The Parent’s Guide to May 1: How to Support Your Senior Through the Final College Decision
May 1 is about 27 days away. Your senior has to make the hardest decision of their young life. And you have to help without taking over. I have watched this dynamic in hundreds of families. Here is what the best parents do and what the others get wrong.
National Decision Day is May 1, 2026. Your senior needs to choose one college, pay the enrollment deposit, and decline every other offer by that date. For most families, the last few weeks before May 1 are genuinely stressful, and the stress lands on both the student and the parents.
Your role as a parent in this decision is significant but bounded. You are not the decision maker. Your student is. But how you show up in the weeks before May 1 will either help your senior make a clear-eyed decision or add anxiety to an already difficult moment.
The Conversations You Should Be Having Right Now
If you have not already had a clear, honest conversation about the financial reality, this is the week to do it. Your student needs to know what the family can actually afford, not just the sticker prices and not just a vague ‘we’ll figure it out.’ Specificity reduces anxiety, even when the numbers are tight.
The financial conversation should cover: what is the out-of-pocket cost per year at each school after all aid? What is the expected student loan amount at graduation? Does the family’s expected contribution actually match what was calculated in the financial aid award letters? Are any merit scholarships renewable and under what GPA conditions?
This is not a lecture. It is a conversation. Your student should be a full participant in understanding the financial implications of their choice. They are 17 or 18 years old. They can handle the real numbers if you present them with respect rather than pressure.
When the Tiebreaker Is Fit, Not Finances
If the financial gap between your student’s top two options is manageable, or if one offer is clearly more affordable and your student is genuinely choosing based on fit, the conversation shifts. You are not guiding a financial analysis anymore. You are helping your student understand what they actually want.
The best question to ask: where does your student feel like they could be fully themselves for four years? Not where do they think they should go. Not where will impress the most people. Where will they thrive, grow, and be challenged in the right ways?
The second-best question: what does your student worry about at each school? Real concerns are often more revealing than enthusiasm. A student who is excited about one school but consistently worried about one specific thing about it may be telling you something important about fit that the surface enthusiasm is papering over.
The Trap Parents Fall Into: The Prestige Override
The most common mistake I see parents make in the final weeks before May 1: pushing their student toward the most prestigious name on the offer list, regardless of fit or cost. I understand the impulse. Parents want the best for their children. The most well-known school feels like the safest bet for their future.
But prestige and fit are not the same thing. A student who goes to a school that is genuinely the wrong fit for them will underperform a student who goes to a school that is right for them, even if the second school ranks lower on a national list. Struggling at a prestigious school is not better than thriving at a strong, less famous one.
The test: would you be happy with your student’s top choice if it had no name recognition but the same curriculum, faculty, and opportunities? If the answer is no, you might be making a prestige-based argument rather than a fit-based one. That is worth examining honestly.
Admitted Student Events in April: Use Them
April is admitted student event month at most universities. These are the campus visit days specifically designed for students who have been admitted and are deciding. If your student has not attended an admitted student day at their top choices yet, this is the most important remaining thing to do before May 1.
Admitted student days give your student a chance to meet their future peers, sit in on classes, talk to current students informally, and get a feel for the campus at full energy, not the quiet ghost-town version they may have seen on a weekday visit last spring. Many students make their final decision based on how they felt at an admitted student day.
If your student cannot travel to an admitted student event, virtual options are usually available. They are not as powerful as an in-person visit, but they are better than nothing. Have your student attend even the virtual version and talk to current students in the breakout sessions if possible.
How to Handle It If the Decision Is Not What You Hoped For
Sometimes your student chooses differently than you expected. Maybe they chose the smaller school over the bigger name. Maybe they chose to stay closer to home than you anticipated. Maybe they took the merit scholarship over the school you thought was clearly better.
These decisions are theirs to make. Your job in that moment is to support the outcome, not relitigate it. A student who commits fully and enthusiastically to where they are going does better than one who spends freshman year second-guessing a decision that was questioned at the finish line.
May 1 is the moment to commit and move forward together. Whatever school gets that deposit, it is now your family’s school. Let the decision land and then focus on what comes next.
Frequently Asked Questions
What if my student is still undecided two weeks before May 1?
Two weeks is enough time to make a clear decision if you have the information you need. Visit admitted student events if you have not. Do a final financial aid comparison side by side. Ask your student to describe both schools to someone who does not know either of them, and listen to how they talk about each one.
Can a family negotiate financial aid at this stage?
Yes. Financial aid appeals can be submitted up to and sometimes after May 1, especially if family financial circumstances have changed since the FAFSA was filed. A competing offer from a comparable school can also be used to negotiate with private colleges in particular. The window is narrow but real.
What if my student got into a great school but we cannot afford it?
This is the hardest version of May 1. Have the honest conversation about what the family can afford and what the debt load at graduation means for your student’s first five years of financial life. A school that is financially unsustainable is not the right choice, regardless of how good it is academically.
Should parents attend admitted student days with their senior?
Yes, for most families, one parent attending makes sense. But the senior should lead the visit experience. They should ask the questions, tour independently at points, and have time to talk to current students without a parent present. Your role is to observe, not to audition the school for your own satisfaction.
Is it okay if my student is happy at a school I am less excited about?
Yes, and it is important. Your excitement about a school is not the relevant variable. Your student’s fit, comfort, and genuine enthusiasm for where they are going is what predicts success. If they are thriving somewhere, that school was the right choice regardless of where it ranks on any external list.
Tony Le is a former UC Berkeley Admissions Reader and UCLA Outreach Director with 15+ years of college admissions coaching experience. A full-ride scholarship recipient to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCI, Tony has helped 500+ students gain admission to top universities including Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia. Featured in the Wall Street Journal. Official TikTok College Admissions Educational Partner. Founder of egelloC.
Tony works with a focused group of families each year. Book a free strategy call to see if it is the right fit.
UC Transfer Decisions Are Coming Out Now: What to Do When Yours Arrives in April 2026
UC transfer decisions are dropping this week. UCSC decisions came out April 3. UCI decisions are out. The other UC campuses follow through April. If your student is a transfer applicant, this is the guide for right now.
April is UC transfer decision month. If your student applied to one or more UC campuses as a transfer applicant, decisions are being released on a rolling schedule throughout April 2026. UC Santa Cruz released fall 2026 transfer decisions on April 3. UC Irvine posted updates April 3-4. UC Santa Barbara, UC Davis, UCLA, and UC Berkeley decisions follow over the next several weeks.
The timeline matters because transfer applicants have specific next steps that freshman admits do not. What you do in the 72 hours after your decision arrives can significantly affect your enrollment experience, your financial situation, and whether a waitlist situation is handled correctly.
When Each UC Campus Releases Transfer Decisions in 2026
UC campuses release transfer decisions on different timelines. Historically, UC Santa Cruz and UC Riverside tend to be among the first to release, often in late March to early April. UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis follow in early to mid-April. UCLA and UC Berkeley are typically among the last, with decisions often arriving in late April or early May for some applicants.
Check the application portal for each campus your student applied to. Do not rely on third-party sources or Reddit threads for confirmation of your specific decision. Some applicants in the same campus and major receive decisions days apart. The portal is the only authoritative source.
The national May 1 enrollment deposit deadline applies to transfer students as well. That gives most transfer admits roughly three to four weeks to compare offers, visit if possible, and make a decision. That window goes fast.
You Got In: The Immediate Next Steps
First: congratulations. Getting into a UC as a transfer student is a real achievement. The transfer admission rates at competitive UC campuses are often just as selective as freshman admit rates for certain majors.
In the first 24 hours, log into the admitted student portal for the campus and look for the Statement of Intent to Register, which is the formal enrollment commitment. Do not submit it immediately unless you are absolutely certain. You have until May 1 to decide.
Also check for housing information immediately. Transfer students are often not guaranteed on-campus housing at UC campuses the way freshmen sometimes are. If the campus offers transfer student housing priority through an early application, that window can close quickly. Read every piece of communication from the admitted campus carefully and act on time-sensitive items within the first week.
You Got Waitlisted: What to Do Now
A waitlist offer from a UC campus is not a rejection. It is a conditional position that can convert to an admission if space opens after enrolled students decline. But transfer waitlists at UC campuses move less predictably than freshman waitlists, and movement varies significantly by campus and major.
If your student is waitlisted at their first-choice campus, they should first confirm their intent to remain on the waitlist through the portal. Most campuses require an active confirmation. If your student does not confirm, they are automatically removed.
After confirming, your student can submit a brief letter of continued interest to the admissions office. This should be one paragraph or two at most: confirm their continued strong interest, share any meaningful new achievement or information since the application was submitted, and keep it professional and concise. Long letters do not help more than short ones.
Meanwhile, your student must also accept admission somewhere else before May 1 if they have another offer. You cannot sit on a waitlist without a backup plan. Paying a deposit at your safety school while remaining on a UC waitlist is the right move. If the UC waitlist comes through, you will lose your deposit. That is the expected cost of keeping optionality.
You Were Denied: What Now
A UC transfer denial is final for this application cycle. There is no appeal process for a transfer denial based on merit at any UC campus. The decision cannot be reversed.
If your student was denied at all UC campuses they applied to, the path forward depends on where they are in their community college career and what other options they have. If they received offers from CSU campuses or private universities, those should be evaluated seriously and on their own merits.
If your student wants to reapply to UCs next year, they should use this outcome as diagnostic information, not just a setback. Look at the specific campuses and majors that denied admission. Was the GPA competitive for the division they applied to? Were the major-specific prerequisites completed? Was the Transfer Admission Guarantee pathway available and not used? These factors are addressable with another year of planning.
I covered the full UC transfer pathway in detail in UC Transfer Admissions 2026. If your student is thinking about reapplying next cycle, that guide covers the TAG agreement, IGETC, and the major-specific requirements that most transfer applicants miss.
Comparing Multiple UC Offers: The Questions That Matter
If your student received offers from two or more UC campuses, the comparison should go well beyond name recognition. The questions that actually matter are: which campus’s specific program in your major is stronger? Which campus has better undergraduate research access in the junior and senior years specifically? Which campus has housing guaranteed for transfers and which does not? What is the net price difference after financial aid?
Transfer students often find that the campus with the stronger department in their specific field is not the same as the campus with the most recognizable name. UC Davis may be stronger than UCLA in veterinary science and agricultural economics. UC Santa Barbara may be stronger than UC Irvine in physics and materials science. Do the research at the department level, not just the campus level.
Frequently Asked Questions
When do UC transfer decisions come out in 2026?
UC campuses release transfer decisions on a rolling schedule throughout April. UC Santa Cruz and UC Riverside tend to release first, often in late March to early April. UC Davis and UC Santa Barbara follow in early to mid-April. UCLA and UC Berkeley are often last, sometimes extending into late April or early May.
What is the deadline to accept a UC transfer offer?
The national enrollment deposit deadline is May 1, 2026. Transfer students must submit their Statement of Intent to Register at their chosen campus by that date. Housing applications and financial aid acceptance may have earlier internal deadlines within the admitted campus’s portal.
Can a UC transfer denial be appealed?
No. UC campuses do not offer a merit-based appeal process for transfer admissions. The decision is final for this cycle. Students who want to reapply should treat this cycle’s outcome as a diagnostic tool and address the specific gaps before applying again.
Should transfer students pay a deposit at one school while waiting for a UC decision?
Yes. If your student has an offer from a non-UC school and is waitlisted or waiting on a UC decision, paying a deposit at the confirmed school before May 1 is the right move. This secures a spot while leaving optionality if a UC offer comes through. You will likely lose the deposit if you switch, but that is the cost of keeping your options open.
How does transfer housing work at UC campuses?
Housing guarantees for transfer students vary by campus. Some UC campuses guarantee housing for all transfers who apply by the deadline. Others do not. Check the specific housing policy at every campus your student was admitted to immediately after the decision arrives. Housing forms often have earlier deadlines than the May 1 enrollment commitment.
Tony Le is a former UC Berkeley Admissions Reader and UCLA Outreach Director with 15+ years of college admissions coaching experience. A full-ride scholarship recipient to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCI, Tony has helped 500+ students gain admission to top universities including Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia. Featured in the Wall Street Journal. Official TikTok College Admissions Educational Partner. Founder of egelloC.
Tony works with a focused group of families each year. Book a free strategy call to see if it is the right fit.
Video Essays vs Written Essays: What Colleges Are Testing and What It Means for Your Student
Something shifted this year in how some colleges are thinking about the admissions essay. A few schools are experimenting with video. Most are not moving away from writing. But the trend is real enough that families applying in the next two to three years should understand what is happening and why.
A gathering of over 100 college admissions stakeholders in March 2026 explicitly discussed whether video components could or should replace traditional written essays in the college admissions process. The conversation reflects a broader pressure on admissions offices to find ways to assess students that feel more authentic and less susceptible to AI-generated content.
The short answer for current applicants: written essays are still the standard at every major college and university. Video has not replaced writing. But the conversation about why writing matters and what it actually demonstrates is worth having now, because the ground is shifting in ways that will affect how colleges think about authenticity in the years ahead.
Why Some Colleges Are Interested in Video Essays
The problem admissions offices are dealing with is straightforward: AI writing tools have made it easier than ever to produce polished, grammatically correct, thematically coherent prose that sounds like a strong college applicant. For admissions readers who review thousands of essays, the question of whether an essay reflects the student’s actual voice and thinking has become more complex.
Video, for all its limitations, is harder to fake in the way that written text can be generated. A student speaking directly to a camera about something they care about gives admissions readers information about the person that a written essay, even a genuine one, does not always convey: natural language patterns, how they think in real time, what they look animated about versus what feels rehearsed.
A few schools have begun experimenting with optional video components. Goucher College in Maryland piloted a video essay program years ago. Some selective schools are studying whether short video components could supplement or eventually replace certain essay requirements. None of the major universities have moved away from written essays entirely for the 2025-26 or 2026-27 cycles.
What This Means for Students Applying Now
If you are applying in fall 2026 or 2027, the college essay is still a written document. The Common Application, Coalition Application, and the UC PIQs all require text responses. The supplemental essays at selective private schools are written. Your student should focus on mastering the written essay, not on video preparation.
However, the emphasis on authenticity that the video essay conversation reflects does have a direct lesson for written essays: the essays that will stand out in an era of AI-generated content are the ones that are specifically, unmistakably the student’s own voice. The detail that only they would know. The observation that only they would make. The story that does not sound like it was assembled from prompts and templates.
AI can produce competent essays. It cannot produce essays that feel genuinely personal, because it does not know your student. The students who write about something they have actually lived, in the way they actually think about it, are increasingly distinct from the ones whose essays could have been written by anyone. That distinction matters to admissions readers.
The Stakes of Authenticity in 2026 Essays
Admissions offices are developing tools to detect AI-generated content. Some are using software. Others are training readers to recognize patterns in AI-generated prose. The institutions that are most concerned about this are also the ones with the most applications, where the pressure to generate a compelling essay is highest and the risk of detection is also highest.
The safe path and the best path are the same: write in your student’s actual voice about something they have actually experienced or thought about. Use specific details. Do not optimize for what sounds like a strong college essay. Optimize for what sounds specifically like this student.
A student who can read their essay out loud and have it sound like them, the way they talk to someone they respect, is in a better position than one whose essay reads like a polished document that could belong to anyone.
What About Supplemental Video Questions Some Schools Offer
A small number of schools include optional video questions as part of the supplemental application. If a school your student is applying to offers or requires a video question, treat it seriously. The same principles that apply to written essays apply to video responses: be specific, be authentic, do not read from a script, and make sure what you say could only be said by this student about this school.
For video responses, one additional piece of advice: record in a quiet, well-lit environment. Look at the camera, not at the screen. Speak in a conversational way, not in a performance voice. The schools that use video components are trying to see the student, not a produced presentation. Natural and real beats polished and stiff every time.
The Long View: Will Video Replace Writing in Admissions?
My honest assessment: the written essay is not going away in the next five years. The infrastructure for Common Application and the institutional habit of written evaluation are both too deeply embedded for a rapid shift. What is more likely is that video becomes an optional supplement at some schools, the way portfolio submissions are optional at art programs.
The more meaningful shift is how admissions offices evaluate writing for authenticity. The bar for what reads as genuinely the student’s own voice is rising, not because admissions officers are becoming more skeptical of students, but because the baseline of AI-polished prose has shifted what generic sounds like.
Students who do the hard work of actually reflecting and actually writing, in their own voice, will be at an advantage in this environment. That has always been the advice. It is just more consequential now.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are colleges replacing written essays with video essays in 2026?
No. Written essays remain the standard at all major colleges for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 application cycles. Some schools are studying or piloting optional video components, but no major university has replaced written essays with video. Students should focus their preparation on the written college essay.
Can admissions offices tell if an essay was written by AI?
Detection is improving but imperfect. Many admissions offices use software tools and trained reader protocols to identify AI-generated content. The practical implication is that essays written authentically in the student’s own voice, with specific personal details, are increasingly distinguishable from AI-polished prose and are more compelling to readers.
How do I help my student write an authentic college essay in 2026?
Start with a genuine memory, observation, or idea, not with what sounds like a good essay topic. The best essays come from things the student has actually lived and thought about specifically. Avoid topics that are generic or that AI would naturally produce. The more specific and personal the content, the more authentically the student’s voice comes through.
What should a student do if a school offers an optional video component?
Treat it as optional only if the student has a genuinely weak video presence or if the video would not add anything that the written application does not already communicate. For most students, completing the optional video component demonstrates engagement and provides an additional channel to show personality. Record in good lighting, look at the camera, and be natural.
Is the college essay still important given AI writing tools?
More important, not less. The essay is increasingly one of the clearest signals of whether a student can think and communicate independently. In an environment where AI can produce competent generic prose, a genuinely personal, specific, authentic essay stands out more than it did five years ago.
Tony Le is a former UC Berkeley Admissions Reader and UCLA Outreach Director with 15+ years of college admissions coaching experience. A full-ride scholarship recipient to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCI, Tony has helped 500+ students gain admission to top universities including Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia. Featured in the Wall Street Journal. Official TikTok College Admissions Educational Partner. Founder of egelloC.
Tony works with a focused group of families each year. Book a free strategy call to see if it is the right fit.
IB vs AP for College Admissions: What the Research Actually Shows
I get this question from families at schools that offer both programs. The answer is less dramatic than most people hope. Both programs work. The question is which one works better for your specific student.
If your student’s high school offers the International Baccalaureate Diploma Program alongside Advanced Placement courses, you have probably wondered which route looks better on a college application. The answer, based on everything I have seen in admissions and everything the research shows, is that both are rigorous, both are respected, and neither is a clear winner across all situations.
What matters far more than the program is how your student performs in it. A strong performance in AP courses at your school is more impressive than a weak IB diploma performance, and vice versa. Program selection that does not match your student’s actual strengths is the mistake that costs applicants the most.
How Colleges Actually View IB vs AP
Virtually every selective college in the United States accepts both programs as evidence of academic rigor. Admissions readers who encounter IB transcripts know what an IB diploma represents. Readers who see AP coursework understand how to evaluate the course selection relative to what the school offers.
The Common Data Set for most selective universities includes language about both AP and IB in the academic rigor section. Both are accepted for course credit at most universities, though the credit policies differ. A score of 5 on an AP exam and a score of 6 or 7 on an IB Higher Level exam are both strong signals of academic achievement, and colleges treat them comparably in most cases.
For California students applying to UC campuses specifically, both programs are recognized under the honors course weighting formula. IB Higher Level courses receive the same GPA boost as AP courses in the UC calculation. IB Standard Level courses generally do not receive honors weighting. That distinction can affect UC GPA calculations and is worth checking with your school counselor.
The Real Differences That Matter
The IB Diploma Program is a two-year comprehensive curriculum taken in 11th and 12th grade. It requires students to complete six subject groups, write a 4,000-word Extended Essay, complete the Theory of Knowledge course, and fulfill the Creativity, Activity, Service requirement. It is holistic by design and demands a specific kind of independent, writing-intensive work.
AP courses are modular. A student can take one AP class or ten, in whatever subjects fit their schedule and interests. There is no comprehensive diploma requirement, no mandatory independent research project, and no interdisciplinary component built into the program.
That modularity is AP’s biggest advantage: flexibility. A student who wants to load up on science APs and take fewer humanities courses can do that. A student who takes the IB diploma is committed to a broader, more structured curriculum whether or not it fits their academic strengths perfectly.
The Extended Essay is IB’s biggest differentiator. It requires genuine independent research and sustained writing at a level most high school students do not encounter otherwise. For a student applying to highly selective universities where academic writing and research capacity matter, the Extended Essay experience can be a meaningful part of the admissions narrative.
Which Students Tend to Do Better in Each Program
Students who thrive in IB tend to be those who write well, enjoy interdisciplinary thinking, and have the discipline to manage long-term independent projects alongside coursework. The IB program rewards intellectual breadth and sustained effort over a two-year arc. Students who are strong in one subject area but genuinely weak in another may find the six-subject requirement costly to their overall academic standing.
Students who do well with AP tend to be those who can focus deeply on specific subjects and manage the pacing of an AP exam at the end of a course. AP rewards subject-specific mastery and test performance. Students who struggle with standardized testing formats may find AP scoring less reflective of their actual learning.
The student who does best is the one who is honest with themselves about which program structure fits their learning style, then executes within that program at the highest level they can. A GPA and course record that reflects genuine strength in either program will read well to admissions readers.
Credit and Placement: The Practical Difference in College
Once in college, the credit policies for IB and AP vary significantly by institution. Many universities grant credit for AP scores of 4 or 5. The policies for IB credit vary more widely.
Some universities grant credit only for IB Higher Level exams with scores of 6 or 7. Others grant credit for both Higher Level and Standard Level. A few grant no credit for either IB or AP but use the scores for placement into more advanced courses.
Check the specific credit policy at every college on your student’s list before making a program decision based on expected credit. The College Board has an AP credit policy search tool. Most universities publish their IB credit policies on the registrar’s website. Do not assume. Look it up.
For California students targeting UCs, AP credit policies are clear and publicly documented. UC campuses generally grant credit for AP scores of 3, 4, or 5 depending on the subject. IB credit policies at UCs are also published and worth reviewing for the specific campuses your student is targeting.
The Bottom Line for California Families
If your school offers IB and your student is a strong, independent writer who can handle the two-year commitment, pursuing the IB diploma is a genuine signal of academic rigor that colleges recognize and value. The Extended Essay in particular provides a concrete conversation topic for application essays.
If your student is more subject-focused, test-oriented, or is not sure about committing to the full IB structure, a strong AP course selection in their areas of strength is equally respected and more flexible.
Do not choose a program because you think one looks better to admissions offices. Choose the program where your student can perform at their highest level. That performance is what gets them in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do colleges prefer IB or AP?
Colleges do not uniformly prefer one over the other. Both are recognized as evidence of academic rigor. What matters is performance within whichever program the student is in. A student who earns 5s on AP exams and a student who earns 6s and 7s on IB Higher Level exams are sending comparably strong signals.
Does the IB diploma give more college credit than AP?
Not always. Credit policies vary widely by college. Some universities are more generous with AP credit than IB credit. Check the specific credit policy at every college on your student’s list using the AP credit search tool on the College Board website and the registrar’s page for IB at each university.
Can a student do both IB and AP?
Some students at schools that offer both programs take some AP courses while pursuing the IB diploma, if the school’s curriculum allows it. This depends on scheduling and school policy. Most students in the IB diploma program take the full required IB courses, which leaves limited room for additional AP classes.
Does taking IB help with college essays?
The IB Extended Essay can provide strong material for college application essays, particularly for highly selective schools that value academic writing and independent research. A student who has written a 4,000-word research essay has a concrete, specific accomplishment to discuss in both the activities section and supplemental essays.
Should my student take the full IB diploma or just individual IB courses?
The full diploma provides the most recognition and includes the Extended Essay and Theory of Knowledge requirements. Individual IB courses, called IB certificates, are recognized similarly to AP courses by most colleges. If your student cannot or does not want to pursue the full diploma, taking IB Higher Level courses in their strongest subjects still signals rigor.
Tony Le is a former UC Berkeley Admissions Reader and UCLA Outreach Director with 15+ years of college admissions coaching experience. A full-ride scholarship recipient to UCLA, UC Berkeley, and UCI, Tony has helped 500+ students gain admission to top universities including Stanford, Harvard, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Columbia. Featured in the Wall Street Journal. Official TikTok College Admissions Educational Partner. Founder of egelloC.
Tony works with a focused group of families each year. Book a free strategy call to see if it is the right fit.