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.

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!

Eldest went to Ningxia with Ivymax. Honestly, best summer spent yet! Trip was packed with hands on…read moreactivities. She went as part of micro finance P2P group and she got to interview rural farmers and experience their way of life. The student groups had the responsibility to conduct a financial analysis of candidates and pick the best candidate for a loan. Trip not only helped daughter but also the rural economy. This trip also helped daughter strengthen her Mandarin skills as all the interviews of the villagers are done in Mandarin (of course). She got to experience a totally different culture and environment. China is not all uniform and she really saw that through Ningxia. All in all great opportunity! Definitely recommend!!!

Merit definitely helped get me on the right track to where I want to be. Susan is incredibly…read moreorganized, understanding and she'll work hard to find a plan of action that best suits you. She helped me choose the schools that were right for me to apply to, made sure my application essays were excellent, prepared me for college life and workload, but most importantly, she helped me figure out who I am and where I want to be in the long term.

Excellent teachers and staff, They really did a great job preparing my son for SAT and Math…read moreclasses. Excellent environment for learning. I would like to give them more than 5 stars. I strongly recommend them to friends and family.

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.

I took AP Lang at springlight. Two people had shown up to class on average and communication about…read moreclasses was horrendous. Though Springlight is certified as a test-taking site, it overcharges by more than 10 times the price. For example, something that would cost $5 normally would be $75. As of now, I see Springlight as a means of profit more than their care for each student.

They're super helpful and nice here. Sophia gave me great advice with my essays, and I got into my…read moredream school with a fantastic scholarship! She makes sure to get to know you as a person first before brainstorming potential essay topics so that your essays can showcase your best aspects.

The results said it all. My daughter was successfully admitted to all of the schools she applied…read moreto. THANK YOU, HS2, for guiding us through the entire application process. JoAnn ( our counselor) was so amazing, enthusiastic and knowledgeable. She made the most hectic application experience feel like a breeze. We were well organized and focused from the get go!!! As a parent, I highly recommend HS2. It's definitely money worth spend knowing that we received professional guidances at any time we needed. My daughter also found the homework club extremely helpful; it was a great resource throughout her high school years because she could always get quality help whenever she needed.

I hate it soooooo much. Makes my kid do so much stuff, doesn't care about my kid at all, piles my…read morekid with stuff, gets personal in a bad way and just wants money

I had a great time with 7EDU. I'm glad to say that even though for the most part, Ive been across…read morethe coast, dealing with the challenge of having online meetings and being unable to walk into the physical office, they've guided me throughout the entire transfer application journey with genuine advice, all while promoting an environment that teaches me how to become a better writer, express myself better, and grow under their supportive guardrails. One of the biggest methodologies that I really enjoyed with them was that I came up with the ideas, I wrote, but they kept the guardrails by pushing me to write in a fulfilling way that still exceeded admissions essays' expectations. With this, students still grow and learn how to find their own voice, a skill that is especially useful throughout life as they apply for future positions. I had the pleasure of meeting Ms. Jun (the CEO), Rian (my personal essay counselor), and other notable team members in person. I couldn't tell you how nice they all were. They all have tons of kids to take care of, yet it still feels like whenever you sit down with them, you're the only student they're serving. They all have their own lives and stress to deal with, yet I still shared countless laughs, memories, and experiences with them. They have the perfect balance between seeing you grow, while having a memorable experience at the same time. The resources they provide are another topic altogether. You won't have time to fully take advantage of all of their resources, just due to the fact that they have so many. Finally, I'd just like to say that from a student's perspective, the college admissions process has several moving parts nowadays. It IS overwhelming. It IS stressful. And there ARE nights where things won't seem "fun" anymore. Going through it alone during my senior year of high school was exactly that. Going through it with 7EDU during my first year of college was surprisingly different. Yes, there were still countless moving parts, but they genuinely made it feel like we were cruising. I never felt unprepared whenever it was time to submit an application. I never had to pull an all-nighter for college admissions, and I never had to wake up at 5 AM and write for 2 hours straight just to have an essay ready for review. All of this while balancing college life, extracurriculars, grades, social circles, and physical + mental health. If you're considering working with 7EDU, let my journey with them be a point of thought. By the time I signed up with them, I couldn't change what I had done in high school, since I had only signed up by the end of my senior year. I could only grow with them. I didn't have a perfect past record to make it easy, yet they still gave me plenty of resources to become a successful candidate for top schools like NYU.

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.

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.