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.

We've been working with Sophia Sears for about 1.5 years on writing and she's been a phenomenal…read moretutor. Her expertise, dedication and passion for writing has directly helped my elementary school child grow tremendously as a writer (w/ additional proof in standardized tests). She has provided resources, frameworks and scaffolding that have directly helped deepen the learning process on topics like personal narratives, summarizing and themes. Having a tutor who also acts as a thought partner on all things writing, has also been lovely. Finally, Sophia has also introduced my child to new genres of books and created special writing units related to school assignments, events and trips. These have all provided extensive new background knowledge which make learning very enriching. She truly goes above and beyond, as you can see from all the other rave reviews on yelp! Can't recommend her enough, she is amazing!

This person did not return any phone messages or emails from myself or my son. Possibly he is no…read morelonger in business.

John was chosen by our child after interviewing three potential advisors. It turned out to be the…read moreperfect choice. John provided the right mix of guidance, encouragement and gentle prodding to keep the process on track. The results were fantastic. Our child received ten acceptances, some of which are national top 20 schools. It was a delight to have to help our child choose from such an amazing set of schools. Highly recommend John's approach to this important task.

A supportive and thoughtful team. They provided sound strategy and meaningful advice. They helped…read moreus navigate the stressful process effectively and successfully.

Working with Compass To College was one of the best decisions we made during our daughters' college…read morejourneys. From the very first meeting, we felt supported, informed, and genuinely excited about how each could grow through the research and transformative experiences they were introduced to. Our counselor took the time to really get to know each of our daughters, learning their strengths, interests, and what made them unique--empowering them with a genuine belief in their own potential. Each daughter turned their unique backgrounds and social interests into remarkable initiatives that highlighted them as self-driven, inspiring change-makers, thanks to the extraordinary guidance they received. We're thrilled with the results (Stanford! Princeton!), and more importantly, that each ended up at a school that's a perfect fit for them. I'm so grateful for everything Compass To College did for our family!

Review from my son: Zach Pava played a major role in my…read morecollege admissions process. Not only was his college essay feedback on 15+ essays extremely insightful, I felt that the manner in which he set up a schedule with deadlines and tasks was more helpful. He always kept in touch, especially during October and November, and always responded promptly. Zach set up mock interviews for me with other Insight counselors to practice for college admissions interviews, which did not count against my counseling hours! Also, the fact that Zach primarily worked over Skype was actually more convenient, since I did not have drive to the Cupertino office all the time for the counseling; instead, I could just do it over Skype in my room.

I just recently graduated from Emory University, and upon finishing my time in undergrad, I found…read moremyself looking back and reflecting on my college application process. I am the eldest in my family, and a first-generation American, so my family and I were unseasoned and largely out of our comfort zone when the time came to begin applying to universities. I found Zach through Insight, and he was a tremendous help to me, offering up suggestions about colleges I may be interested in applying to, prepping me for college tours and visits, editing my personal statements and supplemental essays, and offering me any guidance or support I needed throughout the long process. While I was a bit shy and lacking in confidence, Zach saw my strengths and potential, and constantly motivated me to challenge myself, ensuring that my applications reflected my best attributes. With Zach as my counselor, I never once felt stressed or overwhelmed about writing my applications, as Zach planned out deadlines for all components of my applications, ensuring that I would have everything in on time. Zach's genuine concern for my well-being and future was palpable throughout the application process, and after being accepted into Emory, my top choice school, Zach continued to be supportive of my aspirations. He was always more than happy to answer any questions I had about college and the future beyond. I highly recommend Zach not only as a college counselor, but also as a trusted mentor. His help was, and continues to be, an invaluable resource for me and my family!

StrivePath has been an incredible partner in guiding my daughter through her high school and…read morecollege planning journey. What makes them different is that it's not just about admissions, applications, or checking boxes. They took the time to truly understand her as a whole person, her strengths, her values, her motivations, and what genuinely lights her up. Instead of pushing her toward a particular school or path, they helped her explore her "why" and make decisions that align with who she is becoming as a young adult. That kind of guidance is rare. The team at StrivePath created an environment where she felt heard, supported, and empowered, not pressured. The confidence and clarity she has now is something every parent hopes for their child during such a big phase of life. I cannot recommend StrivePath enough for any family navigating high school or college decisions. They go far beyond academics; they help your child understand themselves. And that is the greatest gift.

Very happy with Strivepath…read more We previously had a mediocre experience with a different group we stopped using halfway through....entry level staff person was our main POC....offered very little direction and the communication was not clear. I wanted precise communication, a well thought out plan. There is so much grey area and uncertainty as you go through this process. Stridepath really helped explain how we could put our best foot forward. They have a very thorough and thoughtful process and were actively engaged with a student. Their team is professional and experienced.... No rookies. Sana, our lead, has a great deal of experience with the college admission process which helped give us clarity on what we needed to do and what schools to go after. Sana and my son did all the work. Us parents came in at a few junctures but for the most part, we were not involved. At the end we reviewed the essays and helped our son hit send. Most of our applications are submitted and fingers are crossed. Even though the outcome is uncertain, I feel like Strivepath gave us our best chance to achieve our future college students goals.

I am so grateful for the support and insight that my family has received from Green Ivy. Ana and…read moreBrandon worked remotely with my college-aged son to help develop his Executive Functioning and to provide structure during a challenging period. Using weekly Zooms with Brandon, my son's organizational and planning practices improved significantly (with an accompanying boost in GPA). Ana also provided helpful support and resources to me as the parent. We truly appreciate their expertise and support!

Thoughtful, insightful, thorough, and able to give a little tough love when needed! College apps…read moreare a nightmare, but Green Ivy really guided our son through the process, gave extra assistance where necessary, and helped him achieve his goals. He was accepted to one of his top schools and we couldn't more pleased!

I had a very disappointing experience with Fahey College Consultant. We paid a significant amount…read morefor guidance through the college application process, especially for help with essays and making sure applications were completed on time. Unfortunately, once the process began, the support we expected simply was not there. The student struggled with writer's block and anxiety during the essay writing stage and needed real guidance and feedback. Instead of meaningful help, we mostly received long lists of tasks with little actual support on how to complete them. Communication also became inconsistent during critical parts of the process. As deadlines approached, we expected close guidance and review of the application materials, but the student felt largely abandoned in the middle of the process. While the consultant presents herself very well and is a strong salesperson during the initial conversations, the actual delivery did not match the promises made. For such an expensive service, families expect hands-on guidance, especially when students are struggling. Our experience was that the student was left to manage a very stressful process largely alone. I would strongly advise families to carefully evaluate the level of support they will actually receive before committing to this service.

If I could give 0, I would. Please STAY AWAY from this counselor and her team. She would sweet talk…read moreuntil signing a contract and then from there everything goes downhill. She and her so called team of writers don't do any due diligence on the essays, they would even leave one college name in another college essays and this was after multiple rounds of checking by THEM. She addressed my child in email with another student's name and completely another major and college, so this shows how much thorough she is with her work. DONT WASTE MONEY....she only takes money and then vanishes.

I registered my daughter for 10 semi-private sessions. (But last 2 sessions were private sessions)…read moreThe tutors provided essential tips and strategies and helped her improve SAT scores. My daughter achieved the score that she wanted after completing all the sessions. Grayson cares about the students and he is very supportive in helping the students reach their goals.

Zenith tutoring is unbelievable!!! Grayson identified that ACT would fit my son better even though…read morewe hesitated initially. I would have never imagined he could get the perfect score of 36 after only a couple of months. I am so glad we made the decision to join Zenith. I highly recommend Zenith! Their program is really impressive: they characterize the general rules that are easy to understand; and drilled into each problem that my son missed and pinpointed a particular rule that he needed to work on. Thank you so much, Zenith, for improving my son's score to perfection.

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.

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!

We are very grateful for Ilumin's support throughout the college application process. The team was…read moreknowledgeable, responsive and encouraging. They made the process much less stressful. We truly appreciate their guidance and would highly recommend Ilumin to other families.

If you are looking for college admission support, I cannot recommend ILUMIN Education enough. Our…read moreconsultant, Danny has been working with my son since junior year, and his help during the application process was invaluable. He was extremely dedicated and provided advice that my son actually listened to and follow - which is a huge win for any parent! Seeing him get into his dream college was proud moment for us, and we know Danny played a big part in that success. We are so appreciative of the care and effort put into his journey.