FAQ

The short form gives us context. The interview decides fit. We look for a student who wants to do ambitious work, is coachable, and is ready to remain responsible for every part of the research. If the fit is strong, we will invite the family to complete the full application and discuss scope.

Yes. The first conversation is complimentary. It is a direct conversation with the student and family, not a sales presentation, and both sides can decide whether the partnership makes sense.

No. We can begin with an early interest, a developing question, an active project, or a completed study that needs stronger competition preparation.

The scope depends on the student. It can include question selection, competition strategy, study design, technical learning, troubleshooting, data analysis, figures, abstracts, displays, submissions, mock judging, and competition-week preparation. The three engagements differ in where a student is when they arrive, not in how much attention they get, and we define the specifics with you after the interview.

Our direct experience includes Regeneron ISEF and affiliated fairs, JSHS, GENIUS Olympiad, the National STEM Festival, the International Research Olympiad, the 3M Young Scientist Challenge, and research publication. We advise on other programs as well but these are our focus areas. We are independent from every organizer and always work from the current official rules.

The student retains their original ideas, data, code, designs, manuscripts, inventions, and other work. Vantor takes no equity, royalties, authorship, publication rights, or license to use it. Separate agreements with a school, laboratory, sponsor, collaborator, or publisher still apply.

The student. We advise, teach, question, review, and rehearse. We do not fabricate data, ghostwrite submissions, take over the project, or prepare a student to claim work they cannot independently explain and defend.

Yes. Engagements are private. We do not publish, submit, share, or commercialize a student's work without express written permission. We also expect families to honor any confidentiality or disclosure obligations created by laboratories, schools, collaborators, sponsors, or competitions.

Each family gets our personal email and phone numbers. The cadence follows the work and becomes especially active around deadlines and competition week.

A founder can hold final rehearsals on site, accompany the family through competition week, and host private dinners. Travel is planned together in advance and built into calendars when possible.

There are three engagements, and we publish how many seats each one has and the date its window closes. What an engagement costs depends on what it contains, and that depends on where a student actually is when they arrive, so we scope it with you in the consultation and put the figure in writing afterwards, with the scope beside it. It does not move after that. We do not sell hours, and fees never vary with a competition result.

No. No credible advisor can guarantee a judge's, editor's, or admissions committee's decision. We promise candor, attention, rigorous preparation, and advice grounded in firsthand competition experience.