I am thrilled to write a review to address and counter two negative reviews I just found while recommending Academic Access's services to yet more friends - after 100% of those that worked with Joan were as THRILLED as our family with their experience. Joan has a unique ability to develop separate authentic relationships with students and parents through her very genuine approach, straight-forward communication with a principled and effective approach honed by decades of experience. This also includes not shying away from having the difficult conversations not always easily received by children nor parents based on a wealth of experience and conducted with grace. The value of this unique skill can not be overstated and helps pave the way to a sometimes new and very necessary communication cadence within families as our children begin their journey to becoming truly independent adults. Academic Accesses approach is thoughtfully constructed with purposeful nuance in every facet of the work. I particularly love the essay writing team/writing muse/editorial process. It gave me the confidence to not dig into my children's essays which would have resulted in them being MY essays - a situation admissions departments see straight through. With two very different children their final products were radically different and both made me weep providing a different type of opportunity to truly "see" my children in all their glorious blossoming independent ways. Our entire experience was a gratefully received gift that not only resulted in both of our children being admitted ED to their first choice schools (both schools that we as parents recommended, but our kids wanted nothing to do with until they heard that Joan also enthusiastically recommended these schools from her own purview) but quite literally saved our sanity during a process that due to very normally teenage growth cadence is naturally a combative time between parents and children. I will forever be grateful to Joan and her team. I 100% recommend without reservation and would happily talk to anyone at anytime. read more

Filling out college applications and writing essays is like a deep dive into something you've never experienced before. Academic Access was the perfect choice to help our daughter successfully chart a course and navigate these deep waters. From the beginning - Joan's familiarity with an enormous range of different schools helped our daughter to discover schools that checked all the boxes of things she wanted in a school, providing her with schools she'd not even considered. Throughout the process, Joan and her team were there every step of the way - providing guidance, instilling confidence, and helping our daughter find just the right unique and interesting essay information to share for a strong application and a positive outcome. The stress that comes with applications was minimized by having experts available whenever she had questions or needed help. The most valuable part (to me as a parent), was that the experts were also able to guide her without sounding like a "critical parent", thus keeping peace in our home throughout the process. Joan and her team kept our daughter on track with application deadlines, while keeping stress levels at a very comfortable level, and our daughter was accepted and now attends one of her top two choices. Since our experience with Academic Access, I have recommended Joan to at least 7 or 8 friends (I've lost count!) whose students have all had similar experiences with great outcomes! Thanks Joan! Working with you was one of the best decisions we've ever made. read more

Joan and her team are excellent! They really simplified the end to end process and were a huge help. I highly recommend! read more

Joan and her team were beyond incredible at every turn. She engaged my sons in a way where they took ownership of the process and their search and applied to schools that were suited to them each individually. They both ended up at their ED school which suited them perfectly. We can't thank her enough for taking us out of the process. read more

Joan was terrible. She gave wrong information to our daughter about how to fill out the common app information. Her assistant tried to charge us more than the contract provided for. So stay alert to bait & switch. They don't allow parents to engage with the essay reviewers because they don't want the parents to know how little help the students are getting. I would never use this company again. They do not know what they are doing and they prey on families who know less and take their money. read more

Arrogant and difficult to work with. If a parent spends 10 to 15 K for college counseling the counselor should at least be pleasant.

We had a bad experience here. In the midst of college application season, my teen was frustrated with the lack of substantive feedback she received on her common app essay from one of Joan's reviewers, and pointed out to Joan that the reviewer's comments had a typo and incorrect grammar. Joan didn't like my daughter's criticism and basically fired us, leaving my daughter (and especially me!) momentarily panicked. I thought she handled this very unprofessionally. She has a lot of clients and makes you feel like she is doing you a big favor with each meeting/conversation. Make sure you ask questions in advance so you know what you are or aren't getting: who will review my essays? Will every phone call and conversation and email with the student and/or parent be "billable"? Ultimately this service is useful and worth the cost only if you and your kid establish a connection and trust with Joan and her staff. It didn't work for us. read more

This is by far the best service a parent could use to ensure a good fit for their children. A great head start for any young adult wishing to gain the most out of their college experience. Joan Koven is as genuine as it gets. We felt right at home from the start and wanted to support our daughters happiness by having a true professional guide her. It's all about the one on one relationship the young adult builds with Joan. She does not babysit people. She makes them do the work and learn the process because it's going to get much harder for them when they are alone at school, If they actually get into a school! Just a heads up for the parents who continue to baby their kids. Wake up! You are not doing them a favor by babying them. For the kids who are not willing to take responsibility for yourself, time to grow up! My daughter who is finishing her first year at college, is at a school that is a perfect fit, I swear by Joan! Our family is excited to have our second daughter experience the professional insight that Joan brings to the table. We could not have done it without her. Thank you Joan. read more

Joan was extremely helpful and thorough through out the entire college application process. She helped me decide on which schools I wanted to apply to based on my strengths and desires and suggested a lot of schools I hadn't previously considered. She also helped me organize my exact approach and timeline for applying to each one of the schools I had decided to apply to. She was extremely helpful in writing my college essay. Joan is an expert in the college process, her advice, expertise, and ability to help calm me down when I was stressed were indispensable to my family and me. She took the time to really get to know me and as a result not only did I feel that I was receiving expert advice and insight into the college applications process, but I also felt that I had a confidant to talk with about the pressures of applying to college and senior year in general. I was accepted to my first choice school as were my sisters- all three of us used Joan. I highly recommend her services. read more