Q1.
Why does A26 cap the number of students it takes?
Because growth always comes with growing pains, and we refuse to pass those on to a student. A26 runs on two models: an intimate, capped boutique counselling service, and course-based seasonal programs like our Axiom Research Incubator. We do want to grow. But we only expand in the places where we're certain it won't cost a student anything. The boutique roster stays capped because deep, individual attention falls apart the moment the numbers climb too high. When we scale, we scale the parts that can scale safely, and we stay honest about the difference.
Q2.
Do you guarantee admission to a specific university?
No, and anyone who does is lying to you. No consultant controls an admissions decision, and no honest one pretends to. What we control is the quality of the profile, the strategy, and the application, and we make those as strong as they can honestly be. If a firm guarantees you a specific school, walk away. That promise can only be kept by inflating a profile, fabricating parts of it, or getting lucky.
Q3.
Why isn't your staff all Ivy League graduates?
Because getting into a top school and knowing how to get someone else in are two completely different skills. An acceptance letter proves a person was admitted once. It doesn't mean they can read a 14-year-old's profile, see what's missing, and build a four-year plan around it. Knowing a subject deeply isn't the same as being able to teach it to a child either. We hire based on outcomes and quality of instruction, not the branded school someone attended or their GPA. Plenty of Ivy graduates are excellent at this work. Plenty are not. We select for the skill itself, the ability to guide a student, recognize patterns across thousands of profiles, and tell a family the truth.
Q4.
Will you write my child's essays for them?
No. We never write on a student's behalf. We brainstorm, ask the hard questions, edit, and push through draft after draft until the writing is sharp, but the words stay the student's own. A ghost-written essay is easy to spot, it falls apart the moment a student is asked about it in an interview, and it robs your child of a skill they'll need long after admissions. Every word in the application represents the student, not us.
Q5.
What happens if it isn't working out partway through?
You're not trapped. We work on annual terms only, with no multi-year lock-in and no hidden renewal clauses. If the fit isn't right, you can leave, and the contract says exactly that in plain language. We'd rather keep a family because the work is good than because leaving was made painful.
Q6.
How many students do you take per year?
Fewer than we could, on purpose. Every service runs on a fixed cap, because individual attention breaks down past a certain number. We publish the exact capacity for each service on our About page, so you can hold us to it. When a service is full, it's full.
Q7.
Do you work with students outside Vancouver?
Yes. We're based in Vancouver, but we work with families across multiple countries and time zones. Most of our services run online, so where a student lives makes no difference to the quality of support. The exception is our summer programs, which run in person. Different city, different system, same standard of guidance.
Q8.
What is a "pipeline profile," and why does it hurt my child?
A pipeline profile is an application that looks identical to every other applicant from the same background. Same competitions, same clubs, same safe story. Admissions officers see thousands of them, and they blend together. Because we've reviewed over 1,000 profiles across 8 countries, we know exactly what the pipeline looks like, and we build your child away from it, not into it.
Q9.
My child already has top grades and test scores. Why would they need you?
Because grades and scores are table stakes, not a differentiator. At selective schools, almost everyone in the pile has them. What separates a strong applicant from an admitted one is coherence: whether their activities, projects, and story add up to a clear picture of who they are. That doesn't happen by accident, and it's exactly the part strong students most often neglect.
