Mr. Trung Le at Bay Area College Consulting, Northern CA, is an expert and the best, most…read moreknowledgeable, and kindest College Counselor my family and I are lucky to have worked with. Counselor Trung Le has devotedly helped my son and daughter with great advices and in details, and their best college applications. My family and I are grateful for Mr. Le's help. You're in great hands with College Counselor Trung Le's guidances. Scott & Katelynn N. Sunnyvale, CA

I want to share my experience with Bay Area College Consulting and Trung - who is the founder and…read moreconsultant of this organization. We are extremely happy with Trung for guiding our son (and me too :-) ) through the College Admissions process. Our son is now admitted to UCLA and I give a huge credit of this achievement  to Trung and his consultation. Trung, very expertly took us through all the intricacies of the college application process and essentially gave a very realistic picture of this very daunting process. Interaction with him greatly demystified the college application process, for us.  This helped our son clearly focus his energies to the right areas without having to second-guess if this was the right thing to do. Right from the beginning Trung was very organized with his approach. -He created a baseline of our son's profile. -Created a list of colleges matching his profile and expectations. -Identified and recommended taking relevant community college courses to augment credentials (super helpful!) -Most Important: Trung recommended the execution of a unique project that showcased abilities that were relevant to his area of interest. I think this really helped towards rounding up our son's overall profile. -And finally, Trung helped us through all the details of the college application process. We are extremely happy with the guidance, counseling and consulting Trung has provided to us. I would happily and highly recommend Trung to any one who wants to prepare themselves, or their child, for the College Application process.

We were referred to John by one of our close friends and we are so thankful we did it. John and…read morehis team worked closely with our son for four years, from course selection to summer camp application, and eventually through the college app process. He put a lot of thought and paid extra attention to every details of the application forms. He is our guardian on meeting every milestone in this journey. John is more of a mentor to my son as well. He helped him navigate through his stress and anxiety, so that he could focus on making progress in his course work and applications. He also help bridging the communication between us and our son, which we deeply appreciated to balance our relationship during the crunching times. We would highly recommend John, he is the one you can count on!

Entering my senior year of High School and the chaos of college applications, I was very lost on…read morewhat a strong college essay and application looked like. I remember having different extracurricular experiences to talk about but there was a missing piece of how to word my essay and let alone start on my essays. I spent 2 weeks blankly starring at my document before realizing I needed more help than I expected. It wasn't until I started working with John and Jamie that I was able to talk about my life experiences and turn them into strong essays that reflects who I am and the type of leader I am in any community. Working with them helped me quickly understand how college essays are structured and how I can word my experiences to illustrate my strong characteristics as a student and leader. I really appreciated the weekly workshops provided by Jamie and John for extra time to spend on essays. As someone who had a hard time finding time and motivation to work on my essays, the workshops and set meeting times held me accountable for getting my work done before each meeting. I would 100% recommend John's service to anyone else struggling during this process. I am now committing to UC Davis and I couldn't be more grateful for the help provided by John and Jamie.

I was a highschool student being advised by Ilumin education. My counselor was always so helpful…read moreand never had me stressed or overwhelmed. The thing that sets Ilumin apart is that they don't stress out students or discourage them. I was always so stressed about the admissions process but thanks to the team at Ilumin I always felt supported and ahead on the college admissions process.

There are not enough words to express our appreciation for Ilumin Education and the work that Kyra…read moredid with our two sons during their college application process- it was definitely one of the best decisions we made for them. From the very beginning, we appreciated how accommodating Anthony was given our limited time and how forthcoming he was with the information we needed to make our decision. Kyra was phenomenal! Although our kids were among many of her students, Kyra was so attentive and committed to their experience, helping clarify their interests in majors and helping them give voice to essays that were authentic to who they are- this was definitely not a cookie cutter experience! She was always supportive and well organized so our kids never felt overwhelmed or pressed for time. When we expressed concerns about the pathways for a particular major, Kyra put together an impressive presentation on the various options convincing us this pathway is fitting for our son. Kyra kept us in constant communication so we didn't need to worry about any hiccups or missed deadlines. We are so lucky to have found Ilumin Education to work with; they made the college application process seamless and actually enjoyable! We know that their involvement was key to our children being accepted to their "reach" schools! Thank you, Kyra, Anthony, and the entire team at Ilumin Education!

My time spent with Manuel and his team was super helpful for me and my family!…read more When it came time to do essays for my college applications, his team was very specific and detailed in their criticisms. Since the essays used in my college applications were very particular about subject matter and word count, him and his team's pointers greatly helped me in conveying my essays' messages effectively. They also made understanding finances for my difference colleges easy to understand. Going into the federal financial aid application process, I was rather intimidated with the amount of steps involved. However, after consulting with Manuel and his team, they gave us a clear outline of what we have to do and what forms of financial aid to look out for--even going as far as to point out which of my chosen colleges offer the best financial aid. Overall, College Planning ABC offered me and my family a smooth, professional, and streamlined approach to the college application process that would've felt more time-consuming and stressful otherwise.

I met Manny at one of his free meetings at the library and trusting him with my daughter's college…read moreadmission was truly one of the best decisions I've made. She was admitted to several top schools and will be attending one of the top UCs this year. As a middle‑class parent without much knowledge of how the admissions system works here, I was overwhelmed. Manny guided us through every step -- from essays to financial aid to taxes -- with patience, clarity, and genuine care. My daughter says that without his help she wouldn't have done nearly as well, and she really enjoyed working with him, which mattered a lot during an already stressful school year. I highly recommend Manny if you have a child preparing for college, Thank you, Manny!

My son received math tutoring for BC Calculus from Tyler Vanvalkenburg who was EXCELLENT. Tyler was…read moreeffective in explaining concepts in a way that stuck for my son, enabling my son to earn an A on his final exam and improving his overall grade. The reason I'm writing the review is because in addition to being a great tutor, Tyler's friendly and approachable style was a great fit for my son, and he did an exceptional job in communicating with me. He seems to genuinely care about his tutees...he followed up after exams and AP testing to check in on how my son did. I 100% recommend AJ Tutoring and Tyler. Effective, and just good people.

We have been using AJ on and off for a few years, and this past year was especially helpful for my…read moreson in his trig class at MVHS. Once his grade started to slip significantly, we reached out to AJ and were paired with Tyler. He was instrumental in helping my son not only raise his grade, but also build the confidence he needed to succeed. He is now helping other students in the class and scoring much higher on his tests and quizzes. We are very grateful for Tyler's support and highly recommend AJ Tutoring.

Hi Ajit, Any chance I can get my $200 back for an initial consultation that was absolute nonsense?…read moreI have kindly asked for my money back multiple times. I want you to known that telling my kid who is STEM focused taking 10+ APs to consider taking a ceramics course doesn't cut it for a $200 initial consultation. JUST GIVE ME MY MONEY BACK. Just letting you know that your responses on your reviews of people who complain about your service is underwhelming. Improve your service and you will do much better. Ajit, I will continue to complain about the service I received to every Indian parent that I know in the Bay Area. If you think otherwise, you don't know me well... Based on your "Stanford MBA" education, you may certainly know that word travels fast in the Bay Area. A simple suggestion to all who read this (including you Ajit) - Do NOT pay $200 for an initial consultation. Simply request a free initial consultation so that you are aware of the all of the program details, the costs, and the proficiency level of the counselor. If they can't give you a free consultation, move on and find another program. Believe me, there are plenty of programs that give you all the information that you need without paying fees to find out. They should be selling you on the program and not the other way around. 8/18/25 - Ajit, I read your response. Your answer is false. My wife, my son, and I all attended the meeting with your "counselor." It was you who was missing in that meeting. So don't make up stuff. The fact remains that I have not received my $200 back....

We've had a great experience with Insight, Purvi is phenomenal. The college process can be…read moreoverwhelming, and a lot of it comes down to picking the right list of schools to apply to early and during regular decision. Insight has a lot of experience on this front, and also a lot of "insight" into what colleges look for. In short, Purvi has been able to guide us through the nuances of the application process. Additionally, she gave us some great advice around summer programs - we would have never found the ones that she suggested. We also had a great tutor for ACT from Insight, who was able to give my daughter some great tips. She ultimately got into her top-choice school. We are very happy with Insight, and have recommended them to many friends!

My kid went through Mr. Hulls program back in 2008-2010, so this is a very late review. However, I…read morehonestly felt that he and his program had helped my kid greatly. It did improve his scores and he was able to get into a very good school, and eventually got into a very good law school and received his JD. Now, he works for a high tech company and their stocks have gone through the roof. Mr. Hull was a little stiff at times, but I think that is from him taking his job seriously.

Did not help in any admissions. Child got into all the schools that Ivy Review did not help with…read more The schools Ivy review helped with, student did not get admission. Essay feedback was not personalized enough, very generic advice. Needs more 1-1 sessions of actually doing work, case by case basis, not just general admission strategy. Would not recommend.

Great coaching. Structured methodical and patient. The instructors are fantastic worth every…read morepenny.

My daughter works one-on-one with UPUSH tutor Matt Pickup, and we could not be happier with the…read moreexperience. Matt brings deep knowledge, excellent teaching materials, and a highly effective approach to tutoring. He is an exceptionally qualified professional. Thanks to Matt, AP US History has become far more engaging for my daughter, and she showed impressive results from the very first session. Her overall performance in junior year has also improved as a direct result of his guidance. Thank you, Matt, for sharing your expertise with such dedication, passion, and care. We truly appreciate your work and highly recommend your services.

Test prep is ok, but advisors to support school application and essay are terrible. The advisor…read moreoften comes unprepared and not responsive when the student asked to schedule for consultation hours, and you have to request repeatedly and eventually made a compliant. Poor knowledge about schools outside of UC and advisors do not make effort to help or guide the students as how they can maximize their chance for the best school they can get in.

The counselors were very open to discuss and they provided the right advise at the right time…read more Cindy did an excellent job. So was Mr Joon. Thanks for the very long early meetings we had with him. I am very glad we picked this center for SAT, ACT prep and guidance.

I worked with 7EDU during this past college application season, and it was an amazing experience. I…read moreespecially want to thank my essay editor, Rian, who always made essay editing sessions enjoyable while providing thoughtful feedback and guidance. He also went above and beyond to schedule extra sessions when I felt behind and needed additional support. With 7EDU's help, I was able to get accepted into my ED school of choice, and I truly cannot thank the 7EDU team enough for their support throughout the process.

This is by far the worst counseling service my family has ever worked with, and I strongly advise…read moreevery parent in Cupertino to avoid 7EDU. My child attends one of the top schools in the area, and we have worked with multiple counselors over the years. Nothing compares to how unprofessional, unstructured, and disappointing this experience has been. We paid a significant amount of money expecting real guidance, consistent support, and high‑quality essay feedback. What we actually received was minimal engagement, weak comments, and almost no meaningful involvement in my child's progress. The essay reviews were shockingly low effort, often just a few superficial notes that showed no understanding of competitive admissions or the needs of a high‑performing student. When we raised concerns, the responses were focused entirely on quoting contract language instead of addressing the fact that services were not delivered. There was no accountability, no ownership, and no willingness to acknowledge the gap between what was promised and what was provided. Even after weeks of stress and repeated attempts to resolve the issue respectfully, 7EDU refused to refund money for services that were clearly not delivered. Our family went through significant emotional distress trying to get a fair resolution. Instead of professionalism, we received rigid, dismissive responses that ignored the reality of our experience. Their so‑called goodwill offer did nothing to address the core issue: they collected payment without providing the level of service they advertised. For any family in Cupertino expecting real expertise, compassion, and reliability, this is not the place. The difference between their marketing and their actual service quality is enormous. Based on our experience, I would give zero stars if that were possible. I cannot recommend 7EDU to anyone, and I strongly encourage parents to look elsewhere for counseling support.