Start with one student.
Bring the student’s record, options and next steps into one shared workspace. Begin with the five steps below, then use the library guide whenever you need it.
Your first shared workspace
For counselors, consultants and parents managing a student’s planning.
Add a student.
Open your student roster, choose Add student, and enter their name, grade and interests. Open their profile to reach the workspace.
Invite them to join.
Choose Invite student in their workspace and enter the student’s email address. The student uses that invitation to create their own account or sign in with the invited address.
Build an accurate record.
Use Transcript & Grades and Activities to record courses, results and the work the student has done. Review any extracted transcript details before saving. Keep these sections current together.
Save options worth discussing.
Explore the library by subject, then check eligibility, cost and timing. Use the save control on an entry to add it to the student’s workspace. Students can save options to their connected workspace too.
Agree the next step.
Add a specific task and a due date when useful. Use the workspace conversation for questions and follow-up; the student can mark agreed tasks complete.
Review the shortlist together.
Use the student’s record, saved opportunities and Consultant Notes to discuss what fits. Check eligibility, costs and the current deadline, then agree a specific next step and save it as a task.
Keep the conversation and decisions in the shared workspace so you can return to them at the next meeting.
Accessing Your Library
Lumisheets lives in your browser — there is nothing to download or install. Your account is your key.
Sign in and explore
Sign in with your Lumisheets account, then open the library. If you received a student invitation, complete that connection first. New members can review the plans and start a trial.
What's inside the Library
| Category | What's there |
|---|---|
| Getting Started | This guide — the shared workspace, library tools and a practical starting workflow. |
| Programs | Summer programs, pre-college experiences, research opportunities, and academic enrichment across disciplines. |
| Awards | Competitions, awards, and distinctions students can apply to. |
| Scholarships | Scholarships by institutions in the US and UK, for both domestic and international students. |
| Service | Worthwhile service opportunities and best practices — including what to watch out for, such as "voluntourism." |
| Platforms | Places to publish work, whether creative pieces or academic research. |
| K–8 | Targeted opportunities for younger students to explore interests and get a head start on their profiles. |
| My Students | Your student roster, with a shared workspace for each student’s record, saved options, tasks and conversation. |
| Favorites | Your personal shortlist across every sheet, grouped by category, for programs worth remembering on their own. |
Within each category, you'll find a set of sheets organized by academic discipline, interest field, and opportunity type. Click a category to see its sheets, then open any sheet to start exploring.
Understanding a Sheet
Each sheet is an interactive, filterable finder. Open one and you'll see a title, a short description, a live program count, and a searchable, sortable table of entries. Open an entry’s details to read its full profile.
What you'll see on a sheet
| Element | What it does |
|---|---|
| Search bar | Free-text search across program names, hosts, and formats. Start typing to narrow instantly. |
| Tier pills | Quick filters at the top — All tiers, plus the tier levels for that sheet. Tap one to show only that tier. |
| Filters | Opens the full filter panel to narrow by cost, format, eligibility, grade, and more. |
| Result count | Shows how many entries match your current view (e.g. "Showing 19 of 19 programs"). |
| Column headers | Click a header — Tier, Grades, Cost, Deadline — to sort the table by that column. |
| Expand (▾) | Open the full profile for the host, cost detail, format, selectivity and consultant notes. |
| Save (☆) | Members can save to Favorites or student workspaces. Students can save to their connected workspace. |
What each entry tells you
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Tier | A guide to the opportunity’s selectivity or experience level. Labels vary by collection; read the description before judging fit. |
| Cost | Free, a fee range, or the full amount. Flag for families early to avoid surprise conversations later. |
| Format & Duration | Residential, online, or hybrid — plus length. Critical for international students with travel constraints. |
| Selectivity | Acceptance rate where known. Treat single-digit rates like college admissions and plan accordingly. |
| Deadline | The application window for the current or upcoming cycle. Always verify directly before advising. |
| Verified URL | A direct link to the opportunity, re-checked monthly. Still confirm before sharing with families. |
| Consultant Notes | Strategic context from the Lumisheets team — what makes this worth recommending, and when. |
Finding What You Need
Filtering is the skill that turns a long sheet into a focused shortlist for one student. Every sheet has its filters built in — there's nothing to set up, and nothing to save. Just open a sheet and start narrowing.
The fast path
Use the tier pills at the top for a one-tap filter by selectivity level. Type into the search bar to find a specific program, host, or format. Open Filters to combine criteria — cost, format, eligibility, grade — for a precise shortlist. Click any column header to sort (for example, by Deadline to see what's due soonest).
Most useful filters for consultants
Filter by grade. Start here, so you're only looking at programs your student can actually attend. Watch for programs aimed at students "rising" into a grade — and double-check age requirements, since some have a hard cutoff (for example, must be 16 by the start date) due to specific regulations.
Filter by eligibility. When working with non-US students, filter out opportunities limited to domestic applicants. Narrow to "Open globally" or exclude "US citizens only" to quickly clear out anything your student isn't eligible for.
Filter by tier. Calibrate a shortlist to your student's strength. Each sheet is organized into tiers — usually beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels (the tier names vary by category). Build recommendations that match the student while hedging for risk.
Sort by deadline. Sorting by Deadline helps you plan a student's year — surface the earliest deadlines to act on now, and keep upcoming dates in view. Where shown, Deadline type and notes add detail, such as multiple windows or rolling submissions.
Filter by cost. Use this early when budget is a constraint. Narrow to free entries to build a no-cost shortlist before introducing paid programs.
Filter by format. Use this for students with travel restrictions, or families who won't send a student abroad. Narrow to online or hybrid to surface remote-friendly options.
Saving Programs & Building Student Lists
Saved options stay in Favorites or the selected student’s workspace so you can return to a shortlist after browsing.
The Save icon
Open an entry’s save control. As a member, choose Favorites, a student’s workspace, or both. As an invited student, choose your connected workspace. Saving an option keeps it available for discussion; it does not apply to the program.
Favorites
Favorites is your own running shortlist, independent of any one student — useful for programs you want to remember, keep an eye on, or recommend broadly. Open it from the menu on any sheet. Saved programs are grouped by category (Programs, Awards, Scholarships, and so on), and each category can be collapsed once you've reviewed it, so the page stays manageable as your list grows.
My Students
Your student roster connects each student to their shared workspace. Add the student first, then select their name when saving an option from the library.
Open the student’s workspace to review saved programs and follow links back to their details. Use Remove to take an option off the student’s list when it is no longer useful.
Keep the conversation with the list
Invite the student to their workspace so you can review saved options together. Use tasks to record the next action and messages to discuss questions. A saved Road also has a Print / Save PDF option when you need a copy.
Best Practices
Use the library and planning tools to inform your judgment. Match options to the student’s interests, eligibility, time and budget, and discuss the choices together.
Working with Programs
The most common mistake is filtering by tier first and eligibility second. A Tier 1 program your student can't apply to is worthless. Filter eligibility before anything else, especially for non-US students.
Students and families get paralyzed by long lists. Narrow the sheet to the 5–10 most relevant entries, then apply your judgment to cut to 3–5 realistic targets. Quality over quantity.
URLs are verified monthly, but programs change between updates. Before telling a family about a specific program, open the link and confirm it's still running, deadlines are current, and eligibility hasn't shifted. Sixty seconds — and it protects your credibility.
Working with Awards
Most awards reward demonstrated work over time — publications, competition results, sustained projects. Give the student time to develop work they care about and check each award’s current entry requirements. Choose a manageable mix that reflects their experience and interests.
Look for awards relevant to the student’s actual projects and interests. Use the subject collections to find suitable opportunities, then review the entry requirements together.
Working with Saved Lists
If a program looks promising, save it in the moment — to Favorites, a student, or both. Coming back to re-find something you saw earlier costs more time than the two extra clicks would have.
A student's saved list works best as the shortlist you've already vetted, not a dumping ground for anything that seemed relevant. Remove entries once a student rules a program out.
Staying Current
Lumisheets is updated monthly. Here's what that means for your workflow:
Broken or changed links are fixed. If you spot a broken link between updates, email us and we’ll review it against the official source.
Application windows are updated each cycle. Still verify directly before advising — programs sometimes shift deadlines mid-cycle.
Programs, awards, and scholarships that launch or come to our attention are added, with a consultant note where it helps your planning.
Read What’s Changed for the latest library checks and product updates. The same link appears at the top of the library.
Getting Help
We answer every subscriber email personally. For any questions, corrections, or updates, write to us at hello@lumisheets.net.