Bema
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How Bema works

Four stages, one workspace. Discover schools, apply, pay for college, and decide. Everything you write or track lives in one place, for you and anyone you invite.

  1. Discover

    Build a balanced college list from 2,900+ U.S. schools, take the fit quiz, explore majors and plan campus visits.

  2. Apply

    Fill in the Common App workspace, write essays with the coach, and follow each school’s checklist and deadlines.

  3. Pay for college

    Work through the FAFSA with every contributor tracked, find grants and scholarships, and estimate real costs.

  4. Decide

    Compare offers side by side in the Decision Center, with net cost worked out for you.

The Common App workspace

All six Common App sections and every field, laid out the way the Common App lays them out, with the real limits enforced while you type. When an answer is right, copy it into the Common App with one tap.

  • Plain-English help on the questions students get stuck on
  • Explain, proofread, tighten and outline, each a proposal you accept or reject
  • A completeness map that ignores fields that don’t apply to you
  • Bema doesn’t submit and never asks for your Common App login
Activities, 3 of 10Common App section
Varsity debate captain; organized novice training
Copy to the Common App when it’s ready47 / 50
AI help on this fieldProposal

Tighten: cuts words only, never adds new ones.

Use thisKeep mine

Essays and the essay coach

Every personal essay and supplement in one vault, with a load strip that shows how many essays and how many words are left before your next deadline. The coach is a conversation: it reads your draft and asks the questions a good English teacher would.

  • Saves as you write
  • Parent comments and suggested edits, shown as tracked changes
  • Only you can accept a change
  • A coach that rewords and suggests, never writes the whole essay
Personal essay, draft 3598 / 650

The first time I fixed my grandmother’s radio, I didn’t really know what I was doing. I took it apart on the table in the kitchen on the kitchen table.

Essay coachAsks, doesn’t write
Is my opening too slow?
Your second sentence is where the story starts. What were you hoping would happen when you opened it up?

Deadlines and requirements

Add a school and Bema lists what it asks for: the Common App pieces, supplements, optional honors and scholarship forms, and the portal steps that appear after you submit.

  • Known extra steps for many popular schools
  • Submit-by dates two days ahead of the real deadline
  • Reminders at 7, 3 and 1 day, to you and connected parents
  • Warnings if your Early Decision and Early Action plans conflict
Northeastern, Early ActionOct 30Due Nov 1
Purdue honors applicationOct 30Due Nov 1Optional, and often decides scholarships
Michigan portal: Continued InterestAfter you submitEasy to miss
Reminder3 daysbeforeSent to you and to any parent you’ve connected

Recommenders

Track who you asked, when, which schools they’re writing for and whether they’ve submitted. When someone needs a nudge, copy a polite reminder and Bema notes that you sent it.

  • You can submit before your recommenders finish
  • One list for teachers and your counselor
  • Nothing is sent without you
Ms. Alvarez, EnglishSubmittedAll 8 schools
Mr. Chen, PhysicsAsked Sep 12Due Oct 25 Reminder copied Oct 2
School counselorRequestedCounselor recommendation and school report

Financial aid and the FAFSA

A FAFSA planner that tracks every contributor, a worksheet that pre-fills what you’ve already told Bema, and a guided set of questions that works out which parent files when parents live apart.

  • Grants and scholarships, with the fine print explained
  • Cost analysis for each school on your list
  • In-state tuition used where it applies
  • Never stores Social Security numbers, FSA IDs or similar
FAFSA contributorsWho still needs to sign
StudentSigned
Parent 1Invited
Which parent files?Guided questions

For separated families, a few plain questions work out who counts as the FAFSA parent, and whether a school also wants the CSS Profile.

The Decision Center

When the letters arrive, put the offers side by side. Bema fills in what it knows about each school and works out net cost as sticker price minus aid and scholarships, so a big number with a big loan doesn’t look like a deal.

  • Your figures always win over estimates
  • AI estimates only where you have nothing yet, and only if you accept them
  • Private notes for parents
University of Florida$9,400Net cost per year, in-state
Boston University$31,200Net cost per year after grants
Tulane$27,850Net cost per year after scholarship

The AI counselor

A private place to ask anything about the process: testing, college lists, what a term on a form means. It knows your list and deadlines, and your conversations stay yours, even from a connected parent.

  • Honest about reach schools, never discouraging
  • Won’t guess your chances as a percentage
  • Points you to a person when a question needs one
Do I need to send my SAT to schools that are test-optional?
No. Test-optional means you choose. A useful rule: send it if it sits at or above the middle of that school’s admitted range. Want me to check the schools on your list?

See it with your own list.

Free during the beta, on the web and iPhone.

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