Sheet 01 · University preparation
Somewhere out there is the place your student becomes themselves. Let's go and find it.
Junior year arrives with a strange mix of pride and panic. The kid who couldn't tie their shoes is suddenly being asked to write about who they are, and the deadlines don't wait for anyone to feel ready. Spherically walks the whole road with you — the list, the essays, the testing, the decision — one-on-one with Dr. J, with confidence, creativity, and joy. And with a plan your family can actually see.
“Live spherically, and with childlike exuberance.”
Four years from now your student is walking under stone arches — late for something, sure of themselves, deep in an argument about a book with someone who will be at their wedding. That is what all of this is actually for. Not the applications. The life waiting on the other side of them.
- A campus that fits, not just a name that impresses.
- A student who can say out loud why they belong there.
- A family that came through the year still talking to each other.
Students I've worked with have been admitted to
Stanford University
McGill University
Full scholarship
University of Washington
Sheet 02 · Who you work with
Jeannine Sherman, Ph.D.
Hi, I'm Dr. J — Stanford alumna, curriculum expert, and founder of Spherically. With a Ph.D. and over twenty years in academic coordination, curriculum design, and high-level instruction, I help ambitious students stand out to top-tier universities. My coaching is high-touch and personal, which is exactly why I keep the roster small.
Stanford alumna & Ph.D.
Academic rigor, with insider insight
Two decades inside curriculum and instruction, and a first-hand read on what elite universities are actually looking for behind the published criteria.
20+ years in education
Curriculum design and direct coaching
Academic coordination, curriculum development, and high-level instruction — the long view on how a four-year record becomes a coherent story.
Narrative & essay mastery
Turning achievements into a voice
Selective admissions asks for more than grades and scores. It asks for strategic vision, sharp narrative focus, and real intellectual depth. That is the work.
Sheet 03 · Where to start
Two ways to begin. The same coach, all the way through.
Workshops
Student Writers' Workshop
Your first session is free · then $95 per 1-hour session
A small group, and the hour where your student stops writing what they think admissions wants to hear and starts sounding like themselves.
- An hour of live editing, with work read aloud and responded to
- Saturdays 11:00 – 12:00, in Raleigh
- Mondays 4:00 – 5:00, online
- Pick in person or online and stay with it — the group comes to know each other
- Book by the session — one at a time, or up to four in a block
- A block of four sessions is $323 — 15% off, saving you $57
- Nothing renews on its own — you decide again each month
Full Service
Comprehensive College Prep
The whole year held for you — the list, the essays, the testing, the deadlines — with Dr. J beside your student the entire way.
- One-to-one on the list, the essays, the supplements, and the final read
- SAT, ACT and AP prep included — not a second package, and no hourly bill on top
- A full-length diagnostic first, so the work goes where the points are actually being lost rather than into retaking the whole test and hoping
- Proctored practice tests, and a pacing plan for the real day
- Weekly office hours, for the questions that come up midweek
- June to November, two scheduled hours a week with Dr. J
- December to May, one hour a week once the submissions are in
Sheet 05 · Questions
Asked on almost every call
When should we start?
Junior spring is ideal — it leaves room for testing, essays, and a summer of real writing. We still take seniors through October and rebuild the plan around the time that is actually left.
Who actually coaches my student?
Dr. J. Every session is with the founder, not an associate or a junior coach. That is the reason the roster is small and the reason the package costs what it does.
Do you write essays for students?
No. We brainstorm, question, and edit. The student writes every word. Admissions officers can tell the difference, and so can we.
Do you guarantee admission?
No one honestly can, and anyone who does is selling something. We guarantee preparation, a real reply between sessions, and applications submitted on time and in good shape.
Online, or in Raleigh?
Depends which one. The Writers' Workshop runs both ways, but a student picks one and stays with it — Saturdays in Raleigh, capped at 5 students, or Mondays online, capped at 10. A session is an hour either way. The comprehensive month runs over video throughout, including the SAT, ACT and AP work, which keeps scheduling sane across school, work, and time zones.
Sheet 06 · Free consultation
Thirty minutes, and a dated timeline you keep either way.
You talk to Dr. J, not a salesperson. If you don’t need us, we’ll say so on the call.
Book your free consultation