My older son had a fantastic experience working with Jennifer over two years. She helped him…read moreidentify schools of interest, calibrate likelihood of admission so that he had a great mix of "reach" and "safe" options, and assess the pros and cons of different majors (really helping him define and articulate for himself what he wanted to study). She also helped him turn an initially disparate set of activities and extra-curriculars into something much deeper and coherent. She presented him with an amazing range of options (like online summer courses in entrepreneurship) which he enjoyed, looked impressive, aligned with his admission "narrative", and which we frankly would never have found without her. Finally, she was invaluable in compiling everything into the applications themselves and invested a ton in making each one as good as possible. This included essay ideation, rough draft reviews, and went all the way through to line edits with us of every final essay and application. I think I'm a pretty good writer, but the input and help that Jennifer provided my son was far beyond my expectations and much better than what I could offer. I believe that her effort, expertise, and attention to detail significantly increased the number of acceptances and options that my son ended up with. Throughout this, Jennifer was patient, persistent, encouraging, and comforting during a period when I know my son was stressed about both the admissions process and also moving into this new phase of life. Jennifer was invaluable to my son and he was delighted with the options she helped him get and is incredibly happy with the choice he ultimately made on where to attend school. We heard of Jennifer through word of mouth and are so happy that we did. My sophomore has just begun working with her and asked if he could based on the experience that he saw his older brother have.

Jennifer helped my daughter (and us!) with her entire college application process. We loved…read moreworking with her because she was very patient, supportive, communicative, non-judgmental, kind, motivating, and organized! I already referred my friend and her daughter to work with Jennifer. She really relieved a lot of stress for my husband and me. We are very grateful!

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.

Dan is phenomenal! It was a momentous task for my son to start his personal statement for college…read moreapplications. He has always been determined and was ready to start working on this essay by the time Junior year was ending. He was full of ideas, but really needed guidance on how to start and asked for help. We met with multiple tutors and companies, but ultimately chose Dan. Kai liked his approach and felt comfortable with him. As Dan said "It's a leap of faith." and we're happy with our choice. Dan really listened to Kai and gave Kai homework to do which involved answering focused questions. All the talking, discussions and homework really gave Kai clarity. That introspection was extremely valuable. He was able to focus on what he wanted his personal statement to reflect. Dan does not write the essay, but he was very effective at helping Kai put his thoughts, personality and strengths into writing. Kai was able to use what he learned and answer other college essay questions. Thank you Dan!

extremely helpful! very thorough with comments and editing. Very talented and knowledgable.read more

We couldn't be happier with Margaret! She was the only college and career counselor willing to help…read moreus out when our son graduated unexpectedly early, missing the college prep that he would have done in his senior year. The other counselors I contacted were only willing to take on clients as freshmen or earlier. As well as helping him polish his essay, and fill out the college apps., her assistance was invaluable in opening new doors, and colleges he hadn't considered. Her insight led to him following his passion, and getting a degree which will further his dreams, rather than the direction he'd been planning, in which he thought he "should" go. After researching, in great detail, colleges which were possibilities, she worked with our son to make sure applications were in on time - taking us parents out of the equation. After acceptance, she worked with the admissions office, and she made several conference calls with my son and the college of his choice, making sure he received as much credit as possible for the college courses he had taken. He ended up enrolling as a second semester sophomore, which is very helpful to the bank account. Not only is Margaret worth every penny, I'm confident that we've come out ahead! Margaret is smart and kind and worked very hard for us, doing things we didn't even know to do, and our son is in a much better place because of it. Woohoo! She is as good as it gets!

Margaret really knows her way around the common app! We used her towards the end of the college app…read moreprocess, when we were tired out and stressed about it. She is very helpful and really cares about the students and finding the right fit. Has helpful suggestions and is very knowledgeable and fun to work with. Highly responsive in email/text. We tried three other college coaches, and she was definitely the best!

We were so lucky to have found Darcy to help our son with his college application process!! She and…read moreJordan clicked right from the start and it helped tremendously that she took the time and effort to get to know him. Darcy made the whole college application process enjoyable and seamless. Darcy was a great listener, counselor, mentor, and friend!! Without a doubt, she played a huge role in getting Jordan accepted into many great colleges, some with full or half scholarships too!!!

In my almost 20 years as a local test prep professional, I have yet to come across a College…read moreCounselor or human being that I could recommend more wholeheartedly than Darcy Prime. There's nobody better at helping students discoverer their true voices. There's nobody better at making the very stressful undertaking of applying to college an enjoyable and enlightening exercise. If reports from my students are any indicator, there's nobody better at boosting the self esteem of 16 and 17 year olds. To quote one lucky student," My friends tell me they dread spending time with their college counselors. Whenever I'm with Darcy, I feel about 10 feet tall ! " I have passed her name along countless times to grateful families thrilled with her wonderful approach and her spectacular results. Impressive. But what are her credentials ? Darcy is a double Stanford alumna (Undergrad: English Literature; Grad school: Adolescent Psychology). After graduating from Stanford, she spent 12 years working as the Associate Director of Stanford Admissions. For the past 14 years, Darcy has worked as a private college counselor. Her rates are surprisingly reasonable. She is also the nicest person I know. The downside is there's just one Darcy Prime. She can only take so many students each year, so contact her sooner than later. Whether it's college counselors or people in general, there's nobody better.

We've had a wonderful experience with this tutoring center. They are incredibly responsive,…read moreproactive, and easy to work with. I also really appreciate that we're only charged for the sessions we actually use -- no pressure or unnecessary commitments. Most importantly, my daughter's tutor, Amelie, has been amazing. My daughter is in 5th grade and started tutoring because she was behind in reading, spelling, and writing, and she needed extra support from someone other than mom or dad. Homework at home was often a struggle, so it says a lot that she genuinely likes Amelie and actually looks forward to her sessions. In fact, we were running late once and my daughter was very upset because she didn't want to be late to tutoring -- something I never thought I'd see! Seeing her excited about learning has been incredible, and that wouldn't have happened without Amelie's patience, encouragement, and ability to connect with her. We're so grateful for the progress we've seen and highly recommend this tutoring center, especially Amelie.

Amelie has been our 10 year old son's tutor for over a year, and we feel very lucky to have found…read moreher. She is kind, patient, and truly knows how to engage him and spark his interest in learning, especially with writing. She consistently comes up with creative and new ways to teach concepts in a way that feels approachable and motivating rather than overwhelming. Amelie is an excellent communicator, both with our son and with us as parents, and keeps us thoughtfully informed about his progress. She is also very flexible with scheduling, which we deeply appreciate. We are so grateful for her support and highly recommend her.

Skilled and talented tutors, coordination and correspondence top notch. Highly recommended.read more

Our high school sophomore started working with Ilana during freshman year because she wanted some…read moresupport to gain more confidence and supplement her learning in a very fast-paced classroom. Ilana has been great at guiding her all year, and helping her through a rough course. She is personable and a true cheerleader for our daughter who tends to be hard on herself. Ilana also provides a weekly summary of the work for each season so we're kept in the loop. She's continuing with Ilana this year. We are grateful!

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!

We have worked with Michelle Podbelsek for both of our kids. They are very different types of kids…read moreand therefore had different styles and approaches to the college hunt. In both cases, Michelle was a godsend. She regularly met independently with the kids and always provided me with a status afterwards which meant that the kids could drive their own process but I was comfortable with the direction and the partnership was super easy. Both kids have said "I don't know what I would have done without her" Her counsel is always honest, fair and spot on, while being delivered in a supportive way. The process is so tough and so emotional, and she managed to identify its harsh realities while keeping the kids feeling good about themselves and identifying options that worked for them. The office is very well run. They call and remind you before every appointment. Billing is easy to understand. All in all, a totally terrific place and super highly recommended.

Our son worked with College Counseling Associates, and we were pretty disappointed in the feedback…read morehe received. For paying such a steep fee, he received little feedback. We have noticed that other families have found much better consultants from other companies in the area, so we suggest to anyone reading this to check out other counseling firms in the area." Other people who give positive reviews likely are not knowledgeable on the subject of college admissions and thus don't realize how helpful or not the counselors are.

I wrote a review 4 years ago (see below), and I don't know how to post a new review separately from…read morethe first one. Anyway, this is my second review for Cathy Chen. My daughter, Angela, has been with Cathy since her 8th grade 4 years ago. Angela is a very independent, thoughtful, passionate girl. All these great qualities have served and will continue to serve her well, but nothing comes without a flip side. She can be very stubborn, so I had a sense that my wife and I need someone like Cathy to help her and help us. I have to say this is one of my smartest decisions. Cathy has great skills and experience working with teenagers. Parents are not trained at all for teenagers. During the beginning of the covid period, Angela experienced a big challenge, and it was a big test for our family, too. Luckily, we had Cathy. We got out of it successfully, and I believe it became a valuable experience for Angela. Cathy's assistance to Angela's college preparation was also great. We all know there is great amount of work and so many details to be taken care of. Just imagine on top of this amount of work and you have a daughter or son who has time management issue and can be stubborn. Angela certainly is not the only teenager who has time management issue. In the end, Angela not only got it done, but actually didn't allow my wife and I to get involved at all. Personally, I appreciate more Cathy's guidance on the soft skills, like the right mindsets for life. Angela is going to college now, and she has Cathy as a good friend probably for life. Review from 4 years ago: Cathy is coaching my daughter who is an 8th grader. Cathy has great communicating skills, and is compassionate helping children. I feel lucky that we found her.

Village has been nothing short of amazing for our son and our family. We consulted with Village…read moreabout a year ago and from the beginning Village completely understood our son's patterns and had experience in working with several similar children in the past. Remarkably, Village had a specialist that works particularly with children needing assistance in these areas and within weeks, she and our son were working together. While our son had shown resistance to other tutors/coaches, from the very first meeting with Kathryn, they hit it off. Kathryn has incredible listening skills, patience, and clever ways of engaging with our son. She also started working with him in short spurts throughout the week rather than a regimented prescribed time which was precisely what worked best with our son. She was able to monitor assignments, test dates, break down large assignments into manageable pieces and inspire our child to put forth effort more consistently than previously. Importantly, it also removed us as parents from the equation, substantially reducing conflict and tension in the house. We are embarking upon our second year with Village and our son intends to work with Village throughout high school.