Second Pass Only

To estimate your cost, divide your essay’s word count by 50. This gives you the number of units you will purchase.

First Pass Only

To estimate your cost, divide your essay’s word count by 50. This gives you the number of units you will purchase.

Full Service (First Pass + Second Pass)

To estimate your cost, divide your essay’s word count by 50. This gives you the number of units you will purchase.

Should You Consider Texas A&M's PSA Option?

The Texas A&M University Program for System Admission (PSA) is an alternative pathway to eventually enroll at Texas A&M’s College Station campus. It is similar to UT Austin's Coordinated Admissions Program (CAP).

Students who are offered PSA start at another Texas A&M System university for one year and can transfer to College Station after meeting specific requirements.

How the PSA Program Works

Apply to Texas A&M College Station
Receive PSA offer instead of full admission
Enroll at a participating A&M System school (freshman year)
Complete required coursework and maintain threshold GPA
Transfer automatically to College Station in sophomore year (if requirements met)

Pros of the PSA Program

Guaranteed transfer pathway
If requirements are met exactly, admission to College Station is guaranteed for approved majors.

Stay within the A&M system
Students remain Aggies and transition smoothly.

Smaller freshman environment
System campuses often have smaller classes and more support.

Cost savings
Some system schools have lower tuition and housing costs.

Second chance at College Station
Strong option for students who narrowly missed freshman admission.

Cons of the PSA Program

Limited major options
Not all majors at Texas A&M participate.

Strict GPA and course requirements
Missing even one requirement can void the guarantee.

Must leave College Station freshman experience
Students spend first year at another campus.

Engineering is NOT included
Students interested in engineering should look at Texas A&M Engineering at Blinn (TEAB) instead.

Campus transition adjustment
Students must relocate after freshman year.

Majors Commonly Available Through PSA

(Exact list changes slightly each year, but typically includes:)

Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Economics
Political Science
Sociology
Psychology
Communication
English

Agriculture and Life Sciences

Agricultural Economics
Animal Science
Horticulture
Poultry Science
Rangeland Ecology

Some Science Majors

Mathematics
Environmental Geosciences
Geography

Majors Typically NOT Available via PSA

Engineering
Business (Mays Business School)
Computer Science
Biomedical Sciences
Most competitive STEM tracks

Who Should Consider PSA

PSA is a good fit if the student:

Strongly wants Texas A&M College Station
Is comfortable starting at another campus
Can maintain disciplined GPA performance
Is interested in PSA eligible majors
Just missed full admission

Strategic Advice (Important)

PSA works best when the major goal is realistic. Many families make the mistake of accepting PSA while hoping to switch later into:

Business
Engineering
Computer Science

That path is extremely difficult and often unsuccessful.

Bottom Line

PSA is a solid back door into Texas A&M but only for students who:

Are okay with the available majors
Will strictly follow the transfer requirements
Understand the freshman year will be elsewhere

A Note About Rao Advisors Premium Services
Our promise is to empower you with high-quality, ethical and free advice via this website. But parents and students often ask us if they can engage with us for individual counseling sessions.

Individual counseling is part of the Premium Offering of Rao Advisors and involves a fee. Please contact us for more information.

Counseling Fees

Counseling Fees (U.S. High School Families)

Fees

All one-on-one sessions and off-line work are billable. We remind clients who book an appointment online that there will be a fee based on the fee tier and the session duration.

With us, you pay by the hour (drink). Our rate card is simple.

If you have any questions about our services or fees, please contact us before booking the appointment. We appreciate your understanding!

Our rate card

Information on this page is the only relevant source for fees. Please ignore any fees information present anywhere else including our website (such as the letter to parents or essay primer post), WhatsApp group chats, or Facebook Page.

Tier A. 12th graders and rising 12th graders: Our rate is $199/hour. If you hire us on demand (and for a one-off task), our rate is $199/hour. 1 hour-minimum. Calls longer than 1 hour will be prorated to the nearest 5 minutes.

All of our essay reviews can now be ordered from a simple menu-driven product list resembling an online store. You prepay for our service using a fixed-price model and get full buyer protection from PayPal.

Tier B. 11th graders and younger: Our rate is $179/hour. 1 hour-minimum. Calls longer than 1 hour will be prorated to the nearest 5 minutes.

As your student moves from Tier B to Tier A, they will move to the respective pricing tier, and we will invoice you accordingly.

If you're an international student applying to U.S. graduate school, we offer a package fee. Please check out our international student page for details.
College counseling generally requires both online sessions (in-person, video, phone and chat conversations - any medium where we are engaged with you to address questions specific to your case), and off-line sessions (such as during essay/resume reviews or course planning).
Questions asked on public boards (like our Facebook page or on our WhatsApp group) are not billable because these are deemed general questions.

Our business model is to provide you with as much public information as you want for free - via our popular posts on this website, Facebook page, and public seminars. We only charge when you engage with us for one-on-one help, either online or offline. But you control how much you want to engage, down to the hour. This allows you to better budget your spend. It is one reason we are popular with our clients.

We have developed new tools that will likely lower your overall hours of engagement, such as reusing essays, distributing detailed notes with action items, or self-managing your task plan. Our college selection sheet instantly predicts your chance of admission to 542 colleges based on your admission test scores. Our library of over 50 original posts dedicated to the 11th and 12th grader is loaded with information. Our Facebook Business Page, operational since 2013, contains a treasure-trove of information about every aspect of college readiness. Our model of encouraging you to limit engagement with us to only those elements for which you need one-on-one assistance may be counter-intuitive. But it is the reason for our growth and positioning in this industry.

We work hard to win your trust. We are responsive, often getting back to you in a matter of minutes. Our workday begins at 7 AM and ends at 11 PM. We're open on weekends and holidays. We counsel by Zoom.

Fees for Essay Reviews

Please check out our Essay Shopping Cart page. Our essay review process is among the best in the industry - check out our 5-Star Google reviews.

Fees for Test Prep and Tutoring Services

Please check out our Test Prep Shopping Cart page.

What counseling services do we provide high school families?

What counseling services do we provide 12th grade students?

What services do we provide international graduate students?

Check out our Google Reviews

Book an Appointment

Contact us

Are Private Counselors Necessary? How Much Do They Charge?

Hiring a counselor is a private decision but increasingly, a lot of US families are doing just this.

We remain a bargain. We charge only by the hour. And because we don't require contracts and offer plenty of do-it-yourself tools, you could further lower costs by engaging with us less. With us, you're always in control.

Why Are Our Fees Low?

Our fees are much lower because we are an online company that can pass savings on to you. We don't rent expensive office space or hire needless overhead resources. We don't advertise - all our growth is from word-of-mouth client referrals for which we are forever grateful.

We conduct most of our business online using cloud tools, lowering our costs of delivery. We reach a global audience.

Rao Advisors Test Prep: Tutoring Service

By Rajkamal Rao

Under our Test Prep organization, we offer tutoring in all core high school subjects (English, Math, Science, and Social Studies), at all levels, and all grades. We also tutor certain electives.

We recruit tutors from top institutions across the country - mentors who combine subject mastery with a supportive, student‑centered teaching style. Our current roster (January 2026) includes tutors who are students themselves at elite schools: Stanford University (Physics, Computer Science), University of Pennsylvania (Mechanical Engineering), Multiple students at UT Austin (Electrical & Computer Engineering, Math, Business Honors, Finance, Economics), Duke University (Computer Science & Statistics), Purdue University (Computer Science & Math), Villanova University (Physics).

Many of our tutors understand our commitment to quality and responsiveness. They were clients themselves, having gone through high school readiness and college admissions counseling sessions with us. We match students based on subject strengths and needs; and availability and scheduling preferences.

You’ll see how our system blends diagnostic assessments, focused learning bursts, and personalized instruction to help students. In most cases, students tend to make meaningful gains in just 2-3 sessions because of our structured approach. Also, we are often able to schedule your first session in 24-48 hours from first contact.

Each 1-hour session includes a 50-minute instructional block followed by a 10-minute wrap-up. The sessions include targeted skill practice, guided problem‑solving, homework review and next steps.

Sessions are warm. Our tutors are trained to support both academic growth and student confidence. All sessions will occur within the Rao Advisors Small Business domain, using secure Google tools, such as Google Meet which has a built-in, collaborative whiteboard feature that allows real-time brainstorming, drawing, sticky notes, and image addition.

What is the cost?

These are our minimum packages for all tutoring services.

5 hours – two students: $47/hr/student → $235/student

Both students must buy the package separately, otherwise the single student price will apply.
5 hours – single student: $79/hr → $395/student
10 hours – two students: $42/hr/student → $420/student (Recommended)

Both students must buy the package separately, otherwise the single student price will apply.
10 hours – single student: $69/hr → $690/student

For the most current fee schedule, please refer to our Test Prep Shopping Cart Page.

If you prefer to talk to us before making a purchase, please contact us.

Go back to "Rao Advisors - Home".

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We do not sell or share personal information. We limit the use of sensitive personal information.

Common App, UT Austin, and Texas A&M

Common App Personal Essay Prompts (650 words)

UT Austin Essay Requirements

Required Essay (500–650 words)

Supplemental Essays (250–300 words each)

1. First‑Choice Major Essay

2. Activity or Responsibility Essay

Optional Essay

Texas A&M Essay Requirements

Required Essay

Supplemental Essays (Common App Writing Section)

Essay Topic 1 (250 words)

Essay Topic 2 (250 words)

Engineering Supplement

Stealth Essays (TAMU Endowment Scholarships)

Engineering Honors Essays

Purpose of the College Essay

What Colleges Hope to Learn

Selecting a Meaningful Story

Writing in Your Own Voice

Using Lived Experience as Evidence

Elements of Effective Writing

Using the STAR Method

Maintaining Clarity and Focus

Topics That Require Care

Common Writing Challenges

Preparing to Write

After Completing Your Draft

Final Guidance

How the PSA Program Works

Pros of the PSA Program

Cons of the PSA Program

Majors Commonly Available Through PSA

Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

Agriculture and Life Sciences

Some Science Majors

Majors Typically NOT Available via PSA

Who Should Consider PSA

Strategic Advice (Important)

Bottom Line

Counseling Fees (U.S. High School Families)

Our rate card

Fees for Essay Reviews

Fees for Test Prep and Tutoring Services

Are Private Counselors Necessary? How Much Do They Charge?

Why Are Our Fees Low?

What is the cost?