Inside Personal Application Boot Camp®: A Q&A with Senior Private Counselor Rohail Premjee

If you’re the parent of a rising senior—or a rising senior yourself—you probably know the feeling that arrives right about now: fall deadlines are inching closer, the Common App is open, and that blank essay page isn’t getting any less intimidating. Here’s the reassuring part: you don’t have to navigate it alone. With the right counselor by your side, this summer becomes a season of completion and confidence: completion of your college applications, and confidence knowing you’re starting senior year free to focus on everything else it brings.

That’s exactly what Rohail Premjee does. A Senior Private Counselor at Top Tier Admissions and one of our most-requested Boot Camp mentors, Rohail was once an Application Boot Camp® student himself, so he understands both sides of the experience. We sat down with him to talk about what really happens inside PABC, how to thrive through this process, and why so many families leave the program feeling calm instead of overwhelmed.

That calm is by design. Now in its 22nd year, Top Tier’s Application Boot Camp® centers on an intensive four-day curriculum, and students leave with a completed application and a full suite of essays, the bulk of the work behind them before senior year even begins.

Beyond the small group format, we offer a limited number of Personal Application Boot Camp® spots each year. It’s the same rigorous program, built around your schedule.

Meet Rohail: Counselor, Mentor, and Former Boot Camp Student

Before we dive in, a quick introduction to the counselor behind these answers:

13 years at Top Tier Admissions and a veteran Boot Camp mentor.
Application Boot Camp® alum (Class of 2009)—he has sat in the same seat as the students he now mentors.
Cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College, with a double major in Government and Philosophy and experience in the President’s Office.
MBA and Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Chicago, where he served as a Board Liaison.
One of Top Tier’s most-requested PABC mentors for one-on-one college counseling.

How long have you been a counselor for Top Tier Admissions?

I’ve been a counselor with Top Tier Admissions for 13 years, and I was also an ABC student myself back in 2009. Having experienced the program from both sides gives me a unique perspective—I know firsthand how transformative the process can be, and now I have the privilege of helping students build applications that authentically reflect who they are.

What do you love about counseling students in a Personalized Application Boot Camp® format?

My favorite part of PABC is that we get to move beyond “checking boxes” and instead build a compelling narrative about who a student is. Many students come into PABC thinking college admissions is simply about having good grades and strong extracurriculars. Those things matter, but what ultimately makes an application memorable is how everything fits together. During Boot Camp, we connect the dots between a student’s academic interests, activities, essays, and college list so that every part of the application reinforces the same story.

Because we’re working one-on-one over multiple days, we also have the time to ask deeper questions, challenge assumptions, and uncover interests that students themselves may not have fully recognized. Those conversations often become the foundation for some of the strongest applications I read all year.

What are the benefits of PABC?

PABC gives students something that is increasingly difficult to find during the admissions process: clarity and momentum.

Rather than spending months wondering where to start, students leave Boot Camp with a clear roadmap for every major component of the application process, ranging from essays and activity descriptions to college strategy, recommendations, and timelines.

Equally important, students finish with confidence. By the end of Boot Camp, they understand not just what they need to do, but why each piece matters from the perspective of an admissions officer. That understanding makes the rest of senior fall far less stressful and far more intentional.

What kind of student would be successful in a PABC program?

Boot Camp is for every student but the students who get the most out of PABC are the ones who are willing to engage thoughtfully in the process. You don’t need to have your entire future figured out or arrive with perfect essay ideas. In fact, many students don’t. The most successful participants are simply curious, open to feedback, and willing to reflect honestly about their experiences. PABC is especially valuable for students who have accomplished a great deal but aren’t yet sure how to communicate those experiences in a way that feels authentic and compelling.

What do you most enjoy about PABC?

I love seeing the moment when students begin to understand their own story. Almost every student walks into Boot Camp thinking they don’t have anything particularly unique to write about. By the end, they often realize they’ve been overlooking the experiences, relationships, and moments that actually define them. Watching students gain that confidence (and then seeing those ideas become essays they’re genuinely proud of) is incredibly rewarding. It’s one of the reasons I’ve enjoyed doing this work for the past thirteen years.

Rohail’s Top Three Tips for a Successful Boot Camp

1. Come with an open mind: Some of the strongest essay ideas emerge from conversations students never expected to have. Don’t arrive convinced you already know exactly what your essays will be about.

2. Do the pre-work: Completing questionnaires, brainstorming exercises, and reading assignments before Boot Camp allows us to spend our time refining ideas rather than generating them from scratch.

3. Trust the process: Many students worry that their application isn’t “interesting enough.” The goal of PABC isn’t to invent a different version of you—it’s to identify the strongest, most authentic version of your story and present it clearly to admissions officers.

Ready to work with Rohail?

Rohail mentors a limited number of Personal Application Boot Camp® students each year, and those one-on-one spots fill on a first-come, first-served basis. If his approach sounds like the right fit for your student, now is the time to claim a place on his schedule, before senior fall arrives.

Connect with our team to request a Personal Application Boot Camp® with Rohail, and give your rising senior the clarity, momentum, and confidence to submit applications they’re proud of.